There’s fake news, sloppy misreporting, and then there’s hasbara. I consider the mistake made by the AP News this week an example of hasbara that requires a correction. My letter was sent to the AP News Online Contact form. I hope it’s received and taken seriously.
May 8, 2019
AP News Headquarters
200 Liberty Street
New York, NY 10281
RE: Correction requested
Dear Managing Editor:
The story published May 6, 2019 titled “Israel’s Gaza blockade under scrutiny after latest violence” by Josef Federman, has a serious error which should be corrected in your print and electronic editions.
Federman writes: “Israel considers Hamas, which seeks Israel’s destruction, a terrorist group, while Hamas sees Israel as an illegal occupier.”
While he’s correct to assert that Israel considers Hamas a terrorist group, and also correct that Hamas considers Israel an illegal occupier, he misstates the facts when he claims that Hamas seeks Israel’s destruction.
Two years ago Hamas presented a new charter that clearly does not call for the destruction of Israel but considers the establishment of a fully sovereign and independent State of Palestine, with Jerusalem as its capital along the 1967 lines, with the right of return for the refugees to homes from which they were expelled.
By implication, the document accepts that there will be another state entity outside these borders, even if it does not mention Israel. This news was reported in The Guardian on May 1, 2017. Available at https://tinyurl.com/y3b6tprc
In this world of supposedly “fake news” and public skepticism about the quality of news reporting, the AP International Bureau would do a great public service if it would provide a correction to Federman’s story and then go further and report on this new Hamas charter.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Lora Lucero
لماذا غزة؟ Why Gaza? 