AFP/Getty Images Blames Israel for Surviving 1967 War

In a jaw-dropping example of total ignorance of basic history, AFP/Getty, one of the world’s largest news photo banks, published the following photo caption which was picked up by newspapers around the world:

An Israeli soldier prays at the Western Wall with a national flag on June 5, 2016 in Jerusalem’s old city, as Israelis celebrate Jerusalem Day, that marks the anniversary of the ‘reunification’ of the holy city after Israel captured the Arab eastern sector from Jordan during the 1967 Six-Day War. Israel occupied east Jerusalem in 1967 and later annexed it in a move never recognized by the international community.

 

(**Correction: we originally included the caption from a reprint of this photo in another publication, which differed in minor respects. We have corrected with the original AFP/Getty caption.)

Here’s what AFP/Getty hid from news audiences:

1. The Six Day War was a defensive war in which Israel fought for survival against multiple armies who had declared their intent to “wipe Israel off the map.” 
2. Jews were living in eastern Jerusalem long before 1967, until Jordan invaded and occupied  in 1948. Jordan’s occupation included the historic “Jewish Quarter” and Jewish holy sites such as the Western Wall.
3. Jordan ignored Israeli pleas to stay out of the war, and instead used its occupation of eastern Jerusalem as a base from which to pound Israel with rockets and  ground forces. Had Jordan not forced Israel to defend its very existence, Jordan would very likely still be in control of eastern Jerusalem today.

In addition, when Jordan conquered eastern Jerusalem in 1948,  it expelled thousands of Jewish residents, many of whom became homeless refugees. In this 5 minute mini-documentary, HonestReporting tells one family’s story:

Yet AFP/Getty has absurdly turned these events into nothing more than an Israeli “seizure” of “Palestinian dominated” land. That’s like talking about the Allied invasion of Germany in World War II, without any mention of the Nazis or the war they started. Or in more modern terms, it would be like talking about U.S. and international strikes in Syria, with no mention of Islamic State and its war to conquer the Middle East.

Even a brief photo caption would be long enough to provide the very basic context: that in 1967 Israel fought a desperate war for survival, and captured the eastern part of Jerusalem from invading armies who had turned it into a war zone.

We expect better from professional journalists. If you do too, then please click on this link to tell AFP and this one to tell Getty. Be sure to reference Getty Photo #538272816

Featured image “The Jordan Salient” via Wikimedia Commons;