What do you see when you look at the picture below? The image seems to show a confrontation between an Israeli Jew and a Palestinian Arab “facing off” in East Jerusalem. Believing this likely scenario to be the case, National Post Editors described this image with the following photo caption in yesterday’s paper:
“An Orthodox Israeli Jew faces off with a Palestinian counter-demonstrator during a march through East-Jerusalem yesterday.”
But was this really the case? It turns out that the Israeli Jew is actually a member of the notorious Neturei Karta sect, a fringe anti-Israel organization, and is in fact a rabid anti-Israel activist allied, not opposed, to the masked Palestinian Arab.
The National Post issued the following correction in today’s paper to clarify this mistake:
“A photo caption on a World page Monday mischaracterized the exchange between two people during a demonstration on Sunday in East Jerusalem. The masked Palestinian and Orthodox Israeli Jew, a member of Neturei Karta, a fringe anti-Zionist bloc, were in alliance, not opposition.”
Seasoned observers of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict know that appearances can be deceiving in a conflict where things are quite often not what they seem. This picture serves as yet another reminder of the media’s need to vigilantly double-check facts, figures and pictures in order to ensure fair and accurate reporting of Israel and of the broader Middle-East.
