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New York Times Gets Judaism’s Holiest Site Wrong

UPDATE Following correspondence with HonestReporting, the New York Times has issued the following correction: While we thank the NY Times for acknowledging the error, we also note how the correction tellingly fails to…

Simon Plosker
October 21, 2015
12:00 am

Reading time: 2 minutes

UPDATE

Following correspondence with HonestReporting, the New York Times has issued the following correction:

While we thank the NY Times for acknowledging the error, we also note how the correction tellingly fails to clarify that it is the Temple Mount itself that is Judaism’s holiest site.

* * *

It’s an all too common error that appears in far too many media outlets. The New York Times has published the following:

The Western Wall is not the holiest site in Judaism. It is, in fact, the Temple Mount. The Western Wall is the closest site that Jews can pray to the site of the destroyed ancient temples and is a part of a retaining wall of the structure of the Second Temple.

Aside from the New York Times’s statement being factually inaccurate, it is important to ensure that the correct and accurate information is out there particularly at a time when Israel’s enemies are attempting to delegitimize the Jewish connection to Jerusalem and the Temple Mount.

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Tags: distorted facts, Jerusalem, New York Times, success, Temple Mount, Western Wall

Simon Plosker

With over two decades of experience in various non-governmental organizations in the UK and Israel, Simon Plosker returned to HonestReporting in October 2022 as Editorial Director having previously been part of the organization’s management team from 2005 to 2020. Prior to his first spell at HonestReporting, Simon worked in Israel for NGO Monitor, BICOM, and served for a short period in the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit. He was Managing Editor of the Geneva-based NGO United Nations Watch for two years before moving back to the frontline defending Israel from media bias. Simon has a BSoc.Sc in International Studies and Political Science from the University of Birmingham and an MSc in History of International Relations from the London School of Economics. He immigrated to Israel in 2001 from London.

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