UPDATE
Following HonestReporting’s requests for a correction and the publication of this post, the Irish Times has amended the photo captions. The first caption now refers to a “singer from Nazareth,” while the second caption no longer references Shamshoum’s origins at all.
The Irish Times publishes what should be a positive story about Israeli Arab singer Ruba Shamshoum’s making a success of her career having moved to Ireland.
Unfortunately, some errors have needlessly politicized the piece.
The story states:
Shamshoum was studying English literature and education for people with special needs at Tel Aviv University when she began singing with a 1990s rock group on campus. The aspiring musician was born and grew up in the city of Nazareth, the largest Arab city in Israel, among a generation of young Palestinians who were able to “break the boundaries”.
Nazareth is an Israeli city. Shamshoum is therefore not, as the photo caption states (as well as in a second photo in the same story), a “singer from Palestine.”
It is Shamshoun’s right to self-define any way she wishes and she may very well refer to herself as a Palestinian. However, by using this reference in the headline’s sub-header and failing to mention in the story that Shamshoun is an Israeli citizen, the Irish Times adds to the distorted view of Israel that it so often promotes.
In any event, the Irish Times doesn’t shed any light on how Shamshoun regards her own identity. Referring to Shamshoun as an Israeli Arab, Arab-Israeli or any number of combinations to make clear Shamshoun’s citizenship would have clarified the issue.
We’ve requested corrections to the story. Watch this space.
Featured image: CC BY-SA Wikimedia Commons; CC BY Elisa; with modifications CC BY-SA by HonestReporting
