The Guardian’s “Capital” Offense
April 23, 2012 13:53 by Pesach BensonWhat a stupid correction this is. On Friday, The Guardian posted a photo — Jerusalem light rail passengers observing a national moment of silence for the Holocaust.
The problem? The original caption referred to Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Here’s the correction:
The caption on a photograph featuring passengers on a tram in Jerusalem observing a two-minute silence for Yom HaShoah, a day of remembrance for the 6 million Jews who died in the Holocaust, wrongly referred to the city as the Israeli capital. The Guardian style guide states: “Jerusalem is not the capital of Israel; Tel Aviv is” (Eyewitness, 20 April, page 24).
It gets even more ludicrous. The Guardian’s style guide on Jerusalem actually says:
It would be one thing if al-Guardian called Jerusalem the “disputed capital.” But Tel Aviv isn’t Israel’s capital anymore than Haifa, Manchester, or New York City. This correction and style guide are further examples of the editors’ heads buried in the sand.
This also reconfirms why The Guardian won our 2011 Dishonest Reporter Award.
UPDATE: 3:20 pm: Gotta like this Twitter response:
Heather Roque
2:14 pm
Apr 23, 2012
It is way too complimentary to say the “Al Gaurdian’s” head is buried in the sand, up it’s ass is much more like it!
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Alex
2:20 pm
Apr 23, 2012
Yeah, right
))) Also according to al’Guardian the Sun go around the Earth and the Earth is flat 
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vee
2:25 pm
Apr 23, 2012
spineless …they are…I wonder who is putting the pressure on them to “apologise” !
Jerusalem is and always will be the eternal capital of Israel…as if they don’t know that!!!
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Tuvia Fogel
4:20 pm
Apr 23, 2012
I think a ‘Dishonest Reporting Award’ doesn’t do the Guardian justice. They should be competing with the mullahs, Hamas and Nasrallah for the plain old (very old) ‘Jew’Hating Award’.
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Empress Trudy
4:46 pm
Apr 23, 2012
London is the 4th most holy site in all of Islam, all infidels must be ethnically cleansed. Sorry but it’s the rules. Now the Guardian staff must kill themselves or convert.
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Mrs. D
6:45 pm
Apr 23, 2012
Beyond this ignorant “correction” which is almost too stupid to note, how dare they dare, to say six miliion Jews “died.” Gee, must have been an unexpected little plague. How unfortunate.
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Gary Katz
7:29 pm
Apr 23, 2012
At least they got the caption for the photograph correct. I would’ve expected, “Palestinians mourn latest victims of Israeli aggression, including one dressed like a Jew (in the background).”
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Frank Adam
9:52 pm
Apr 23, 2012
This morning I mailed the G the letter below under the e-mail subject/title:
Anyone able to continue the paraody of “Mary Mary quite contrary…?” who is of course the “Bloody Mary” who burnt those who objected to her religious opinions.
Dear Sir,
If Guardian style guide holds Tel Aviv to be the capital of Israel
(Corrections 24 April) does it also hold New York to be the capital of
America? After all it is a style guide and not claiming to be even
political.
The only non-Jerusalem seat of an administration in or of the Holy Land
was the Roman capital of Caesarea, and that is in ruins.
Is it style, or impolitic ridicule, to hold that Manchester “does today
what the world does tomorrow” is the capital of Britain instead of
Westminster? or the registered office of the [Manchester] Guardian?
Yours faithfully,
Frank Adam
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fanya vasilevsky
3:59 am
Apr 24, 2012
WHO ARE THE BRITS TO DECIDE WHICH CITY IS THE HEBREW CAPITAL!!!. JERUSALEM WAS, IS AND WILL BE CAPITAL OF ISRAEL. THE BRITS, AS ANY OTHER PEOPLES HAVE NO SAYING WHICH PLACE IS GIVEN TO THE JEWS BY HASHEM AS A CAPITAL, AND CERTAINTLY NOBODY HAS ANY SAYING WHETHER TO BUILD OR NOT TO BUILT ON THE LAND THAT WAS GIVEN TO THE JEWS AND WAS DEFENDED WITH SUCH A HIGH PRICE. THE BRITS SHOULD BETTER LOOK AT THEIR OWN COUNTRY WITH SHARIA LAWS AND LONDON AS THE MUSLIM CAPITAL. THE BRITIS!!! WHAT A PATHETIC NATION IT BECAME!!!
FANYA
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Grauniad Reader
12:05 pm
Apr 24, 2012
The level of rage towards the Guardian here is simply unnecessary. I am a Israeli Zionist Guardian reader and I believe the second caption is the less contentious but not for the reasons in the Guardian style guide. The notion of capital city is a fairly arbitrary one with each country determining it in its own way. In many places the capital of a country or state is the seat of government but this definition has no legal or linguistic standing.
Israel has declared Jerusalem its capital and that should be enough for any journalist or fact checker regardless of the disputes over sovereignty. There are journalistic grounds for avoiding mentioning Jerusalem as Israel’s capital because most countries, including the UK, pointedly refuse to situate their ambassadors there. Unless you’re an rabid and over-sensitive pro-Israel loon, the most sensible course is to mention Jerusalem without referencing it one way or the other. Not every article that mentions London refers to it as the capital of England.
Saying that Tel Aviv is the capital of Israel is simply and straightforwardly factually incorrect.
Hot debate. What do you think?
