RSS
5 Major Media Misquotes That Hurt Israel’s Image During the War
The BBC logo is seen at the entrance at Broadcasting House, the BBC headquarters in central London. Photo by Vuk Valcic / SOPA Images/Sipa USA.
There is a meme (a humorous image generally posted on social media) that has been widely shared online for years.
It depicts a black-and-white image of 16th US President Abraham Lincoln with a quotation: “The problem with quotes found on the internet is that they are often not true.”
While it is clear to everyone that it is a fake Lincoln quote, the same cannot be said of every false quotation.
Whether deliberate or by mistake — either a mistranslation or a misquotation — here are some of the most outrageous examples of false quotes published by the media since the start of the war.
1. BBC News Claims Israel “Targeting” Medics
In November 2023, the BBC was forced to issue an apology after one of its anchors misquoted a Reuters report during a live broadcast, and claimed that the IDF was targeting medical professionals during its raid on Gaza’s Al Shifa Hospital, which had been used as a Hamas command center.
Reuters correctly quoted an IDF spokesman: “Our medical teams and Arabic-speaking soldiers are on the ground to ensure that these supplies reach those in need.”
However, the BBC instead announced on-air that the Israeli military was “targeting people including medical teams as well as Arab speakers.”
An apology was later read out by a second presenter, who announced: “What we should have said is that IDF forces included medical staff and Arabic speakers for this operation. We apologize for this error, which fell below our usual editorial standards.”
The IDF clearly states it is bringing medical teams & Arabic speakers into Al-Shifa Hospital to help patients.@BBCNews reinterprets it to libel the IDF as *targeting* medical teams & Arabic speakers.
Just how much lower can the BBC go? https://t.co/I9kVy3MC87
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) November 15, 2023
2. Israel’s “Genocidal” Intent
In January, a staff writer at The Atlantic, Yair Rosenberg, penned a piece headlined, ‘What Constitutes a Smoking Gun?‘ in part to reference the case brought by South Africa against Israel in the International Court of Justice.
Rosenberg discussed comments made by the Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in the early days of the war, in which he allegedly declared that Israel was “fighting human animals,” and that “Gaza won’t return to what it was before … We will eliminate everything.”
The remark was suggested by the likes of NPR and the BBC as evidence of Israel’s intention to violate international humanitarian law.
The major problem with this, Rosenberg pointed out, was that the quote attributed to Gallant was inaccurate.
What Gallant actually said when he addressed a group of soldiers just three days after the Hamas massacre was: “Gaza will not return to what it was before. There will be no Hamas. We will eliminate it all.”
Rosenberg explained:
This isn’t a matter of interpretation or translation. Gallant’s vow to ‘eliminate it all’ was directed explicitly at Hamas, not Gaza. One doesn’t even need to speak Hebrew, as I do, to confirm this: The word Hamas is clearly audible in the video […]
And yet, the misleadingly truncated version of Gallant’s quote has not just been circulated on NPR and the BBC. The New York Times has made the same elision twice, and it appeared in The Guardian, in a piece by Kenneth Roth, the former head of Human Rights Watch. It was also quoted in The Washington Post, where a writer ironically claimed that Gallant had said “the quiet part out loud,” while quietly omitting whom Gallant was actually talking about.
As Rosenberg observed, the Gallant misquoting error had profound consequences — it “misled readers, judges, and politicians.”
3. The “500 Dead” in Hospital Blast
The Al-Ahli Hospital blast was perhaps the most outrageous example of poor journalism since the onset of the war.
Numerous respected media organizations abandoned basic journalistic due diligence and immediately blamed Israel for “striking” the medical facility and killing hundreds of civilians in the process.
Evidence quickly emerged that a misfired Islamic Jihad rocket was responsible, and that the death toll was nowhere near 500.
However, author and journalist David Zweig noticed that this was not the only media malpractice that occurred in the reportage of the Ah-Ahli explosion.
In an article on his Substack, Zweig questioned where the “500 killed” line that was uncritically parroted by the media had originated.
After tracking down where the first mention of this figure occurred (in a social media post by Qatari mouthpiece Al Jazeera), Zweig said there was “zero evidence” that was what the Hamas-run health ministry had said.
