CAMERA’s Israel office yesterday prompted correction of an article in Tablet which reported an unfounded allegation that an Israeli soccer fan stormed the field earlier this month in Jerusalem with a knife when the Israeli national team lost to its Spanish rivals (“Spain ends Israel’s world cup dreams,” Oct. 10).
As reported yesterday in CAMERA’s Snapshots blog, the subheadline originally alleged: “And, seeking revenge, Israeli fan charges the field with a knife.”
In addition, the final paragraph of the article originally stated:
How grim does the future look? Immediately after the game, a small group of fans charged the field. One of them was arrested as he was dashing towards Isco, Real Madrid’s spectacular midfielder. He was carrying a knife.
Yet, Agence France Presse had reported that same day:
Israeli police dismissed on Tuesday local media reports that a pitch invader who ran towards Spanish attacker Isco at a World Cup qualifier in Jerusalem was carrying a knife. . . .Other Israeli media reported the allegation, but police and football officials denied it.Police spokeswoman Luba Samri told AFP no knife was found inside the stadium.A spokesman for the Israeli Football Association confirmed a fan ran toward Isco but said “no knife has been found.”
Hours after CAMERA’s post yesterday entitled “Tablet Fails to Clarify Alleged Knife Incident at Soccer Game,” which was preceded by correspondence with Tablet, editors corrected both the subheadline and the article, removing the unfounded references to a knife. The corrected subheadline now states: “And the future doesn’t look much better,” referring to Israel’s World Cup dreams.
Editors deleted the last paragraph which had alleged that a fan was carrying a knife. In addition, The Tablet commendably appended this correction alerting readers to the change:
An earlier version of this piece incorrectly reported that, following the game, an Israeli fan had burst into the pitch carrying a knife. Subsequent reports do not support this allegation. We regret the error.
According to The Tablet, the correction was delayed due to a technical glitch.