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For the second time in just over a month, CAMERA has prompted Newsweek to correct an erroneous reference to Tel Aviv as Israel’s capital. In her Aug. 18 Op-Ed, Zaha Hassan, a visiting fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, used the common journalistic practice of referring to a nation’s capital city as shorthand for the country’s government, citing Tel Aviv (“The Israel-UAE Accord Is a Mere Sideshow“).
The Op-Ed erred: “Blame it on the fact that Arab regimes of questionable repute and in need of refurbishing their tarnished image believe that the road to redemption in Washington runs through Tel Aviv.” Jerusalem, not Tel Aviv, is Israel’s capital. Numerous media outlets have corrected this very point in the past, including The Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Associated Press, Reuters and The Guardian, among many others. Even Arabic-language reports at Al Hurra and CNN were commendably corrected this summer in an encouraging first.
Tel Aviv street at night, 2011 (Photo by Mikhail Kryshen)
This article has been updated to no longer refer to Tel Aviv as shorthand for the Israeli government.
And, in 2017, Newsweek editors appending this correction to the bottom of an article:
This article was amended on 18 September to make clear that Hamas in 2017 introduced a policy document that would see it accept a Palestinian state on 1967 borders, it did not amend its charter, as stated. The article also no longer refers to Tel Aviv as shorthand for the Israeli government, in adherence with Newsweek style.
In response to communication from CAMERA, Newsweek editor’s immediately corrected the Hassan Op-Ed, which now states that Arab regimes believe “the road to redemption in Washington runs through Israel.”
In addition, editors commendably appended the following to the article, alerting readers to the change:UPDATE: This article has been updated to no longer refer to Tel Aviv as shorthand for the Israeli government.