Zweig explained:
Beyond the evidentiary particulars in the debate over the origin of the blast is the question of whether news outlets should uncritically report claims from Hamas, including, or perhaps especially, when it provides statistics […]
Yet assessing whether or not Hamas’s claims are credible is a step beyond the most basic consideration: Did the media accurately report what a Hamas spokesperson said?
Zweig hypothesizes that Al Jazeera’s English account published the false information based on an interview given by Ashraf Al-Qidra, a spokesman in Gaza’s health ministry.
Here’s a thread of all the news articles from outlets that were incredibly quick to blame Israel, taking statements from Hamas at face value. @CNN quick reminder, the Health Ministry in Gaza is run by Hamas. pic.twitter.com/wl5CynI3q1
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) October 17, 2023
4. Isaac Herzog’s “Entire Nation”Comments
Sometimes misquoting is not done by altering the words of a statement, but by omitting parts of a statement to alter its overall meaning or intention.
This was true of the remarks made by Israeli President Isaac Herzog at a news conference held just five days after the October 7 Hamas attacks.
Speaking to reporters, Herzog said that he held “an entire nation” responsible for the massacre, which he later stressed in an op-ed was a reference to the many Palestinian civilians who also took part in the killings and sexual assaults inside Israel, as well as the crowds in Gaza who desecrated the bodies of dead Israelis that were brought back as trophies.
In the same October 12 press conference, Herzog said there was no excuse for killing innocent civilians, and confirmed Israel’s commitment to respecting the international laws of war.
Yet, the comments from Herzog that found their way into news reports were the former, with media outlets paraphrasing them in headlines such as, “Israeli President Suggests That Civilians In Gaza Are Legitimate Targets.”
President Herzog later criticized the South African prosecution that brought a case against Israel in the International Court of Justice for knowingly twisting his words to suggest genocidal intent on Israel’s part in the war.
5. CBS Misquotes the Pope
As is tradition on the Christian holiday Easter Sunday, Pope Francis presided over Mass in St Peter’s Square in the Vatican and delivered his “Urbi et Orbi” blessing from the balcony.
During the speech, he addressed the war in Gaza and called for a ceasefire and for the “prompt release of the hostages seized on 7 October last and for an immediate cease-fire in the Strip.”
Yet, when CBS News reported the Pope’s address, the word “hostages” had been substituted for “prisoners.”
It was a baffling decision that suggested CBS News saw some kind of equivalence between the innocent Israelis kidnapped on October 7 and the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails for whom they may be swapped under the terms of a deal with Hamas.
It is a subtle mistake but an insidious one.
The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.
The post 5 Major Media Misquotes That Hurt Israel’s Image During the War first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
US Treasury Department Targets International Charities, Individuals Fundraising for Hamas
Palestinian supporters protesting outside a Scotland vs. Israel match at the a UEFA Women’s European Qualifiers at Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland on May 31, 2024. Photo: Alex Todd/Sportpix/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has identified three individuals and one charity as having significant financial ties to the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.
In a statement released on Monday, the one-year anniversary of Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel, OFAC announced new sanctions against the entities spotlighted by its investigation and noted they play integral roles in funding Hamas’s terrorism ventures under the guise of “charitable work.” The department said that the investigation was part of its efforts to surface abuses by self-described “charity organizations” really working to financially support terrorist groups.
“As we mark one year since Hamas’s brutal terrorist attack, Treasury will continue relentlessly degrading the ability of Hamas and other destabilizing Iranian proxies to finance their operations and carry out additional violent acts,” US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen said in a statement. “The Treasury Department will use all available tools at our disposal to hold Hamas and its enablers accountable, including those who seek to exploit the situation to secure additional sources of revenue.”
“Treasury is committed to exposing terrorists and terrorist organizations that abuse the NPO sector. By publicly identifying a sham charity, this action reduces the overall risk of the NPO sector and helps preserve access by legitimate humanitarian organizations to financial services,” OFAC added in a statement.
The Treasury Department identified Hamid Abdullah Hussein al Ahmar (al Ahmar), a Yemeni national living in Turkey, as an influential and prolific financier of Hamas. According the US government announcement, al Ahmar has served as the chairman of the Al-Quds International Foundation, a charity organization controlled by Hamas. In addition, OFAC identified nine entities controlled by Ahmar — Al Ahmar Trading Group, Al Ahmar Oils Supply and Distribution, Sama International Media, Al Salam Trading and Agencies General Establishment, Saba, Trade & Investment S.R.O, Sabafon International SAL, Sabaturk Dis Ticaret Anonim Sirketi, Vivid Enerji Yatirimlari Anonim Sirketi, Investrade Portfoy Yonetimi Anonim Sirketi — as potentially having ties to Hamas’s operations.
