CAMERA’s Israel office today prompted correction of Haaretz English edition mischaracterizations of an incident last week in which Yakub Musa al-Kiyan, a Bedouin driver, ran over and killed an Israeli policeman as merely a “police claim.”
While there is a dispute over why driver Yakub Musa al-Kiyan fatally ran over policeman Erez Levy (was it a ramming attack or did he lose control of the vehicle after police shot him?), all agree that al-Kiyan ran over Levy, intentionally or not. And yet, the Haaretz English edition, in an online subheadline, as well as in the first paragraph of the accompanying article (in print and online) had originally depicted the undisputed fact that al-Kiyan killed Erez Levy by running him over as a “police claim.”
The digital subheadline had originally stated: “Yakub Musa al-Kiyan, the driver of the truck that police claim ran over and killed policeman Erez Levy, is laid to rest.”
Another example of what we call “Haaretz, Lost in Translation,” the Hebrew edition’s subheadings on the other hand, accurately reported (CAMERA’s translation): “Funeral participants called for the establishment of an investigative committee regarding the circumstances of the incident in which Yakub Musal al-Kiyan was killed • Residents claimed that the police prevented them from reaching the funeral • Three residents were detained for questioning.”
Likewise, the English edition’s article opens by casting the fact that al-Kiyan fatally ran over Levi as merely a “police claim”:
Thousands of people yesterday attended the funeral of Yakub Musa al-Kiyan, the driver of the truck that police claim ran over and killed policeman Erez Levi [sic] in Umm al-Hiran last week. (Emphasis added.)
Again, the Hebrew article correctly states as fact (as opposed to a “police claim”) that al-Kiyan ran over Levi, killing him (CAMERA’s translation):
Thousands of people attended the funeral of Yakub Musa al-Kiyan, the driver who ran over a policeman during home demolitions last week in Umm al-Hiran and was shot to death.
Following correspondence from CAMERA, editors commendably amended both the online subheadline and the article, adding the word “deliberately.” The article now accurately states:
Thousands of people on Tuesday attended the funeral of Yakub Musa al-Kiyan, the driver of the truck that police claim deliberately ran over and killed policeman Erez Levy in Umm al-Hiran last week.
The amended subheadline accurately refers to al-Kiyam as “the driver of the truck that police claim deliberately ran over and killed policeman Erez Levy.”
Editors did not append a note to the bottom of the article alerting readers to the changes.
For additional Haaretz corrections prompted by CAMERA, please see here.