Monthly Archives: January 2000

Additional Corrections on Christian Issues

Error (Haaretz, Op-Ed, Nicolas Pelham, 5/12/14): The Knesset bans Christmas trees, which sprout all over Palestine, from its premises.

Correction (Online as of 5/12/14, not in print): The Knesset bans Christmas trees which sprout all over Palestine from public display on its premises.


 

Error (Washington Post, Sally Quinn, 12/14/13): [Ari] Shavit is most worried about the gradual disappearance of the Christian community in Israel and Palestine.

Correction (12/28/13 print edition): Sally Quinn’s On Faith column in the Dec. 14 Metro section incorrectly referred to the “gradual disappearance of the Christian community” in Israel. According to Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics, that country’s Christian population has grown over the past year and the past decade.

Thumbs Up to Jeff Jacoby

THUMBS UP to Boston Globe columnist Jeff Jacoby for fearless, factual commentary on important topics ignored by many journalists, such as the dangerous phenomenon of Arab anti-Semitism. Jacoby observes that the lack of media focus on the issue “is perplexing” since the Arab-Israeli negotiations get covered in detail. “American and European journalists pay great attention to the Arab world’s diplomatic dealings with the Jewish state,” he writes. “How odd that they pay almost none to what Arabs and Muslims actually say about Jews.”

Jacoby does pay attention to what Arabs and Muslims say, reporting to readers the specific content of anti-Semitic canards spread in Arab media, schools and mosques.

Daring to question Muslim groups in America about their near total silence in the face of oppression by their co-religionists also places Jacoby in a minority of journalists prepared to buck popular fashion. In a June 24, 1999 column, he urged Muslim Americans to speak out for 13 Iranian Jews imprisoned in Iran, almost certainly on false charges.

He wrote:

Calls for release of the Jews … come from around the world. The governments of Argentina, Canada, Germany, Israel, Italy, Russia and the United States have expressed concern; so have the European Union, Amnesty International and the Dalai Lama.

But, he wrote, from America’s Muslim community, there has been “mostly — silence.” In contrast, Jacoby noted, Muslim groups are vocal in protesting unflattering media and Hollywood images of Muslims.

Jacoby revisited the subject in a January 6, 2000 column in which he singled out for praise little known Muslim moderates whose voices are drowned out by the extremists.

Jacoby’s unflinching columns often prompt sharp reaction, a measure of how unusual is the coverage of such key information.

Additional Chicago Tribune Corrections

Error (Chicago Tribune, Op-Ed by Gary Fields, 2/22/04): More than a physical barrier imposed by the powerful upon the region’s stateless and dispossessed, the wall expresses a collective psychology of conquest articulated most succinctly by one of its leading proponents, Moshe Yaalon, the Israeli army chief of staff.

He insists that “the Palestinians must be made to understand in the deepest recesses of their consciousness that they are a defeated people.”

Correction (3/6/09): In a Perspective piece by Gary Fields, professor of communications at the University of California, San Diego, that ran in Feb. 22, 2004, editions of the Chicago Tribune, an unverified quote was used and attributed to the Israeli army’s chief of staff, Moshe Yaalon. The op-ed quoted Yaalon as saying that “the Palestinians must be made to understand in the deepest recesses of their consciousness that they are a defeated people.” While cited frequently over the years, this quote does not appear in the Israeli newspaper article to which it has been attributed, and the writer of that article said Yaalon did not say this. Fields could not confirm the origin of the quote. A spokesman for Yaalon said Thursday that Yaalon was misquoted and did not say the sentence attributed to him. Since the exact origin of the quotation has not been found and verified, it should not have been used in the Tribune.

 

Error (Chicago Tribune, from Los Angeles Times, 7/26/08): …the rabbi who manages Judaism’s holiest site [the Western Wall], was furious.

Correction (7/30/08): A story in Saturday’s Section 1 incorrectly referred to Jerusalem’s Western Wall as “Judaism’s holiest site.” It is Judaism’s holiest shrine.

Fact: While the Western Wall is the holiest man-made structure at which Jews are permitted to pray, the holiest ground in Judaism is on the Temple Mount.

 

Error (Chicago Tribune, AP article by Josef Federman, 7/9/04): By September 2005, Sharon plans to pull all Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

Correction (7/14/04): A stroy on Page 3 Friday reported incorrectly that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon plans to pull all Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank by September 2005. The plan does not call for a general troop withdrawal from the West Bank. However, it would withdraw all settlers from Gaza along with the soldiers who guard them. In addition, it would evacuate four isolated settlements in the West Bank and redeploy the soldiers guarding them.

 

Error (Chicago Tribune, Joel Greenberg, 3/22/04): He [Yassin] said that “Israel will pay for its crimes” and that Hamas would continue resisting occupation, a phrase that generally refers to bombing and shooting attacks on Israelis in the West Bank and Gaza.

Correction (3/27/04): Stories Jan. 17 and March 22 gave an incomplete explanation of what the militant group Hamas means when it talks about resisting Israeli occupation. Hamas says it considers Israel, as well as the West Bank and Gaza Strip, to be occupied land, so its use of the term resistance can refer to attacks inside Israel as well as Israelis in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

 

Error (Chicago Tribune, HealthDay, 8/10/03): In a three-year round of terrorism that has left 472 dead [in Israel] and 3,846 injured, no studies had looked at the psychological impact of the violence until now, the authors asserted.

Correction (8/17/03): The Discoveries column in the Q section Aug. 10 misstated the number of terrorism casualties in Israel over the last three years. The Israel Defense Forces Web site put the numbers at 820 dead and 5,640 injured after an update Thursday.

 

Additional Boston Globe Corrections

Error (Boston Globe, H.D.S. Greenway op-ed, 9/7/10): Arafat finally died, holed up in a bunker under Israeli siege.

Correction (10/5/10): In my last column I incorrectly wrote that Yasser Arafat died on the West Bank. He was evacuated to France and died in a French hospital.

 

Error (Boston Globe, AP, 1/12/10): The [planned fence on the Israeli-Egyptian border] would come in addition to a massive fence that surrounds the Hamas-controlled Gaza frontier with the West Bank, biting into chunks of the territory as it runs.

Correction (1/13/10): Because of an editing error, the Globe version of an Associated Press story on yesterday’s World pages about Israel’s plan to build two fences along its southern border with Egypt mischaracterized the project. The story should have stated the structure would be in addition to a massive fence surrounding the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, as well as a separation barrier that snakes along parts of Israel’s more than 400-mile frontier with the West Bank.

 

Error (Boston Globe, AP article by Amy Tiebel, 12/30/09): Israel’s Supreme Court ordered the military yesterday to allow Palestinians to travel on the part of a major highway that runs through the West Bank, handing Palestinians their biggest victory yet against Israel’s practice of reserving some roads for Jews.

Correction (1/5/09): An Associated Press story on Dec. 30 incorrectly stated Israeli restrictions on road travel. Israel reserves some roads for the use of Israeli citizens.

 

Error (Boston Globe, photo caption, 2/13/07): An Orthodox Jewish man looked at the excavation site in front of the Dome of the Rock (top) at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem’s Old City yesterday. Hoping to quell Muslim protests, Jerusalem’s mayor yesterday order a review of construction outside the holy site at issue in the Arab-Israeli conflict, a spokesman said. Preparatory excavations began last week and have infuriated people across the Muslim world who want the shrine protected.