The agency also flagged a cohort of Hamas funders based in European countries. Italy-based Hamas member Mohammad Hannoun runs the “Charity Association of Solidarity with the Palestinian People,” according to OFAC, which said the so-called “charity” actually operates as a fundraising effort for Hamas’s military wing. Hannoun has been designated by OFAC for “having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services in support of, Hamas.”
Germany-based Hamas member Majed al-Zeer helps spearhead the terrorist group’s European fundraising initiatives, OFAC claimed, adding that he has “appeared publicly with other senior Hamas members in order to generate funding and other support for Hamas.”
Adel Doughman leads Hamas’s Austrian activities and is “one of the most prominent Hamas representatives in Europe,” according to OFAC. Doughman has also maintained high-ranking positions in Europe-based organizations that have allegedly funneled money to the terrorist group.
Both Al-Zeer and Doughman “are being designated for having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Hamas,” OFAC wrote.
OFAC also highlighted Hamas’s use of “unlicenced” financial institutions such as Al-Intaj Bank to help facilitate their activities. The Hamas government in Gaza granted the alleged terrorist-supporting bank a “permit” to operate in the Palestinian enclave. The bank “provides financial services for Hamas despite not being connected to international banks,” OFAC said.
OFAC levied sanctions on the implicated actors, banning their organizations and transactions from operating in the United States and mandating their reporting to the agency.
“As a result of today’s action, all property and interests in property of the designated persons described above, and of any entities that are owned directly or indirectly, 50 percent or more by them, individually, or with other blocked persons, that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC,” the agency wrote.
In the year following Hamas’s Oct. 7 slaughter of 1,200 individuals in southern Israel, US federal agencies have identified a flood of terrorist-tied fundraising and information efforts on American soil. In July, US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines warned that “actors tied to Iran’s government” have encouraged and provided financial support to rampant protests opposing Israel’s war against Hamas.
Iran has for years provided Hamas with weapons, funding, and training.
The post US Treasury Department Targets International Charities, Individuals Fundraising for Hamas first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Kamala Harris Refuses to Affirm Netanyahu as an ‘Ally’ of the United States
US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign event in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, US, Aug. 7, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Erica Dischino
US Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris refused to affirm that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netnayahu is an “ally” of the United States, dodging a direct question on the subject and fueling doubts about her commitment to the Jewish state.
During an interview with the long-running news program “60 Minutes,” Harris was pressed on the Biden administration’s struggles to secure a ceasefire deal between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, which has totally ruled Gaza since 2007. Journalist Bill Whitaker asked the incumbent US vice president whether Washington, DC wields influence over Netanyahu and whether the Biden administration considers the Israeli prime minister a trusted partner.
“Do we have a real, close ally in Prime Minister Netanyahu?” Whitaker asked.
“I think, with all due respect, the better question is do we have an important alliance between the American people and the Israeli people? And the answer to that question is yes,” Harris responded.
Over the course of the interview, Whitaker accused Netanyahu of ignoring American requests to tone down Israeli military activity in Gaza and Lebanon. Harris did not voice disagreement with the journalist’s claims.
“We supply Israel with billions of dollars in military aid. And yet, Prime Minister Netanyahu seems to be charting his own course. The Biden-Harris administration has pressed him to agree to a ceasefire. He’s resisted. You urged him to not go into Lebanon. He went in anyway. He has promised to make Iran pay for a missile attack, and that has the potential of expanding the war. Does the US have no sway under Prime Minister Netanyahu?” Whitaker asked.
US officials have said in recent weeks that Hamas has refused to agree to a ceasefire deal, pointing the finger mainly at the terrorist group’s top leader, Yahya Sinwar.
Meanwhile, Israel has in recent weeks been launching more intensive military operations against the terrorist group Hezbollah, which for the past year has been firing rockets, missiles, and drones at northern Israeli communities almost daily.
Iran, which supports both Hamas and Hezbollah, launched over 180 ballistic missiles at Israel directly. The Jewish state has vowed to respond to the attack.
