AFP Adds Key Info on Jewish Visits to Temple Mount: It’s Their Holy Site

Following communication from CAMERA’s Israel office, Agence France Presse has added key information to an article today with a grossly misleading reference to

increased Jewish visitors to the flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound in east Jerusalem for the holidays of Rosh Hashanah, which was last week, and Yom Kippur, which begins Tuesday evening. (“Israel arrests dozens of Palestinians after shooting rampage,” Oct. 10, 6:59 AM GMT).

By using only the Islamic name referring to a mosque and omitting the fact that the Temple Mount compound is Judaism’s holiest site, readers of the original AFP article would have had absolutely no way of understanding why Jews are visiting the “Al-Aqsa mosque compound.” Obviously, the fact that the same compound is Judaism’s most sacred site is critical to readers’ understanding of the reason for the Jewish visitors.

Shortly after CAMERA contacted editors, the influential wire service published an updated story which noted that the site is holy for Jews (“Israel probes deadly shooting rampage ahead of holiday,” 11:11 AM GMT). The added information in the improved article is: “The site is holy to both Muslims and Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount.”

CAMERA’s timely action and AFP’s quick addition underscore the value of CAMERA’s work monitoring and responding to wire stories in the same news cycle as they appear. With this timely, preemptive work,CAMERA’s Israel office helps prevent misinformation from appearing in media outlets around the world.

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