CNN Web Site Corrects Misleading Road Map Description

CAMERA staff prompted an important correction on CNN’s Web site, leading to a much more precise and balanced description of the road map peace plan.

In the March 27 article, “Israel stalls transfer of Palestinian town,” journalist Yoav Appel wrote:

Israel says the Palestinian Authority must disarm militant groups.

It is not only Israel which demands the disarming of militant groups. The United Nations, the United States, the European Union, and Russia included this demand in their road map plan, a plan to which the PA agreed.

Later in the article, Appel did not hesitate to emphasize what he described as Israel’s obligations under the road map, thus amplifying his earlier minimizing of Palestinian obligations.  He stated:

A halt to Israeli settlement construction is a key demand in the stalled “road map” to peace for the Middle East. …

According to the plan, Israel must dismantle West Bank outposts built after Sharon took office in March 2001.

The amended version of the article describes Palestinian obligations under the road map as such.

It states:

The stalled road map calls for the Palestinian Authority to dismantle “terrorist capabilities and infrastructure,” including confiscating illegal weapons and consolidating security authority.

Media descriptions of Palestinian obligations under the road map as “Israeli demands” are not uncommon; CNN.com deserves credit, then, for pursuing more accurate descripions of the plan.

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