Once again, the dishonest battle cry to "defend" the Al Aqsa mosque from Jewish plans of takeover, is being cynically used as a clarion call for violent jihad. It is the latest salvo in a war against Judaism's legacy in Jerusalem. CAMERA provides background on the battle over the Temple Mount, which is based on Muslim claims of supremacy and fought on multiple political and violent battlefronts.
One of the main obstacles to previous peace-making efforts in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has been the issue of dividing Jerusalem. There is no doubt that these competing demands and claims will be difficult to reconcile. It is made all the more difficult by a media that errs or misleads on the topic. This backgrounder addresses common media misrepresentations regarding Jerusalem.
Digging down on the false claim that Jordan is custodian of Jerusalem's Christian holy sites. Reuters ignores that the Hashemites renounced its limited custodial status (which had only ever held for Greek Orthodox sites) in the 1980s.
While coming from different starting points, two journalistic misdeeds— drawing a false moral equivalency and applying a double standard — end up with the same reprehensible result: minimizing and obscuring Palestinian terrorism. Coverage of the deadly Palestinian terror attack outside a Jerusalem synagogue versus a fatal Israeli arrest raid in Jenin provide a case in point.
NPR downgrades the fact that the Jewish Temples were located on the Temple Mount from archeological history to Jewish tradition, and fails to challenge the false claim that Jordan is custodian of Jerusalem's Christian holy sites.
"Breaking Travel News" loses its compass, searching for the Jewish state's capital, but turning up in Tel Aviv. The early takeoff of the travel publication's World FIFA coverage crashes and burns with anti-Israel invective demonizing the "occupation" or "apartheid" state.
CAMERA Arabic puts the breaks on the omnipresent Arabic media formulation falsely casting Tel Aviv as Israel's capital, prompting 17 corrections in two months.
The Western media has increasingly abetted Palestinian propaganda efforts to erase the Jewish claim to Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. Far too many journalists today accept the historic revisionism and political falsehoods put out by Palestinian activists and leaders and promote it with their own jargon and linguistic tricks.
Aug. 24 UPDATE: CNN belatedly amends after falsely citing "settlers" "storming Al-Aqsa mosque." The improved text adds critical context about the Temple Mount's status as Judaism's holiest site.
Although the Wilson Center promotes itself as "the nation’s key non-partisan policy forum," a piece by outgoing Fellow Laura Robson, masquerading as a scholarly analysis, puts forth a collection of hackneyed propaganda claims against Israel.
Like a sea of flapping flags proudly signaling national fervor, an abundance of articles and captions colorfully broadcast journalists' unabashed double standard when it comes to reporting on Palestinian versus Israeli nationalists.