Simon Wiesenthal Center: Amanpour “Private” Apology Not Good Enough

May 22, 2023

The Simon Wiesenthal Center said today that the “private” apology by CNN international anchor Christiane Amanpour to Rabbi Dee and his surviving children is not good enough after she falsely said that Mrs Dee and her two daughters were “killed in a shootout.” In her show, Amanpour declared, “The mother and two Israel-British sisters – they were killed in a shootout.” 

 

While Ms Amanpour claimed that she “misspoke” and that there was no “ill intent,” the fact remains that she has not used her international platform to tell her viewers and the world that she was wrong. This is not the only mischaracterization of these terrorist murders. BBC [#3 on SWC’s 2021 Global Anti-Semitism Top Ten]  was also heavily criticized for describing the incident as a car “crashing after coming under fire” without acknowledging it was a terror attack.

 

“The brutal murder of three women by Palestinian terrorists because they were Israeli Jews. Unfortunately these latest incidents reflect a broader trend on many international broadcast outlets who too often drop journalistic rules of reporting the facts in order to cover for, minimize, or even deny the devastating impact of Palestinian terrorism on Israeli civilians. It appears that such canards have been spread and validated by media outlets more interested in scoring propaganda points with Palestinians and their supporters than telling the truth about Palestinian terrorism. Today, tens of millions of Europeans believe that what the Germans did to the Jews in the 1930s and 1940s is what Israelis are doing to Palestinians in 2023. They come to this conclusion in large measure because of the anti-Israel bias of many of the reporters, ” stated Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean and Director of Global Social Action.

**UPDATE**

Amanpour apologized on air for incorrect comments she made about the murders of three dual Israeli-UK nationals in a terror attack last month. “During that live interview I misspoke and said that they were killed in a shootout, instead of a shooting,” Amanpour said on CNN Monday evening. “I have written to Rabbi Dee to apologize and make sure that he knows that we apologize for any further pain that may have caused him.”

 For further information, please email Michele Alkin, Director of Global Communications at malkin@wiesenthal.com or Shawn Rodgers at srodgers@wiesenthal.com, join the Center on Facebook, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent directly to your Twitter feed.

 

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is an international Jewish human rights organization numbering over 400.000 members. It holds consultative status at the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the Council of Europe, the OAS and the Latin American Parliament (PARLATINO).