CAMERA’s Israel office today prompted corrections of a Jerusalem Post headline and article which inaccurately referred to radical anti-Israel activist Ali Abunimah, co-founder of Electronic Intifada, as a journalist.
The headline had originally stated: “Zioness Movement hits back at journalist who called them ‘fake’ organization.”
In addition, the article’s second paragraph initially referred to Abunimah as a “pro-Palestinian journalist.” Yet, Electronic Intifiada does not practice journalism, and Ali Abunimah is not a journalist.
As previously noted by CAMERA’s Gilead Ini, the radical activist has termed Israel the “Zionist butcher regime” and its army “the cowardly, murderous rabbleof a psychotic apartheid settler-colony.” Ali Abunimah, opposes the existence of the Jewish state in any borders and has tweeted that supporting Zionism is “continuation in spirit” of the Holocaust. He has called for violent attacks against Israelis and has suggested that Israel targets the organs of Palestinian children. Electronic Intifada’s Rana Baker literally cheered when three Israeli teens were abducted in June 2014. “Wonderful wonderful news that three settlers have been kidnapped,” she said on Twitter. “Celebrations celebrations. Cheers everybody (Zionists excluded!)” Abunimah came to her defense. Another EI contributor, Joe Catron, has said: “Zionists are racist scum. Never let them forget it. In their homes, in their workplaces, in the streets, remind them. Rania Khalek published a piece at EI criticizing the far-left The Nation for running two many pieces written by Jews (never mind that the Jews were critical of Israel.)
In the past, The Jerusalem Post accurately identified Abunimah as Electronic Intifada’s co-founder, as opposed to a journalist. In a 2016 article, The New York Times’ Peter Baker also referred to Abunimah as “a Palestinian-American activist who helped found the Electronic Intifada.”
Indeed, the last paragraph of The Post‘s article yesterday correctly reported:
The Electronic Intifada is an anti-Zionist website dedicated to promoting Palestinian rights and the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
In response to communication from CAMERA, The Post commendably amended the headline, swapping the erroneous reference to Abunimah as a “journalist” with the correct description, “activist.”
In addition, editors commendably changed the article’s identification of Abunimah from “pro-Palestinian journalist” to “pro-Palestinian activist writer.” Contrary to common journalistic practice, The Post did not append a note alerting readers to the corrections.