Correction (2/15/07): Clarification: A photo caption in Tuesday’s World pages showing excavation outside the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem may have left the impression, based on concerns raised by Muslims, that the construction imperils the mosque. Israel says the mosque, which is 400 feet from the work, is in no danger.

 

Error (Boston Globe, Reuters photo caption, 12/13/06): Palestinians displayed an image of the slain sons of an intelligence official at a rally yesterday in Gaza

Correction (12/14/06): The placement of a photograph on yesterday’s World page of three slain Palestinian children with a story about an Israeli court ruling allowing Palestinians to sue Israel’s military for damages may have implied that Israelis were responsible for the children’s killings.  Palestinian gunmen are suspected of carrying out the killings.

 

Error (Boston Globe, Thannassis Cambanis, 12/31/2005): Palestinian firms have risen to the occasion, repairing greenhouses sabotaged by departing settlers and by Palestinian looters.

Correction (11/3/2005): Because of a reporting error, a Page One story Monday about greenhouses in former Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip stated that Israeli settlers sabotaged greenhouses before withdrawing from Gaza in August. The article should have said some settlers dismantled their own greenhouses before leaving, and that Palestinians looted some greenhouses after the Israelis withdrew. A Palestinian official, Mahmoud Abu Samra, asserted to the reporter that Israelis had sabotaged some greenhouses, but he did not provide evidence to substantiate the allegation.

 

Error (Boston Globe, Reuters article, 10/14/05): Another major denomination, the United Church of Christ, turned down the divestment idea at its convention last summer.

Correction (Boston Globe, 10/20/05): Because of an error by the Reuters news agency, a story on the Oct. 14 Nation pages misstated the position of the United Church of christ on divesting from companies that profit from Israel’s occupation of the West Bank. Last summer, the church’s General Synod endorsed a broad “economic leverage” program rather than one specifically of divestment, though it retained that as an option. It also castigated Israel for building a barrier to seal off the West Bank.

 

Error (Boston Globe, H.D.S. Greenway op-ed, 8/27/04): In [Richard] Perle’s case, much has been made of a paper that he and others, including the Pentagon’s Douglas Feith, wrote some years ago for Israel’s right-wing politician, Benjamin Netanyahu, calling for a “New Strategy For Securing The Realm.” Their advice included getting the United States to overthrow Saddam Hussein as well as other moves in the Middle East to increase Israel’s strategic position.

Correction (9/2/04): In last week’s column, which defended the right of all Americans to concern themselves with other countries of their choice, I specifically defended Richard Perle’s right to help write a policy position for Israel. Although that paper called for “removing Saddah [sic] Hussein from power” as well as “strategic cooperation” with the United States, it did not specifically call upon the United States to get the job done.

 

Error (Boston Globe, Washington Post article by John Ward Anderson, 7/12/04): The bombing yesterday near a bus stop in central Tel Aviv was the first Palestinian attack inside Israel since a March 14 double suicide bombing at the seaport of Ashdod that killed 10 people, and it was the first in Tel Aviv in more than 14 months.

Correction (7/30/04): A Washington Post story on July 12 about a bomb attack that killed an Israeli woman at a Tel Aviv bus stop said it was the first Palestinian attack inside Israel since a double suicide bombing in Ashdod killed 12 people in March. On June 28, Palestinian militants fired homemade rockets from inside the Gaza Strip, killing an Israeli man and boy in the Israeli town of Sderot.

 

Error (Boston Globe, AP article by Josef Federman, 7/8/04): By September 2005, Sharon plans to pull all troops from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

Correction (7/16/04): Because of an error by the Associated Press, a story on the July 8 World page about Israel’s plan to pull its troops out of the Gaza Strip incorrectly reported that Israel is also planning to pull out of the West Bank. The plan calls for only a limited withdrawal from four West Bank settlements.

 

Error (Boston Globe, AP, Ali Daraghmeh, 6/11/04): In more than three years of Israeli-Palestinian fighting, Palestinian police have become increasingly ineffective, particularly in the West Bank, where Israel does not allow Palestinian officers to patrol in uniform or with arms.

Correction (7/2/04): Because of an error by the Associated Press, an article in the World pages on June 11 about the United Nations suspending a construction project in a Palestinian refugee camp erroneously reported that Israel does not allow Palestinian officers to patrol in uniform in the West Bank. Current Israeli policy allows for uniformed Palestinian policemen in the area.

 

Error (Boston Globe, Farah Stockman, 4/15/04): Since the 1967 war, when Israel captured Gaza and the West Bank, US policy has regarded settlements in those territories as illegal under international law.

Correction (5/5/04): Because of a reporting error, an April 15 Page One story on US policy on the Middle East incorrectly stated that since 1967 US government policy has regarded Israeli settlements in the West Bank and the Gaza strip as illegal under international law. The Carter administration held that settlements were illegal. Subsequent administrations, including the current Bush administration, have opposed settlement activity, but have taken no position on the legality of the settlements.

 

Error (Boston Globe, Herbert Kelman op-ed, 4/8/04): The most elaborate of these [peace] proposals is the Geneva accord, developed under the leadership of Yossi Beilin and Yasser Abed Rabbo, Cabinet members and leading negotiators of the Israeli and Palestinian governments, respectively.

Correction (4/22/04): An April 8 op-ed piece misstated the status of Yossi Beilin and Yasser Abed Rabbo in the Israeli and Palestinian governments, respectively. They are both former Cabinet ministers.

 

Error (Boston Globe, Tom Wallace, oped, 12/3/03): If built according to current maps, the wall will confiscate 55 percent of the Palestinian West Bank. . .

Correction (12/11/03): Clarification: A Dec. 3 column by Tom Wallace stated that the security fence in Israel will confiscate 55 percent of the West Bank. This is a projection by Gush Shalom and other peace groups. The United Nations estimates less than 20 percent of the West Bank will be on the Israeli side of the fence.

 

Error (Boston Globe, letter headline, 9/19/03): Real Root of Palestinian Alienation Is Their Second-Class Status in Israel

Correction (9/20/03): Also, the letter [yesterday] from S.H. Grossman had a misleading headline. Grossman contended that the reason Israeli Arabs are alienated is not their second-class status in Israel but, possibly, “the destructive influence of the Palestinian movement.”

 

Error (Boston Globe, 7/14/03): The refugees and many other Palestinians publicly say there can be no peace with Israel until Tel Aviv recognizes the refugees’ right to return.

Correction (7/17/03): Because of an editing error, a story on a Palestinian protest in Monday’s World pages incorrectly suggested that Tel Aviv is the capital of Israel. The capital is Jerusalem.

 

Error (Boston Globe, Dan Ephron, 5/28/03): But it [the “road map”] does say the final agreement should be anchored in UN resolutions and a Saudi peace initiative that call for Israel’s withdrawal from all of the West Bank and Gaza.

