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Unintended Irony Over French Settlement Labeling?

UPDATE Shortly after the publication of this critique, The Independent corrected the photo caption, which now reads: “Workers pack apples at a factory in the Israeli Occupied Golan Heights.” * * * The Independent…

Simon Plosker
November 30, 2016
12:00 am

Reading time: 2 minutes

UPDATE

Shortly after the publication of this critique, The Independent corrected the photo caption, which now reads: “Workers pack apples at a factory in the Israeli Occupied Golan Heights.”

* * *

The Independent reports that France is the first EU state to implement labeling of items from Israeli settlements. One can posit that The Independent is probably fully behind anything that singles out settlements.

So it is safe to assume that the illustrative photo in the story was not quite what the media outlet had in mind:

Firstly, the caption erroneously states that the Golan Heights “overlooks Israel’s controversial separation barrier.” This is geographically incorrect.

But the choice of photo itself is ironic. The Hebrew on the cardboard box in the foreground reads “Abu Jabal” and to the left, it is possible to make out that the location of the apple factory is Madjal Shams, a Druze Arab town on the Golan Heights.

Did The Independent mean to illustrate just how potentially damaging labeling or boycotting of settlement goods is for Arabs as well as Jews? Probably not.

We’ve requested a correction to the photo caption. Watch this space.

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Tags: distorted facts, EU, European Union, France, Golan Heights, labeling settlement products, photo caption, security barrier, security fence, settlements, success, The Independent

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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