Mark Slapinski
An international human rights lawyer, Arsen Ostrovsky, slammed the Guardian for its reporting on the ongoing Texas hostage situation. After an armed man took hostages at a synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, the Guardian put the word ‘hostage’ in quotations. The article was soon corrected by the Guardian.
The media continues its habit of making enemies of its readers. After a rabbi and three other worshippers were taken hostage during a Bar Mitzvah celebration at a Synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, on Saturday, the Guardian decided to put the word ‘hostage’ in quotations. This angered readers, including lawyer Arsen Ostrovsky, who used profanity to describe the error. The Guardian responded by removing the quotations, however tweets including the quotations are still live at the time of writing. Toronto 99 archived the tweet in case it gets deleted.
Ostrovsky was not alone in his anger towards the Guardian. Canadian columnist Vivian Bercovici weighed in, claiming that the Guardian was questioning whether the hostage situation was real. She demanded the Guardian fix the error. It is notable that Bercovici was formerly the Canadian ambassador to Israel. Some went as far as suggesting the Guardian harbours bad feelings towards Jewish people.
Multiple news outlets have reported the gunman claims to be Muhammad Siddiqui, brother of Pakistani Al-Qaeda affiliate Aafia Siddiqui. Siddiqui is serving a long prison sentence for various crimes including trying to kill US soldiers. The FBI has not officially confirmed his identity as of writing. Earlier reports incorrectly labelled the man as Palestinian.