Correction (5/30/03): Because of an editing error, a story on Wednesday’s World page about the Mideast peace process incorrectly described past United Nations resolutions on the issue. Security Council Resolution 242 calls for Israel to withdraw from territories occupied in the 1967 war, without identifying the territories or specifying the extent of the withdrawal.

 

Error (Boston Globe, Web headline, 3/6/03): Israeli troops kill 11 Palestinians in Gaza after Haifa suicide bombing

Correction (Posted later that day): Palestinians: Israeli troops raid Gaza refugee camp, at least 11 dead

 

Error (Boston Globe, Patrick Healy, 1/29/03): With Sharon’s Likud party coasting to victory, several Palestinians living in Jerusalem–and barred from voting because of citizenship laws–said that the only assured result of yesterday’s election would be more bloodshed.

Correction (2/4/03): Clarification: A Jan. 29 story on the World pages about the Israeli elections was unclear on the voting rights of Palestinians living in Jerusalem. Palestinians living there can seek Israeli citizenship and, if they obtain it, can vote in Israeli elections. If they do not become citizens, they can still vote in municipal elections.

 

Error (Boston Globe, photo caption, 9/5/02): Initisar and Kifah Ajouri, expelled from the West Bank for being kin of alleged terrorist Ali Ajouri, in Gaza City.

Correction (9/6/02): Because of an editing error, a photo caption in yesterday’s World section incorrectly characterized the reason for the expulsion of Intisar and Kifah Ajouri from the West Bank. According to the Israeli army, the Ajouris assisted their brother in preparations for a July suicide bombing in Tel Aviv, and the Israeli Supreme Court ruled the pair posed a security risk to Israel.

 

Error (Boston Globe, photo caption, 5/9/02): An Israeli bomb squad robot dragged a wounded Palestinian man on a road in northern Israel yesterday.

Correction (Editor’s Note (5/10/02)): A caption that accompanied a photograph in yesterday’s World section should have said that the wounded Palestinian being dragged by an Israeli bomb squad robot was a suspected suicide bomber who was badly injured when explosives he was carrying blew up prematurely.

 

Error (Boston Globe, H.D.S. Greenway, 3/8/02 & 3/15/02 ): “The fall of Balata” — a refugee camp — “will break the Palestinian resistance.” (Brigadier General Ephraim Eitam of the Israeli Army) (op-ed, 3/8/02) The speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Ahmed Qurei, was wounded in his car [at a checkpoint] for reasons that have not been explained. . .

Correction ((3/22/02)): In a March 8 column I said that a Palestinian politician, Ahmed Qurei, had been wounded at an Israeli checkpoint. I am happy to report that none of the eight bullets Israeli soldiers fired onto his car hit him. Also, in a March 15 column, the correct title for Ephraim Eitam is brigadier general, retired.

 

Error (Boston Globe, editorial, 7/10/01): Israeli mines are planted in areas where Palestinian civilians are trying to live their lives.

Correction (Correction 8/16/01): An editorial July 10 implied that, in the current Middle East conflict, Israel is placing mines in areas where Palestinians live. This claim is not substantiated.

 

Error (Boston Globe, Anne E. Kornblut, 6/27/01): “One must understand that if last week we had five dead, it’s like the United States, Mr. President, having 250 killed, or maybe even 30 people killed by terror, ” Sharon said in a joint photo session with Bush before their meeting at the White House.

Correction (6/28/01): Because of a typographical error, a Page 1 story yesterday on the meeting between President Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon misquoted one number in a statement by Sharon. The correct quote reads: “One must understand that if last week we had five dead, it’s like the United States, Mr. President, having 250 killed, or maybe even 300 people killed by terror.”

 

Error (Boston Globe, Charles Sennott, 10/18/00): The couple, like many of the 40,000 in Gilo, live there probably less for the ideological commitment to settling the land for Jews and more for the government subsidies and affordable housing that come with living in a settlement.

Correction (10/20/00): Because of a reporting error, a story in Wednesday’s A section about violence on the outskirts of Jerusalem indicated that the residential area of Jerusalem known as Gilo received government subsidies that are provided to Jewish settlements. Israeli officials say the funding provided in Gilo is the same as the funding given to areas within the municipality of Jerusalem and does not come from budgets provided for Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza.

 

Error (Reuters in Boston Globe, 8/20/00): Israel captured Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war and has declared the city its “united, eternal capital.”

Correction (8/27/00): A Reuters news service story in last Sunday’s editions should have said that Israel captured East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war. Israel already controlled West Jerusalem.

 

Error (Boston Globe, 7/13/00): The Palestinians insist that the peace accord signed on the White House Lawn more than six years ago was established within the framework of Israel complying with UN Resolution 242, which calls for Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank.

Correction (7/14/00): A story in yesterday’s edition on the Mideast summit at Camp David should have made it clear that UN Resolution 242 does not refer to the West Bank by name but calls for Israel to withdraw from territories occupied in the 1967 war. The resolution, which formalizes the principals of land-for-peace in the Arab-Israeli conflict, is ambiguous on the amount of occupied territory from which Israel should withdraw.

 

Error (Boston Globe, Lee Hockstader, 6/8/00): But yesterday’s vote sets the stage for political jockeying that could reshape the government or permanently deprive Barak of his parliamentary majority. Barak himself would not face the voters.

Correction (6/10/00): Because of an editing error, a story Thursday on Israeli politics incorrectly described the impact on Prime Minister Ehud Barak’s status if Parliament passes legislation mandating early elections. Barak would have to run for reelection because the prime minister’s term corresponds to the Parliament’s.

 

Error (Boston Globe headline, 5/31/00): Last Israeli soldier to die in Lebanon is mourned.

Correction (6/1/00): Because of an editing error, a headline in yesterday’s A section incorrectly described the circumstances of the death of the last Israeli soldier killed before Israel pulled its troops out of south Lebanon. The soldier was on the Israeli side of the border when he was hit by a rocket.

 

Error (Boston Globe, Charles Sennott, 12/3/98): Israel released 150 Palestinian prisoners last month, but Palestinian leaders say half of them were common criminals and not the political prisoners they had expected to be freed.

Correction (12/5/98): Because of a reporting error, a Page One story on Thursday incorrectly stated that the Israeli government recently released 150 Palestinian prisoners last month. The correct number, as the Globe has reported in the past, is 250 prisoners.

Additional E-1 Corrections

Error (Ha’aretz, Chaim Levinson and Barak Ravid, 1/14/13): The evacuation — which involved about 500 police and Israel Defense Forces soldiers — was carried out despite a temporary injunction issued by the High Court of Justice preventing the state from evacuating the encampment for six days, pending deliberations.

Correction (2/7/13): In the article “Troops evacuate Palestinians from E-1 tent protest despite court injunction,” by Chaim Levinson and Barak Ravid, it should have been made clear that the court injunction referred to tents rather than the protesters.


Error (Guardian, Harriet Sherwood, 1/13/13): On Saturday evening, Netanyahu demanded the Israeli supreme court overturn an injunction preventing the removal of the protesters, and ordered the area to be declared a closed military zone. . . .

The activists sought legal protection from the supreme court, which granted an injunction against eviction and gave the state of Israel up to six days to respond.

Correction (1/17/13): On Saturday evening, Netanyahu demanded the Israeli supreme court overturn an injunction preventing the removal of the tents, and ordered the area to be declared a closed military zone. . . .

