Forbes Publishes False Story Claiming ‘Hundreds of Israelis Enter Al-Aqsa’

There is no more dangerous charge made against Israelis, sure to whip up the murderous rage of Palestinians and other Muslims, than the accusation that Jews “have entered Al-Aqsa Mosque.” Forbes made that claim last week. There was no truth to it, and CAMERA, that constantly looks for falsehoods reported about Israel and the Palestinians, and urges their correction, promptly got in touch with Forbes and asked for it to publish a correction. More on this charge, CAMERA’s correction, and the reaction of Forbes, can be found here: “Forbes’ Al Aqsa Libel: Ben-Gvir, 100s of Jewish Israelis ‘Enter’ Mosque,” by Tamar Sternthal, CAMERA, August 18, 2024:

Channeling the Qatari-run Al Jazeera and the government-controlled Turkish Anadolu Agency, Forbes falsely reported last week that Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir, along with hundreds of others, entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. The fallacious chyron appearing at the bottom of the screen for the entire duration of Forbes’ Aug. 13 video is identical to the clip’s headline, which is: “Israeli security minister Ben-Gvir, Hundreds of Israelis Enter Jerusalem’s Al Aqsa Mosque to Pray.”

While Muslim Israelis may have entered Al Aqsa Mosque to pray that day, Ben-Gvir and the hundreds of Israeli Jews who accompanied him did not enter the mosque. Any Muslim Israeli who may have entered the Mosque to pray were not part of the group of hundreds of Israeli Jews who accompanied Ben-Gvir.

The mosque, Islam’s third holiest site, is located on the vast Temple Mount plaza, also referred to as the Noble Sanctuary (Haram al-Sharif in Arabic; Har Habayit in Hebrew), Judaism’s holiest site. Ben-Gvir and Jewish visitors remained outdoors only on the Temple Mount plaza, and did not step foot inside the Al Aqsa mosque. The accompanying video shows Ben-Gvir and the Jewish visitors outdoors on the plaza. Tellingly, there is not a single frame of them inside the mosque because they never stepped foot inside.

The video that Forbes posted shows Ben-Gvir and other Jewish visitors on the plaza, never inside al-Aqsa itself. Had they gone inside the mosque at any point, there would certainly have been videos of the transgression. But there are none, because none of the Israeli Jews had any intention of entering Al-Aqsa.

Indeed, Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned Ben-Gvir’s visit to “visit to the Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount,” and notably not to the Al Aqsa Mosque because the Israeli visitor and the hundreds who joined him did not visit the mosque.

Blinken thinks that Jews should not even visit the Temple Mount in large numbers because, in his view, this is a deliberate provocation of the Palestinians. He wishes to deny the Jews even the right to visit Temple Mount, which they have been exercising since the Six-Day War. But he said nothing about Ben Gvir and other Israelis entering Al-Aqsa, because there had been no such entry. All Ben-Gvir intended to do was to assert the right of Jews to visit the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism, en masse. Should that exercise be condemned?

Why did Forbes take so long to remove the incriminating video in which such a false and dangerous charge — about Jews entering Al-Aqsa Mosque — had been made? Why was it not removed at once? And why did Forbes, after being alerted to its error by CAMERA, let a few days pass before removing the video? And one more question: why did Forbes never publicly declare the reason for the video being taken down? It ought to have publicly announced that “we have removed the video that falsely charged Israeli Jews with entering Al-Aqsa Mosque. There is no evidence to support that charge. We regret the error.”

No charge against Israelis is as likely to lead to Arab hysteria, riots, and attacks on Jews than the charge that “Al-Aqsa has been violated by the Jews.” Forbes’ refusal to take down the video for several days put Jewish lives in danger.