Commenting on the anticipated speech of Israeli President Isaac Herzog in the US Congress, France24 Arabic pundit Ramatène Aouaitia yesterday erred:
The judiciary reform plan will probably appear in the speech which Israeli president is about to hold in front of the US congress on Wednesday, in commemoration of the 75th anniversary of Israel’s creation. Tellingly, several Democratic members of congress – Jews and non-Jews – will boycott this speech, a precedential [move] of this kind in the US. [Emphasis added.]
However, not one of the eight US congress members who said they intended to boycott the speech is Jewish. Presenter Faiza Garah let the error pass unchallenged. While Rep. Bernie Sanders, who is Jewish, did not attend President Herzog’s congressional appearance, he was not among those who announced in advance that he would boycott.
Once again, France24 Arabic’s Israel coverage fails to meet the standards of accuracy and impartiality of the publicly-funded corporation which operates it, France Media Monde.
This post was updated on July 28 to report that Rep. Sanders boycotted President Herzog’s speech.