This article was amended on 14 January and 17 January 2013. Activists were detained but not formally arrested. In addition a sub-heading and text were amended to make clear the Supreme Court injunction referred to tents rather than the protesters. This has been corrected.


Error (Guardian, subheadline, 1/13/13): Israeli military detain activists in early morning swoop on Bab al-Shams encampment despite supreme court ruling

Correction (1/17/13): Israeli military detain activists in early morning swoop on Bab al-Shams . . .

This article was amended on 14 January and 17 January 2013. Activists were detained but not formally arrested. In addition a sub-heading and text were amended to make clear the Supreme Court injunction referred to tents rather than the protesters. This has been corrected.


Error (Los Angeles Times, Maher Abukhater, 1/14/13): Police also removed 25 tents from the area.

Correction (1/16/13): Palestinian tents: An article in the Jan. 14 Section A about a police raid on a tent village set up by Palestinian activists on land that Israel has designated as the site of a new settlement said that the tents were removed. The activists were evicted, but the tents were left standing pending a court appeal.


Error (Guardian, Harriet Sherwood, 1/13/13): According to activists, a large military force surrounded the encampment at around 3am. All protesters were arrested and six were injured, said Abir Kopty. . . .

Palestinian legislator Mustafa Barghouti, who was was among those arrested, said the eviction was “proof that the Israeli government operates an apartheid system.”

Correction (Online as of 1/15/13): This article was amended on 14 January 2013. Activists were detained but not formally arrested. This has been corrected.


Error (New York Times, Jodi Ruderon and Mark Landler, 12/1/12): Construction in E1, in West Bank territory that Israel captured in the 1967 war, would connect the large Jewish settlement of Maale Adumim to Jerusalem, dividing the West Bank in two. The Palestinian cities of Ramallah and Bethlehem would be cut off from the capital, making the contiguous Palestinian state endorsed by the United Nations last week virtually impossible.

Correction (12/8/12): Because of an editing error, an article last Saturday about Israel’s decision to move forward with planning and zoning for settlements in an area east of Jerusalem known as E1 described imprecisely the effect of such development on access to the cities of Ramallah and Bethlehem from Jerusalem. While development of E1 would limit access to Ramallah and Bethlehem to narrow corridors far from the Old City and downtown Jerusalem, it would not completely separate those cities from Jerusalem.


Error (New York Times, Jodi Ruderon, 12/2/12): Construction in E1, in West Bank territory that Israel captured in the 1967 war, would connect the large Jewish settlement of Maale Adumim to Jerusalem, dividing the West Bank in two. The Palestinian cities of Ramallah and Bethlehem would be cut off from the capital, making the contiguous Palestinian state endorsed by the United Nations last week virtually impossible. . . Like E1, [construction in Givat Hamatos] too would be a roadblock to plans for a contiguous Palestinian state . .

Correction (12/16/12 (in print); 12/10/12 (online)): An article on Dec. 2 about Israel’s decision to move forward with planning and zoning for settlements in an area east of Jerusalem known as E1 described imprecisely the effect of such development on access to the cities of Ramallah and Bethlehem from Jerusalem, and on the West Bank. Development of E1 would limit access to Ramallah and Bethlehem, leaving narrow corridors far from the Old City and downtown Jerusalem; it would not completely cut off those cities from Jerusalem. It would also create a large block of Israeli settlements in the center of the West Bank; it would not divide the West Bank in two. And because of an editing error, the article referred incompletely to the possibility of a contiguous Palestinian state. Critics see E1 as a threat to the meaningful contiguity of such a state because it would leave some Palestinian areas connected by roads with few exits or by circuitous routes; the proposed development would not technically make a contiguous Palestinian state impossible.


Additional BBC Corrections

Error (BBC World Service, Newshour, Lyse Doucet, 8/2/13): “And yet we’ve never heard Mr. Netanyahu describe [Mahmoud Abbas] as a partner for peace.”

Correction (Clarification appended to Web site): Clarification: In this interview we gave the impression that Mr Netanyahu has not called Mr Abbas a ‘partner for peace’ when he has done so previously.

Fact: See details here.

 

Error (BBC Web site, 7/29/09): Haj Amin al-Husseini was a Palestinian nationalist leader who led violent campaigns against Jewish immigrants …

Correction (Updated story, 8/4/09): Haj Amin al-Husseini was a Palestinian nationalist leader who led violent campaigns against Jews …

 

Error (BBC Web site, 1/21/09): Hamas supporters claim that many more Israelis died in the three weeks of the war than Tel Aviv’s official count of only 13 dead.

Correction (2/27/09): Hamas supporters claim that many more Israelis died in the three weeks of the war than Israel’s official count of only 13 dead.

 

Error (BBC Web site, 7/25/08): The Western, or Wailing, Wall, is the holiest place in Judaism.

Correction (12/18/08): The Western, or Wailing, Wall, is one of the holiest places in Judaism.

Update 18 December 2008: This story originally referred to the Wailing Wall as the holiest place in Judaism. This reference has been amended.

 

Error (BBC Web site, 7/3/08): … Iran is not making highly enriched uranium suitable for a weapon, only low-enriched uranium useable as nuclear power fuel.

Correction (Updated story, 8/28/08): … Iran is not, openly at least, making highly enriched uranium suitable for a weapon, only low-enriched uranium useable as nuclear power fuel. …

(Further update 28 August: it has been pointed out that some people are sceptical of the claim by Iran that it is enriching only to low values. For example, the US National Intelligence Estimate stated: “We assess with moderate confidence that Iran probably would use covert facilities rather than its declared nuclear sites for the production of highly enriched uranium for a weapon.”

And the former head of Israeli Military Intelligence Maj-Gen Aharon Ze’evi-Farkash told the Jerusalem Post that, recognising that the international community had discovered their covert programme (in 2002), the Iranians set about hiding its traces, but then resumed their activities.)

 

Error (BBC Web site article, 1/28/08): Israel began tightening its blockade of the Gaza Strip after an increase in rocket attacks by militants targeting its settlements near the border. [emphasis added]

Correction (2/2008): Israel began tightening its blockade of the Gaza Strip after an increase in rocket attacks by militants targeting its communities near the border. [emphasis added]

 

Error (BBC Web site, “In pictures” caption, 11/26/05): For the first time in nearly 40 years, Palestinians took back control of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt. (Emphasis added.)

Correction (11/28/05): Palestinians took control of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt for the first time. The crossing is a vital gateway to the outside world for Gaza’s residents and the strip’s economy. (Emphasis added.)

 

Error (BBC News Web site, 3/22/04): Hezbollah says the Shebaa Farms area is Lebanese territory, but Israel says the farms are on the Syrian side of the border and so are part of the Golan Heights, which it has occupied since 1967.

Correction (Posted as of 3/25/04): Hezbollah says the Shebaa Farms area is Lebanese territory, but Israel, backed by the UN, says the farms are on the Syrian side of the border and so are part of the Golan Heights, which it has occupied since 1967.

 

Error (BBC News, on-line, 5/3/03): The US also want Syria to crack down on the presence in Damascus of groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad which are blamed for attacks against Israel.

