After parroting without question demonstrably false Houthi propaganda that the overnight Dec. 19 missile attack was on “Israeli military targets,” the Associated Press has commendably clarified that the strike hit an elementary school. The impact destroyed the building.
The Dec. 19 AP headline initially reproduced Houthi propaganda without clarification: “Houthis claim missile strike on two ‘specific and sensitive’ Israeli military targets.” In fact, the Thursday night strike in question (Dec. 19, 2:37 am IST) took out the Ramat Ef’al Elementary School.
As Haaretz reported (“A Missile From Yemen Destroys a School . . . “)
The missile from Yemen was partly intercepted in the skies over central Israel. But for reasons unknown, parts of it managed to evade Israel’s air defenses and ended up landing directly on a school in the city of Ramat Gan, near Tel Aviv. Images of the school that soon emerged showed a shocking level of destruction.
A screenshot of the Houthi propaganda video which AP had shared uncritically
Fortunately, because the attack happened overnight, the school was empty and there were no casualties. Initially, AP’s short explanatory text accompanying the Houthi propaganda video also did not clarify that the ballistic missile hit a school and not military targets. Instead, the “explanatory text” only further reinforced the complete falsehood about a “missile strike on two ‘specific and sensitive’ Israeli military targets.” It misled:
A military spokesman in Yemen for the Iranian-backed Houthis claimed on Thursday a missile strike on two “specific and sensitive” Israeli military targets.
Thus, at no point did the item — neither in the headline, nor in the explanatory text, nor in the video itself — make clear that the missile strike supposedly on “Israeli military targets” actually destroyed a school.
In response to CAMERA’s Dec. 22 with Associated Press, editors promptly corrected. AP’s amended headline now notes: “Houthis say missile on Thursday targeted 2 Israeli military positions; part of projectile hit school.” (Emphasis added.) Likewise, AP’s amended accompanying text points out: “Houthis claim missile on Thursday targeted 2 Israeli military positions. Part of the intercepted projectile hit a school in Tel Aviv.” (Emphasis added.)
AP’s misreporting still appears at some media outlets including National Post and Military.com. CAMERA has reached out to these secondary media outlets as well. Stay tuned for additional updates.