CiF Watch prompts correction to false BDS victory claim by Irish Times

On Aug. 7 we commented on a piece of anti-Zionist agitprop published at the Irish Times which, among other distortions, included a passage falsely suggesting that the company Veolia had, under pressure from BDS activists, divested from Jerusalem’s Light Rail system.

veolia

Here’s the passage in question:

Veolia, the French conglomerate that operates Luas in Dublin, and Alstom, came under pressure from the Palestinian Boycott Divestment and Sanctions campaign to withdraw from the Jerusalem consortium. Veolia did, but Alstom kept building 46 trams.

We demonstrated that the claim that Veolia had already withdrawn from the Jerusalem Light Rail consortium was flatly untrue. We noted that while they do eventually intend to  abandon investment in all transportation projects (including light rail projects), this is only part of a broader business strategy to focus on environmental services, energy, and water – and cited an article in the financial paper Globes detailing the company’s significant ongoing investment in the Israeli energy sector.

We contacted editors at the Irish Times seeking a correction to the false suggestion of a BDS victory, and we recently received word that the correction had been made. The article was amended on Wednesday, August 14th, and the passage now reads:

Veolia, the French conglomerate that operates Luas in Dublin, and Alstom, came under pressure from the Palestinian Boycott Divestment and Sanctions campaign to withdraw from the Jerusalem consortium. Veolia, which denies it is acting under political pressure, has yet to sell out. 

Despite this victory, the Irish Times article in question is still an atrocious example of ideologically driven activist journalism, and we intend to continue monitoring the paper and holding them accountable when they engage in similarly false or misleading allegations.

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