Correction (Later that day): The US also want Syria to crack down on the presence in Damascus of groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad which launch attacks on Israel.

Additional AP Corrections

Error (Captions, 11/12/14): A Palestinian shows a damaged Quran, Islam’s holy book, in a mosque following an attack in the West Bank village of Mughayer, north of Ramallah, Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2014. An attack against a mosque in a West Bank village early on Wednesday ignited a fire that destroyed its first floor, the village’s mayor said, blaming Jewish settlers for the attack.

Correction (12/15/14): A Palestinian shows a Quran, Islam’s holy book, damaged in a mosque fire in the West Bank village of Mughayer, north of Ramallah, Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2014. The village’s mayor accused Jewish settlers of setting the fire, which destroyed the first floor of the mosque, but Israeli investigators believe the fire was accidental.

 

Error (AP, 5/28/14): Israeli police say masked protesters hurled stones at policemen standing at the gates of the a sensitive Jerusalem holy site, prompting security forces to enter the compound and disperse the demonstrators.

Correction (5/28/14): Masked Palestinian protesters hurled stones at policemen manning the gates of a sensitive Jerusalem holy site on Wednesday, prompting security forces to enter the compound and disperse the demonstrators, Israeli police said.

 

Error (Los Angeles Times, wires, news brief, 12/31/12): In a major concession to the Gaza Strip’s Hamas leaders, Israel dropped its 5-year-old ban on construction materials crossing into the territory . . .

Correction (1/4/13): A brief article in the Jan. 1 Section A said that Israel had dropped a 5-year-old ban on construction materials crossing into the Gaza Strip. That ban applied to the private sector; Israel had allowed some construction goods into Gaza for humanitarian projects during that time.

 

Error (AP, Aron Heller and Ibrahim Barzak, 12/31/12): In a major concession to Gaza’s Hamas leaders Monday, Israel dropped its five-year ban on construction materials crossing into the territory and raised hopes there that rebuilding could begin following a damaging eight-day Israeli air campaign.

Correction (1/1/13): In a story Dec. 31, The Associated Press reported that Israel dropped a 5 1/2-year-old ban that prevented construction materials from entering the Gaza Strip. The story should have made clear that the ban applied toGaza‘s private sector. Under the closure, imposed following the Hamas militant group’s takeover of Gaza in June 2007, Israel allowed small amounts of construction goods into Gaza for humanitarian projects. In 2010 it began allowing such materials for projects under the auspices of the United Nations. Monday’s announcement by Israel, part of a cease-fire deal reached with Hamas in November, further eases the ban by allowing private businesses to ship in building materials.

 

Error (AP, photo caption, Tara Todras Whitehill, 10/23/11): In this photo taken Thursday, Oct. 20, 2011, freed Palestinian prisoner Hamuda Saleh, age 38, who was originally from the West Bank city of Nablus, prays near the pool at a hotel in Gaza City. Palestinian prisoners exiled to the Gaza Strip in a dramatic swap for a captive Israeli soldier last week are contemplating the rest of their lives after years behind bars. Some say they want to put their violent pasts behind them and move on with their lives, now that the celebrations marking their release have faded. In 1989 Saleh claims he was sentenced to multiple life sentences for being part of the ‘Ezz Al-Din Al Qassam’ militia, the military wing of Hamas.

Correction (10/24/11): In this photo taken Thursday, Oct. 20, 2011, freed Palestinian prisoner Hamuda Saleh, age 38, who was originally from the West Bank city of Nablus, prays near the pool at a hotel in Gaza City. Palestinian prisoners exiled to the Gaza Strip in a dramatic swap for a captive Israeli soldier last week are contemplating the rest of their lives after years behind bars. Some say they want to put their violent pasts behind them and move on with their lives, now that the celebrations marking their release have faded. In 1989 Saleh claims he was sentenced to multiple life sentences for being part of the ‘Ezz Al-Din Al Qassam’ militia, the military wing of Hamas. A list of prisoners released by Israel’s Prison service states Saleh was born in 1976, arrested in 2000 and sentenced to 22 years in jail for premeditated murder, membership in an unrecognized organization, planting a bomb and shooting at people.

 

Error (AP, Jamal Halaby, 12/11/10): There is a long history of violence between supporters of the two teams, stemming in part from the decades of tension with Jordan’s large Palestinian population, which includes an estimated 1.8 million refugees displaced after Israel’s 1948 creation and their descendants.

Correction (12/15/10): Clarification: In a Dec. 11 story about a brawl at a soccer game in Jordan, The Associated Press referred to Jordan’s large Palestinian population that includes an estimated 1.8 million refugees displaced after Israel’s 1948 creation and their descendants. The story should have made clear that the figure includes people who are either refugees displaced after Israel’s 1948 creation or descendants of those refugees.

 

Error (AP, Mohammed Daraghmeh, 4/7/10): [Fahmi] Shabaneh, who was fired in 2008 for alleged involvement in shady land deals, has tried to reinvent himself as an anti-corruption crusader, though he has not provided proof to back up his claims against [Rafiq] Husseini.

Correction (4/14/10): In an April 7 story about a West Bank corruption investigation, The Associated Press reported that Palestinian intelligence agent-turned whistleblower Fahmi Shabaneh was fired from his job in 2008.

Shabaneh denies he was fired at the time and has presented bank records to The Associated Press showing he received a salary from the Palestinian Authority until February 2010 when he went public with his allegations. He also presented an employment letter saying he was appointed to a different department in the intelligence services in December 2008.

However, the Palestinian intelligence service says that as of 2009, Shabaneh was no longer working for it though government officials had no explanation for why he remained on the payroll until February of this year.

CAMERA: Shabaneh had accused Mahmoud Abbas’ chief of staff Rafiq Husseini of involvement in a scheme to extort sex in exchange for political favors. A videotape available on YouTube of Husseini climbing naked into the bed of a woman not his wife and inviting her to join him speaks for itself and stands as proof. The woman had earlier approached Abbas’ office seeking assistance.

Error (AP, Jerry Harkavy, 6/29/09): The 147 [Seeds of Peace] campers at the first of this summer’s two sessions are from Afghanistan, Egypt, India, Israel, Jordan, Pakistan, Palestine and the United States.

Correction (Updated story 6/29/09): The 147 campers at the first of this summer’s two sessions are from Afghanistan, Egypt, India, Israel, Jordan, Pakistan, the West Bank and the United States.

 

Error (AP, Steve Gutkin, 5/7/08): Israel at 60 is a place where creativity flourishes but where Palestinians are not allowed on West Bank roads reserved for Jews.

Correction (5/8/08, Updated story): Israel at 60 is a place where creativity flourishes, but also where Palestinians are not allowed on West Bank roads reserved for Israelis.

 

Error (AP, Mohammed Daraghmeh, 8/6/07): The Palestinians are eager to restore the situation quickly to what it was before the outbreak of the uprising in September 2000, including assuming full control over West Bank cities again. Israel has agreed in principle, but the military has been slow to remove its West Bank checkpoints and reserves the right to chase Palestinian militants anywhere.

“So far, we are not satisfied with the progress,” said Palestinian Information Minister Riad Malki, adding that the West Bank government hopes to “take full security control of the territories.”