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Gary Katz
6:03 pm
Apr 24, 2012
You’re wrong. The Guardian went out of its way to disclaim that Jerusalem is Israel’s capital. If it had just referred to Jerusalem in a neutral way, we “loons” wouldn’t have noticed or cared. If it had simply referred to Tel Aviv as Israel’s “entertainment capital,” or Jerusalem as Israel’s “tourist capital,” at least there would’ve been some truth in the statements. Perhaps we are “rabid” because we are sick of “The Guardian’s” anti-Israel bias and distortion of facts. I guarantee you that 1. It wasn’t a simple mistake, and 2. “The Guardian” would not have gotten any other country’s capital wrong, much less by going out of its way to do so.
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Grauniad Reader
10:34 am
Apr 25, 2012
In what way is removing an unnecessary and contentious reference going “out of its way to disclaim” anything.
Gary, I don’t know where you live, but if you have any love for Israel, you may be better off directing your energies towards asking my government to define its own legal borders rather than asking the newspaper of a foreign country to justify changing a photo caption.
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Gary Katz
2:55 pm
Apr 25, 2012
I think it’s self-defining. I agree that governments should be reminded that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel (in fact I have petitioned the Obama administration along these lines). But don’t discount media being taken to task, because they have enormous influence. A recent poll showed that sizable percentages of European people (40% in Poland, for example) believe that Israel is conducting a “war of extermination” against the Palestinians. How do all these people get so misinformed? I believe it’s a hodgepodge of internet propaganda, media bias, government administrations and college campus screeching. Therefore, publications like “The Guardian” must be taken to task when they pander to the Muslim narrative in a false way, but that should not dilute our vigilance against anti-Israel lies in any venue. Saying Jerusalem is not the capital of Israel is a lie, plain and simple. Would you feel differently if “The Guardian” had stated, “Jerusalem is not a city in Israel; it is in Palestine?”
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Serge
12:33 pm
Apr 25, 2012
This is absolutely hilarious! Perhaps communities could “compete” for the right to be the Manchester Guardian’s Capital of Israel? This year: Haifa! Next year: who knows? I never cease to be amazed by the arrogance of English’s chattering classes.
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Gary Katz
2:43 pm
Apr 25, 2012
Arrogance or ignorance?
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steven L
7:49 pm
Apr 25, 2012
The Guardian (and many other made in England) has Saxons genes. The homeland of the Saxons is in Germany. They kept well the Nazi modus operandi when it comes to propaganda!
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L’offensiva “Capitale” del Guardian « Bugie dalle gambe lunghe
11:33 am
Apr 29, 2012
[...] http://honestreporting.com/the-guardians-capital-offense/ Share this:TwitterFacebookLike this:LikeBe the first to like this post. [...]
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Frank Bright
4:03 pm
Apr 29, 2012
Just to remind readers of the Gruniad, best known for its spelling mistakes, if they get such obvious and ancient facts about Jerusalem wrong then they presumably get everthing else wrong. My advice to those wishing to be informed is: stop reading this ridiculous paper. Once upon a time, many, many years ago, it was the well-respected “Manchester Guardian” but since then it has been going downhill (and accelerating fast) all the way.
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Frank Adam
4:39 pm
Apr 29, 2012
One of my OTC “pamphlets” had a sub- chapter title quotation from I forget whom, “Time spent on reconnaissance is seldom wasted.” Always take a quick look at least at what the enemy is “thinking.”
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jeb stuart
5:57 pm
Apr 29, 2012
Jerusaelm is absolutely Israel’s capital. The UN gave up it’s right to adminster Jerusalem when after 1949 they did nothing to protect Jewish and Christian access to the Holy places, the Wailing Wall being the most significant to Jews. It is the epitomy of anti-semitic sentiment to pretend pushing back non-defendable borders to pre-1967 War status is not a direct attack on the identity and religion of Jews who were denied access where even under Ottoman rule it might be suspended and has long history of blood through Arab pogroms against Jews. It is hypocritical of the tyranical Imams of sharia law and Islamic rule to criticize Muslims who are now freely moving through Jerusalem as a part of their Haj. It again underlines the difference between Islamic treatment of foreigners and non-Muslims, even moderate Muslims but especially Jews. Shame on the Eruopeans and the guardian and Obama for follish attempts to practice a form of globalism that is directed from a mosque governed by the tyrnats of sharia.
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R. Eluchans
7:50 pm
Apr 29, 2012
The Guardian, BBC, and other “so called” journalists in UK appears to maliciously spread ignorance; perhaps is time for the Brits to have their own “spring” and get out of the darkness they live in today……what is their motiv?…where is the British “integrity” these days?….what do they fear?….
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Martin Broschowitz
10:57 pm
May 04, 2012
All Official documents, mail addresses, official business should have
to go thru Jerusalem
The delays will cause people and institutions to
use faster routes directly
to Jerusalem.
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Mr. Light-Bright
6:52 pm
Jul 28, 2012
What the bloody hell [angered by the stupidity] is “Palestina” a twitter response by Guardian. I think the Guardian thought it means the same as “Palestine” but some how more classy and special sounding…
Maybe it is “Palestrina” (added an R), an ancient city in Lazio, 35 km east of Rome….O_o ?¿?¿
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Gary Katz
7:34 pm
Jul 28, 2012
Here’s an idea: change the spelling of Jerusalem to “Jewrusalem.” That way, anytime “The Guardian” mentions the city at all, it acknowledges the Jewish identity. Knowing them, they’d probably start referring to it as “The city formerly known as Jerusalem (a la Prince).”
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