Harris responded to Whitaker, arguing that American military aid has allowed Israel to “defend itself against 200 ballistic missiles” aimed at killing the Jewish state’s civilians. “It is without any question,” she continued, that the federal government has an “imperative” to help Israel mitigate threats from belligerent entities such as Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah. The vice president added that Israel has an obligation to allow “humanitarian aid” to enter the Gaza Strip and cooperate with ceasefire negotiations.
Harris added that American pressure against Israel has “resulted in a number of movements in that region” that have helped improve living standards for Palestinians in Gaza.
Since ascending to the top of the Democratic presidential ticket in July, Harris has sought to shore up support among the Jewish community as well as the Arab and Muslim communities in the US. The vice president has also been dogged by accusations that she maintains only mild support for Israel.
In an official White House statement commemorating the Oct. 7 slaughter of roughly 1,200 people throughout southern Israel, the vice president vowed to “do everything in my power to ensure that the threat Hamas poses is eliminated, that it is never again able to govern Gaza, that it fails in its mission to annihilate Israel, and that the people of Gaza are free from the grip of Hamas.”
In the same statement reflecting on the deadliest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, Harris dedicated a paragraph to seemingly criticizing the Israeli war effort. The Democratic nominee promised that she “will always fight for the Palestinian people.”
“Hamas’s terrorist attack on Oct. 7 launched a war in Gaza. I am heartbroken over the scale of death and destruction in Gaza over the past year — tens of thousands of lives lost, children fleeing for safety over and over again, mothers and fathers struggling to obtain food, water, and medicine,” the statement read. “It is far past time for a hostage and ceasefire deal to end the suffering of innocent people. And I will always fight for the Palestinian people to be able to realize their right to dignity, freedom, security, and self-determination. We also continue to believe that a diplomatic solution across the Israel-Lebanon border region is the only path to restore lasting calm and allow residents on both sides to return safely to their homes.”
The post Kamala Harris Refuses to Affirm Netanyahu as an ‘Ally’ of the United States first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Celebrities Partner With Families of Female Hamas Hostages to Call for Their Return Home
Chloe Fineman poses at the screening of the film “Megalopolis” at AMC Lincoln Square in New York City, US, Sept. 23, 2024. Photo: Reuters
A total of 13 celebrities, social media activists, and other influential pro-Israel supporters advocated for the return of 13 women who have been held hostage by Hamas for 365 days since the deadly terrorist attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, in a new video released by The Hostages and Missing Families Forum.
In the video shared on social media as part of the #BringThemHomeNow movement, the 13 activists talk about the hostages, describing who they are, their personalities, and their hopes and dreams for the future. The clip was published on the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in southern Israel, where Hamas-led terrorists murdered 1,200 people and took over 250 hostages, 97 of which remain in Hamas captivity. The remaining hostages include seven Americans, four of whom are presumed to be alive, according to the American Jewish Committee.
The influential figures who participated in the video include media personality and television host Andy Cohen; “Saturday Night Live” cast member and comedian Chloe Fineman; designer Rebecca Minkoff; Princess Noor Pahlavi, the daughter of the exiled Crown Prince of Iran Reza Pahlavi; artist Zoe Buckman, actresses Patricia Heaton, Debra Messing, Ginnifer Goodwin and Emmanuelle Chriqui; attorney and activist Elica Le Bon, and social media influencers Emily Austin, Adela Cojab Made and Baby Ariel.
The 13 female hostages still held captive by Hamas who are highlighted in the clip are Romi Gonen, 24; Naama Levy, 20; Liri Albag, 19; Ofra Keidar, 70; Shiri Bibas, 33; Inbar Hayman, 27; Emily Damari, 27; Karina Ariev, 20; Agam Berger, 20; Doron Steinbrecher, 31; Arbel Yehud, 29; Daniella Gilboa, 20; and Judy Weinstein Haggai, 70. The video includes footage of some of the hostages that has been released either from their abduction on Oct. 7 or during their ongoing captivity.
It was announced in December that Hayman and Weinstein-Haggai were killed in Hamas captivity. Their bodies remain in Gaza. Weinstein-Haggai was an American-Canadian who immigrated to Israel in 1976. Her husband was killed by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7.
The post Celebrities Partner With Families of Female Hamas Hostages to Call for Their Return Home first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login