Correction (Karin Laub, later that day): The Israeli daily Haaretz on Monday cited Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad as telling Israeli officials the Palestinian security forces aren’t ready yet to assume control. The report contradicted the official Palestinian position that the West Bank towns should be handed over quickly.

Palestinian Information Minister Riad Malki insisted Monday that Fayyad, in recent meetings with Israeli officials, “affirmed that the Palestinian governemtn is ready to take control of all cities in the West Bank.”

However, a senior Palestinian security official in the West Bank town of Bethlehem said his forces need more time and training.

 

Error (AP, Sarah El Deeb, 6/5/07): The [Palestinian conference] was banned since it was backed by the Palestinian Authority, which Israeli law prohibits from operating in east Jerusalem, police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby said.

Correction (6/5/07, updated article): The gathering was banned since it was backed by the Palestinian Authority, police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby. The authority is barred from operating in east Jerusalem, which Israel annexed in 1967 soon after capturing it.

Fact: Bilateral peace accords prohibit Palestinian Authority activity in Jerusalem. The Declaration of Principles and the Interim Agreement stipulate that the Palestinian Council shall have no authority in Jerusalem during the interim period. Moreover, the Note for the Record attached to the Hebron Protocol restated that all Palestinian Council offices and activity remain in areas under Palestinian jurisdiction — in other words, outside of Jerusalem.

 

Error (AP, Steve Weizman, 5/7/07): Israel’s Justice Ministry, which received a copy of the [B’Tselem] report, said in response that Shin Bet interrogations are “performed in accordance with the law.” The report is “fraught with mistakes, groundless claims and inaccuracies,” the ministry said, without elaborating.

Correction (5/7/07): The report is “fraught with mistakes, groundless claims and inaccuracies,” the ministry said, but added that it could not give a detailed rebuttal to the allegations of illegal interrogation methods “due to confidentiality reasons.” The ministry did respond specifically to other charges in the report, unequivocally denying that interrogators sought to isolate and alienate prisoners, used bad language in front of them and served intentionally unappetizing food. “This bizarre claim is unfounded and is indicative of the lack of seriousness and tendentiousness of the person claiming it,” the ministry said of the food allegation.

 

Error (AP, Matti Friedman, 2/8/07): Two mosques, the Al-Aqsa and Dome of the Rock, now stand on the site, along with some of the temples’ original retaining walls, including the Jewish shrine called the Western Wall

Correction (2/8/07, updated story): The compound is home to the Al Aqsa mosque and the golden-capped Dome of the Rock shrine, as well as to the original retaining walls of the second Jewish temple, including the Jewish shrine called the Western Wall.

Fact: There is one mosque on the Temple Mount, not two.

Error (AP, 7/2/06): The militant, known as a master bombmaker, called for the Arab world to push for an Israeli pullout from the West Bank. “It’s our duty and role, not only us in Palestine, but every Muslim in the world has a religous duty and role to fight to liberate this land, because it’s Islamic territory,” he said.

Correction (8/16/06): In a story July 2 about a call by Mohammed Deif, the top bomb maker of the Palestinian Hamas militia, for Muslims to liberate “Palestinian lands” controlled by Israel, The Associated Press erroneously said Deif referred just the West Bank. Deif referred to the West Bank and Gaza Strip, territories seized by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war, and to what he called 1948 lands, meaning the state of Israel itself.

 

Error (AP, Mark Lavie, 8/2/06): The Israeli military’s inquiry on the bombing of a building in the south Lebanese village of Qana that killed 56 civilians …

Correction (Updated story, 8/3/06): The Israeli military’s inquiry on the bombing of a building in the south Lebanese village of Qana that killed at least 28 civilians …

 

Error (AP, Aron Heller, 6/25/06): Abu Samhadana’s death set off a chain of intensified hostilities that have included dozens of Palestinian rocket attacks on southern Israel …

Correction (Updated Story, 6/25/06): One of those leaders, PRC leader Jamal Abu Samhadana, was killed in an Israeli air strike two weeks ago, shortly after accepting a senior security position in the Hamas-led government, part of a rapidly escalating round of rocket barrages and counterstrikes.

Fact: Palestinian rocket attacks from Gaza preceded—and prompted—Israel’s targeted killing of Abu Samhadana.

 

Error (AP, 9/28/05): The uprising followed a Sept. 28, 2000 visit by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, then in opposition, to the al Aqsa Mosque, one of Islam’s most sacred sites in Jerusalem’s Old City.

Correction (Updated story, 9/28/05): The uprising followed a Sept. 28, 2000 visit by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, then in opposition, to the Aqsa Mosque compound, one of the holiest sites in Islam. The compound also is sacred to Jews as the site of the ancient Jewish temples.

 

Error (AP, Ali Daraghmeh, 6/2/05): . . . . Israel refuses to free anyone involved in attacks on Israelis.

Correction (Updated story, 6/2/05): . . . . Israel refuses to free anyone directly involved in attacks that injured or killed Israelis.

 

Error (AP, 5/23/05): The statement by Bishop M. Thomas Shaw clears the way for a joint Jewish-Episcopal trip to Israel and Palestine this winter.

Correction (Updated story, 5/23/05): The statement by Bishop M. Thomas clears the way for a joint Jewish-Episcopal trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories late this year or early next year.

 

Error (Associated Press, Ibrahim Barzak, 5/18/05): The Palestinian fire was apparent retaliation for the killing of a Hamas militant by Israelis before day break Wednesday.

Correction (Updated story, 5/19/05): Palestinian hospital officials said a second Hamas member was shot in the head by Israeli soldiers. The Israeli military said he died handling an explosive device.

 

Error (Associated Press Worldstream, Mark Lavie, 4/28/05): The main focus of tension in the city is a holy site revered by both Christians and Muslims – the traditional burial site of the biblical Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and three of their wives.

Correction (Updated story, 4/28/05): The main focus of tension in the city is a holy site revered by both Jews and Muslims – the traditional burial site of the biblical Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and three of their wives.

 

Error (Associated Press, Salah Nasrawi, 3/18/05): The Jordanian proposal is meant to amend a Saudi peace initiative adopted at the 2002 Arab summit held in Beirut, which offered Israel peace with all Arab nations on condition it returns all land seized in the six-day war of 1967 – including East Jerusalem, the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Syria’s Golan Heights – in line with U.N. resolutions 242 and 338.

Correction (Updated story, 3/18/05): The Saudi initiative offered Israel peace with all Arab nations on condition that Israel returns all land seized in the six-day war of 1967 in line with the Arab interpretation of U.N. resolution 242. The initiative also calls for the creation of a Palestinian state and a solution to the Palestinian refugee issue. Resolution 242, passed after the 1967 war, calls on Israel to withdraw “from territories occupied in the recent conflict” but does not say explicitly that the pullback should be from all such territories. However, Arabs view the resolution as just that – calling for Israeli withdrawal from East Jerusalem, the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Syria’s Golan Heights.

 

Error (Associated Press, Paul Garwood, 2/3/05): Strong ties with the United States, the source of more than $2 billion worth of military aid and civil aid since Egypt signed its 1979 peace treaty with Israel. . .

