Leon Redbone and a Red-Faced Obituary

UPDATE: The Oxford American removed the claim that the Israeli government seized the family property after the War of Independence.

According to family members, his parents were living in present-day Israel in 1948, when the Arab-Israeli War broke out. They fled empty handed for Cyprus, then under British rule.

The New York Times, however, has not corrected its obituary.

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UPDATE: It came to my attention that a separate obituary citing the same incorrect information was published in Canada’s Globe & Mail. I contacted the G&M.

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UPDATE: The New York Times corrected its story. We’re still waiting for the Globe & Mail to do likewise.

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Fans of Leon Redbone are mourning the death of the celebrated jazz and blues musician. In a career spanning a half-century, Redbone was recognizable by his Panama hat, big dark sunglasses, and black tie.

The singer, whose real name was Dickran Gobalian, passed away from complications from dementia on May 30. The New York Times raised a little-known, but slightly incorrect Israeli-angle regarding his family history. The Gobalian family moved to Cyprus (where the musician was born) from Jerusalem.

An authoritative article in The Oxford American this year said his parents had relocated there from the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem after the new Israeli government seized their property.

Indeed, the Oxford American wrote in March, before Redbone’s passing:

His parents were living in the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem in 1948 when the newly established Israeli government seized their property.

The problem here is that the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City was captured by Jordan in 1948. Israel could not have seized any property from there. Perhaps the Gobalian family’s property was confiscated by Jordan?

Jerusalem’s Old City

We contacted the New York Times and The Oxford American requesting a correction. Watch this space.

Related reading: Yitzhak Shamir and the Ghoul Pool

Featured image: via YouTube/anth ny; Old City map via Wikimedia Commons;

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