CAMERA’s Israel office today prompted correction of an Agence France Presse article which misidentified Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial museum in Jerusalem, as the holiest day in the Jewish year. Today’s article, “German verdict due in deadly anti-Semitic rampage,” had erred: “A bolted door at the eastern city’s synagogue with 52 worshippers inside marking Yad Vashem, the holiest day of the Jewish year . . . “
The holiest day in the Jewish year is Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.
The French version of the same article correctly reported: “Jugé depuis cinq mois par le tribunal de Magdebourg en Saxe-Anhalt, Stephan Balliet, 28 ans, avait en pleine fête religieuse de Yom Kippour en octobre 2019 . . . “
In response to communication from CAMERA, editors commendably corrected the article, which now accurately refers to Yom Kippur as Judaism’s holiest day.
Blowing the shofar on the eve of Yom Kippur at the Western Wall, 2014 (GPO photo by Mark Neyman)
See also “AFP: Jewish Prayer ‘Miyan’ ‘Impossible’ With Ten People“and “AFP Corrects: Jerusalem’s Holy Status in Judaism, Christianity Long Predates Muslim Conquest“
Update, 7:05 EST: VOA Corrects
Voice of America, which had published the AFP story on its site, including the error, has commendably corrected in response to communication from CAMERA.