Correction (Updated story, 2/3/05): Strong ties with the United States, the source of more than $2 billion per year worth of military and civil aid since Egypt signed its 1979 peace treaty with Israel. . .

 

Error (AP, Frank Bass and Randy Herschaft, 1/24/04): President Nixon created the group in September 1972 after Palestinian commandos slaughtered 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympic Games.

Correction (1/24/04): But these threats were compiled in weekly CIA reports more than 30 years ago for the Cabinet Committee to Combat Terrorism, a Nixon-era task force created after the killings of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich.

 

Error (AP, Josef Federman, 7/8/04): By September 2005, Sharon plans to pull all Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

Correction (7/14/04): In a July 8 story about Israel’s plan to pull its troops out of the Gaza Strip, The Associated Press erroneously reported that Israel is also planning to pull out of the West Bank. The plan only calls for a limited withdrawal from four West Bank settlements.

 

Error (AP, 2003 photos re-released 6/19/04 with new captions): In Gaza, a fenced-in, poverty stricken territory where only a tiny portion of the 1.3 million residents has a job and where brutal military incursions are a daily fact of life, the militant group Hamas has won wide support for its welfare work, and is asking to have a greater role in running the Gaza Strip once Israel withdraws.

Correction (Revised captions in AP Photo Archives, 7/1/04): In Gaza, a fenced-in, poverty stricken territory where only a tiny portion of the 1.3 million residents has a job and where Israeli military incursions are a daily fact of life, the militant group Hamas has won wide support. Hamas is asking to have a greater role in running the Gaza Strip, should Israel withdraw.

 

Error (AP, Ali Daraghmeh, 6/10/04): In more than three years of Israeli-Palestinian fighting, Palestinian police have become increasingly ineffective, particularly in the West Bank, where Israel does not allow Palestinian officers to patrol in uniform or with arms.

Correction (7/1/04): In a June 10 story about the United Nations suspending a construction project in a Palestinian refugee camp after gunmen threatened crews, The Associated Press erroneously reported that Israel does not allow Palestinian officers to patrol in uniform in the West Bank. Current Israeli policy does allow for uniformed Palestinian policemen in the area.

 

Error ( Associated Press, 11/11/02 headline): Troops Shoot Dead Palestinian Toddler as Israel Weighs Reprisals for Kibbutz Shooting

Correction (Same Day): Israeli Tanks Sweep into Refugee Camp to Hunt for Killers of 5 on Israeli Kibbutz

 

Error (AP, Susan Sevareid, 6/24/02): In his speech, Bush demanded Israel withdraw to positions it held on the West Bank two years ago and to stop building homes for Jews on the West Bank and Gaza. Ultimately, he said, Israel should agree to pull all the way back to the lines it held before the 1967 Mideast war.

Correction (6/24/02): As for the Israelis, he [Bush] said they should withdraw to positions they held on the West Bank two years ago and stop building homes for Jews on the West Bank and in Gaza. Ultimately, he said, Israel should end its occupation by negotiating a settlement based on U.N. resolutions calling on it to withdraw to “secure and recognized borders.”

 

Error (Associated Press, 1/10/02): Larsen said that a Palestinian state “has to be established,” adding that any solution to the Middle East problem has to be based on U.N. Security Council resolutions 242 and 338, which call for a withdrawal from all territory that Israel captured in the Arab-Israeli wars of 1967 and 1973.

Correction (1/10/02): Larsen said that a Palestinian state “has to be established,” adding that any solution to the Middle East problem has to be based on U.N. Security Council resolutions 242 and 338, which call for a withdrawal from territory that Israel captured in the Arab-Israeli wars of 1967 and 1973.

 

Error (Associated Press (10/29/00) caption under photo depicting grimacing Israeli policeman raising truncheon over bloodied young man): An Israeli policeman and a Palestinian on the Temple Mount

Correction (October, 2000): Associated Press captions on two photos sent Sept. 29 from Jerusalem misidentified a young man injured during street battles between Israeli forces and Palestinians. The AP first identified the young man, who was photographed sitting bloodied on the ground, as an unnamed Palestinian. Different captions sent Monday, Oct. 2, identified him as an Israeli ambulance medic. On Tuesday, the original photos were retransmitted with captions correctly identifying him as Tuvia Grossman, an American student from Chicago. The original captions also misidentified the site of the incident as the Temple Mount. In fact, it occurred in Jerusalem’s Old City.

CAMERA: The incident actually took place outside of the Old City, not in it.

Urged by hundreds of callers to do more than resend the photo with a correction,  AP also sent out a story on the beatings of the American boys.

 

Error (Associated Press, Sari Bashi, 5/17/00): Israel has released hundreds of prisoners as part of detailed peace accords but says it will not release Palestinians jailed for killing Israelis.

Correction (6/6/00): The Associated Press erroneously reported on May 14 that Israel has released hundreds of Palestinians prisoners as part of peace agreements.

Since the 1993 Oslo peace accords, Israel has freed more than 7,000 Palestinians jailed for anti-Israel activities as part of peace deals.

 

Error (Associated Press, 5/21/97): Arabs who live outside Israel cannot own land anywhere in the Jewish state even if it was once their property.

Correction (06/5/97): The Associated Press erroneously reported on May 21 that Arabs who live outside Israel cannot own land any-where in the Jewish state even if it was once their property. Israel does allow foreigners, including Arabs, to purchase private land in Israel for building purposes. Private land accounts for 6.5 percent of the total land in Israel.

Additional Corrections on Demographics

Error (Independent, Robert Fisk, 4/25/14): Since Mr Netanyahu has been demanding that Mr Abbas accept — even before the latter’s renewed love affair with Hamas — that Israel was a “Jewish state” (thus deleting its tens of thousands of Israeli Arab citizens), no “recognition of Israel” without its Jewish definition would be of any use to him.

Correction (Online as of 4/29/14): Since Mr Netanyahu has been demanding that Mr Abbas accept — even before the latter’s renewed love affair with Hamas — that Israel was a “Jewish state” (thus deleting its million and more Israeli Arab citizens), no “recognition of Israel” without its Jewish definition would be of any use to him.


Error (Washington Post, Sally Quinn, 12/14/13): [Ari] Shavit is most worried about the gradual disappearance of the Christian community in Israel and Palestine.

Correction (12/28/13 print edition): Sally Quinn’s On Faith column in the Dec. 14 Metro section incorrectly referred to the “gradual disappearance of the Christian community” in Israel. According to Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics, that country’s Christian population has grown over the past year and the past decade.


Error (Los Angeles Times, Laura King, 3/11/06): An estimated 3.2 million Palestinians live in the West Bank.

Correction (3/27/06): West Bank: An article in the March 11 Section A incorrectly reported the Palestinian population of the West Bank as 3.2 million. The population numbers are heavily disputed, but the most generally accepted estimate is 2.3 million.


Error (Reuters, Cynthia Johnston, 10/19/05): In October, the Authority broke ground on a project funded by the United Arab Emirates to build apartment towers for poor or homeless people in the coastal strip, which is the most densely populated place on earth and home to 1.4 million people.

