A recent Guardian article and accompanying video report egregiously mislead readers by failing to acknowledge that Jerusalem holy sites have been closed to not only Muslims, but to Jewish (and Christian) worshippers as well, based on security directives issued shortly after the US-Israel war with Iran began.
The article (“‘The saddest day for Muslim worshippers in Jerusalem’: al-Aqsa mosque closed at Eid,” March 20, by Lorenzo Tondo and Seham Tantesh) and video (“Palestinians pray in street after Israeli authorities close al-Aqsa mosque,” March 20) focus entirely on Muslims being prevented from worshipping at al-Aqsa Mosque, which is framed as an effort to “entrench control over Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy sites.”
Both pieces omit that all major holy sites in the city, including the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Temple Mount, and the Western Wall, have also been closed.
While the article does mention, for background, that “To Jews [al-Aqsa Mosque Compound] is the Temple Mount, the site of the 10th-century BC first temple and second temple, which was destroyed by the Romans in AD70,” readers aren’t told that Jews are prohibited from visiting that site – as well as at the Western Wall.
In contrast, other news outlets, such as France 24, were clear on the non-discriminatory nature of the restrictions.
France 24, via reporting by AFP, noted the following [emphasis added]:
Israeli authorities have closed access to Jerusalem’s world-renowned holy sites over security concerns — Al-Aqsa Mosque for Muslims, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for Christians and the Western Wall for Jews.
The Guardian piece also includes propagandistic language that could have been ripped from Al-Jazeera.
For instance, for background on the restrictions, readers are told that [emphasis added] “In recent months, there has been a sharp increase in arrests of Palestinian worshippers and religious staff in the Old City, alongside repeated incursions into the complex by Israeli settlers.“
First, it’s of course legal for Jews to visit the Temple Mount complex, Judaism’s holiest site, and to call it an “incursion” borrows from the anti-Zionist vocabulary of Palestinian Authority-controlled media sites and the Turkish state media.
Further, as it’s impossible for anyone to know whether any individual Jewish visitor to the Temple Mount resides in the West Bank/Judea & Samaria, or within Israel’s 1949 boundaries, the assertion that they are “settlers” is, by definition, inaccurate.
We emailed Guardian editors, who promptly upheld our complaint, adding the following additional text:
The closure affected all holy sites within the Old City, including the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for Christians and the Western Wall for Jews.
The following addendum was also added:
Unfortunately, the video report hasn’t yet been corrected.
This post originally appeared at CAMERA UK.