It was bad enough when the Johannesburg Star published a nasty screed in April by South Africa's Minister of Intelligence Ronnie Kasrils. Red Ronnie's commentary (no longer online) blamed Israel for the 1982 Sabra and Shatilla massacre.
Accompanying the column were three photos: one from Sabra and Shatilla, one from Jenin after the non-massacre, and one from Tyre after an Israeli air strike during the Second War in Lebanon. The images and their captions certainly fit Kasrils' warped view of a bloody IDF.
Now, the Star's ombudsman, Joe Thloloe,has issued a half-baked apology (only available online to premium subscribers) merely acknowledging there was no massacre in Jenin. And the assertion that Israel was responsible for Sabra and Shatilla? No apology for that, even though Christian Phalangists were found responsible for that.
In an outrageous defense of the image selection, ombudsman Joe Thloloe reveals his and the Star's severe lack of objectivity, writing (via It's Almost Supernatural):
Whether one agrees or disagrees with Kasrils on the source of the violence it is true that Israel has been on a bloody path. The intention of the newspaper in using these pictures was to illustrate that path.