Correction (Updated story, 10/23/05): In October, the Authority broke ground on a project funded by the United Arab Emirates to build apartment towers for poor or homeless people in the coastal strip, which is among the most densely populated places on earth and home to 1.4 million people.


Error (Philadelphia Inquirer, Carol Rosenberg, 11/11/04): He shared the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize … a prize Israel later came to view as soaked in blood after two violent Palestinian uprisings …. at the end of his life, Mr. Arafat was once again seen in wide portions of the West as an exremist cast as an obstacle to coexistence between 4.4 million Arabs and 4.7 million Jews who live in the land today controlled by Israel.

Correction (2/9/05): An obituary of Yasir Arafat published in The Inquirer on Nov. 11 gave an incorrect breakdown of the population of land controlled by Israel. The 2004 CIA Factbook indicates that more than 5.3 million Jews and more than 4.4 million non-Jews live in Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The same obituary incorrectly said that Arafat received the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize after two Palestinian uprisings; the second uprising occurred after he had received the prize.


Error (San Diego Union-Tribune, Khalid Turaani, 11/28/04): The dubious distinction of being the world’s “most densely populated area” teeters back and forth each year between camps like Rafah and Jabaliya, each with populations of around 80,000 people per square mile.

Correction (1/30/05): Khalid Turani’s commentary, “Enduring on the other side of the wall,” in the Nov. 28 Insight section erred in stating that the Rafah and Jabaliya Palestinian refugee camps are the world’s most densely populated places. Hong Kong’s Kowloon district, with its many high-rise apartment buildings, has a higher population density.


Error (Los Angeles Times, Don Heckman, 12/13/02): Also represented are lesser-known but equally compelling artists such as Yat Kha (Tuva), Gigi (Ethiopia), Amal Murkus (Palestine) and Sabah Habas Mustapha (Indonesia).

Correction (12/14/02): Singer’s citizenship–In Friday’s Calendar, an article on the year’s best world-music CDs said Amal Murkus is from Palestine. The singer is actually an Arab who is a citizen of Israel.


Error (New York Times , Week in Review chart, 3/3/02): Chart indicates that Israel’s population of those under five years old is 264,000.

Correction (3/17/02): A chart on March 3 showing comparative statistics for Israel and the West Bank and the Gaza Strip misstated the population of children under 5 in Israel. It is 614,000, not 264,000.


Error (Reuters AlertNet, Country Profile for Israel): Illiteracy: 95.7 percent (1998)

Correction (Correction (now posted on web site)): Illiteracy: 4.3 percent (1998)


Additional Corrections

Error (Boston Metro, 6/4/02): Israel has no laws against trafficking (of women) or prostitution. . . .

Correction (6/14-16/02): The Metro story on June 5 entitled “Sex trade reaches every corner of the world” erroneously stated that “Israel has no laws against trafficking or prostitution.” Israeli law requires convicted traffickers of women to serve a minimum jail term of two-and-a-half to four years. Metro regrets the error.

Additional AFP corrections

Error (AFP, 1/6/11): Mahmud Zahar made the remarks during a memorial ceremony for 43 Palestinians who were killed at a UN school in the Jabaliya refugee camp during Israel’s 22-day war on Gaza that began in December 2008 …

Zahar was speaking on the second anniversary of an Israeli air strike on the United Nations’ Al-Fakhura school in the northern Gaza Strip …

Before an auidence that included members of the Hamas leadership in Gaza, Zahar paid tribute to those who died in the school where they had taken refuge from the heavy fighting.

Correction (1/11/11): ATTENTION – CORRECTION: In Israel-Palestinians-conflict-Gaza-Holocaust-Jews moved Jan. 6, please read in paras 2,4 and 6 xxx near a UN school xxx sted at as sent. Herewith a corrected repeat:///

Mahmud Zahar made the remarks during a memorial ceremony for 43 Palestinians who were killed near a UN school in the Jabaliya refugee camp during Israel’s 22-day war on Gaza that began in December 2008. . . .

Zahar was speaking on the second anniversary of an Israeli air strike near the United Nations’ Al-Fakhura school in the northern Gaza Strip. . . .

Before an audience that included members of the Hamas leadership in Gaza, Zahar paid tribute to those who died near the school where they had taken refuge from the heavy fighting.

CAMERA Notes: The correction changes the claim that Palestinians were killed “in” a UN school to note that they were killed “near” the school. Furthermore, the figure of 43 casualties from the Al-Fakhura Street incident is heavily disputed, and has not been proven. The Goldstone Report (hardly friendly towards Israel) acknowledged that it did not have definitive information on the number of casualties, but cited far fewer than 43. Paragraph 661 says that the reported three shells which hit “al-Fakhura Street killed at least 24 people. The witnesses estimate that up to another 40 were injured by the blasts. The Mission has not been able to verify those figures, but having inspected the site and viewed the footage, it does not consider these numbers to be exaggerated.”

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), in its list of casualties from the winter fighting, only identifies 18 Palestinians who were killed “opposite” or “near” the Al-Fakhura school on Jan. 6.  The Israeli military, in an investigation of the incident, found that 12 to 17 people were killed in the strike, including several fighters (Jerusalem Post, April 24, 2009).

 In addition, the tendentious language ought to have been corrected. Israel did not launch a war “on Gaza,” as witnessed by the tons of aid that Israel transferred to the Gaza Strip during the fighting. Rather, Israel launched a war on Hamas.

Error (AFP, 9/14/06): Since the Palestinian uprising broke out, militants have fired thousands of homemade rockets towards Israel, in attacks that have killed five people.

Correction (9/14/06): Since the second Palestinian uprising broke out in 2000, eight people inside Israel have been killed in rocket attacks from Gaza, according to the army.

CAMERA: An additional five people — a Chinese worker, a Thai worker, two Palestinian workers, a Palestinian girl — were killed by Palestinian rocket attacks in Gaza. The latter was killed by a rocket meant for Israel that fell short, and the others were killed in the then Jewish settlement of Ganei Tal.


Error (AFP, 2/8/06): Closed since September 24 under the complete cutting off of the Palestinian territories by Israel, it [the Karni crossing] was reopened on Sunday.

Correction (Updated story, 2/8/06): The crossing had been closed since mid-January after a security alert but it was reopened on Sunday.


Error (AFP, 6/28/05): OIC was given its current name when it was first established at a meeting of Islamic leaders convened in Morocco following an attempt by Jewish hardliners to burn down Islam’s third holiest site — Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque — which is also revered in Judaism.

Correction (7/6/05): ATTENTION – CORRECTION: In OIC-Yemen,sched-lead moved on June 28, 10th para should read xxx following an attempt by an Australian member of the Protestant Church of God, Dennis Michael Rohan, to burn down Islam’s third-holiest site XXX /// A corrected version of story follows.


Error (AFP, 6/10/05): The compound which houses Al-Aqsa, the third holiest site in Judaism, also contains the Western Wall, the most sacred site in Judaism.

Correction (Updated story, 6/10/05): The compound which houses Al-Aqsa, the third holiest site in Islam, also contains the Western Wall, the most sacred site in Judaism.

Fact: Left uncorrected is the false statement that the Western Wall is the most sacred site in Judaism. The Temple Mount is the most sacred site.