Aug. 24 UPDATE:
CNN Arabic Corrects
On Aug. 19, CNN belatedly corrected its report on the Saudi response to Jewish visitors on the Temple Mount, removing the headline's erroneous reference to settlers, attributing that language to Saudi officials within the article and adding critical context about the Temple Mount's status as Judaism's holiest site. See below for a detailed update.
Jews mark Tisha B'Av, the day of mourning observing the destruction of the Jewish temples along with other catastrophes in Jewish history, with lamentations and fasting. Some also visit the Temple Mount, Judaism's holiest site.
In recent years, CNN Arabic marks Tisha B'Av by demonizing Jewish visitors to the Temple Mount, which is also Islam's third most sacred site, as "settlers storming al-Aqsa Mosque."
But at CNN Arabic, Tisha B'Av practices are not forever. Last year, following communications with editors in both Arabic and English news desks, CNN Arabic commendably corrected, replacing false references to “settlers storming al-Aqsa Mosque” with the factual “Jews entering the Jerusalem sanctuary."
Nevertheless, this year, CNN repeated the fabrication, and this time failed to correct despite requests from CAMERA Arabic reminding editor's of last year's laudable correction. In both the headline and subheading of the Aug. 7 article this year about the Saudi response to Jews visiting the Temple Mount, CNN Arabic used its own voice to refer to "settlers" at "Al-Aqsa Mosque" ("Saudi Arabia comments on Israeli settlers' 'storming' of Al-Aqsa Mosque and sends a message to the international community)" CNN did appropriately put "storming" into scare quotes, thereby attributing the (erroneous) language to the Saudis.
Notably, while CNN cited the Saudi and Jordanian official responses which falsely charged that Jews "stormed" or "intruded" the site (Arabic: Iqtiham, اقتحام), the Arabic news service failed to provide any impartial account of the non-violent nature of the Jews' visits at Judaism's holiest site.
If any correction is forthcoming, we will update this space.
Aug. 24: CNN Corrects
On Aug. 19, CNN belatedly corrected its report on the Saudi response to Jewish visitors on the Temple Mount, removing the headline's erroneous reference to settlers, attributing that language to Saudi officials within the article and adding critical context about the Temple Mount's status as Judaism's holiest site. The headline "Saudi Arabia comments on Israeli settlers' 'storming' of Al-Aqsa Mosque and sends a message to the international community" was changed to "Saudi Foreign Ministry: 'Storming Al-Aqsa Compounds' is a Serious Breach and Aggravates Tensions." In addition, editors improved the opening paragraph. The original version had stated:
The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs has condemned the Israeli settlers' "storming" of the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque, describing the matter as a "serious violation" of international law.
The updated version states:
Saudi Foreign Ministry has condemned what it described as "Israeli settlers storming" the al-Aqsa Mosque compounds, afterobservant Jews have entered the Jerusalem Sanctuary complex, known to Jews as ‘Temple Mount,’ to commemorate the "destruction of the Temple" anniversary.
Additional information added to the amended text includes
Israeli Prime Minister’s office refused to comment when CNN Arabic asked for a response.
Israeli broadcasting corporation “Kan” said in a report that “more than a thousand Jewish citizens visited Temple Mount in commemoration of the destruction of first and second Temple anniversary …”
Since Israel took over the Old City of Jerusalem from Jordan in 1967, there was a complex there known to Jews as Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism, and to Muslims as the Noble Jerusalem Sanctuary, which includes the al-Aqsa Mosque, which is the third holiest site in Islam. The agreement practiced since 1967 allows any person to visit the site, but only Muslims can pray there.
In addition, editors appended the following note to the bottom of the article alerting readers to the changes: "Editor’s note: This story was corrected to add background and context and add Israeli PM’s refusal to comment."