In Haaretz in English, Petah Tikvah Attack Is Only ‘Suspected’
On Thursday, an assailant opened fire on shoppers in the central Israeli town of Petah Tivkah, and stabbed one, injuring a total of five people. The suspected attacker is an 18-year-old from Nablus. That this attack happened is not in dispute.
Yet, Haaretz‘s English edition, both online and print, referred to a “suspected” attack, as if was not yet verified that a shooting attack had taken place. The first sentence of the print article refers to the attack as “suspected”:
Five people were hospitalized following a suspected shooting attack in the central city of Petah Tikvah yesterday.
The front-page headline of Haaretz‘s English edition Friday was “Five people wounded in suspected Petah Tikva terror attack.”
The digital edition in English also qualifies the attack as “suspected.” Its headline is: “Five Wounded in Suspected Shooting Attack in Central Israeli City.”
Likewise, the first sentence online reads:
Five people were hospitalized following a suspected shooting attack in the central Israeli city of Petah Tikvah.
The Hebrew edition, in contrast, both in print and online did not qualify the attack as “suspected” and reported it just as it was: an attack. The Hebrew print headline states (CAMERA’s translation): “Petah Tikvah Market Attack: Five Lightly Wounded from Shooting and Stabbing, 18-Year-Old Suspect from Nablus Arrested.”
The first sentence states: “Five people were lightly injured yesterday in a shooting and stabbing attack near the market on Baron Hersh Street in Petah Tikvah.”
This latest instance of what we call “Haaretz, Lost in Translation” follows another English edition article last month which described an incident in which a Bedouin driver ran over and killed an Israeli policeman as a “police claim.” Yet, the fact that the driver ran over and killed the policeman was not disputed; the reason, however, was disputed (the Bedouin driver either intentionally attacked the policeman or, alternatively, lost control of the vehicle after police shot him). CAMERA prompted corrected in that case. We have contacted editors again about the Petah Tikvah attack. Stay tuned for an update.
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