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CAMERA’s Israel office today prompted corrections after Haaretz‘s English edition inflated the Gaza Strip unemployment rate cited in a World Bank report released today. In print (page 3 today) and online (here), Haaretz’s English edition claimed that the World Bank put that figure at 70 percent.
The print edition headline was “World Bank: Gaza economy in ‘free fall,’ 70% are jobless; foreign aid won’t help.” Similarly, the digital subheading originally stated: “The Strip’s economic deterioration is accelerating, the report says: Every second Gazan lives in poverty and unemployment tops 70 percent.”
The English edition article itself repeated the incorrect figure of 70 percent unemployment. It had stated: “According to the report, unemployment in the Strip has topped 70 percent.”But this is incorrect. The report states that 70 percent figure refers to the unemployment rate among youth. The World Bank report cites “an unemployment rate of 53 percent (over 70 percent for youth)” (Executive Summary, page 5).
Strikingly, the Hebrew edition does not contain this error. The digital subheadline accurately reports (CAMERA’s translations): “According to the report, one of every two residents lives in poverty and the unemployment rate among the youth rises to 70 percent.”
Likewise, Khoury’s Hebrew report rightly notes: “One of every two residents in the Gaza Strip lives in poverty and the unemployment rate among the young population rises to 70 percent, according to the report which the World Bank released today (Tuesday).”
Following CAMERA’s communication with Haaretz, editors commendably amended the online subheading and article. The current digital subheadline no longer contains the erroneous reference to 70 percent unemployment: “The Strip’s economic deterioration is accelerating, the report says: Every second Gazan lives in poverty.”In addition, editors amended the online article to specify that the 70 percent unemployment figure refers to youth, not the general population. The amended text now accurately reports: “According to the report, unemployment among the young population in the Strip has topped 70 percent.”
Contrary to standard journalistic practice, editors did not append a note alerting readers to the correction.
For additional instances of “Haaretz, Lost in Translation,” in which misinformation about Israel or the Palestinians appears in the English edition which had not appeared in the parallel Hebrew article, please see here.