July 14–On July 8, in an article about the latest news in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Josef Federman of the Associated Press erroneously reported: “By September 2005, Sharon plans to pull all Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.”
Sharon has no plan to pull all troops from the West Bank, though he does plan to redeploy troops from four Israeli settlements in the northern West Bank. Several North American newspapers ran the article with the error the next day. In response to communications from CAMERA, the Associated Press and two newspapers have since set the record straight.
The Philadelphia Inquirer corrected yesterday:
An article in the July 9 Inquirer erred in describing Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s plan to withdraw troops from the West Bank. Under the plan, troops would be withdrawn from four West Bank settlements.
The Chicago Tribune corrected today:
A story 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 withdrwal from the West Bank. However, it would withdraw all Jewish 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.
The AP sent out the following correction today:
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 West Bank settlements.
July 16 Update: Three More Corrections
Yesterday, the Las Vegas Review-Journal corrected:
In a July 8 story about Israel’s plan to pull out of the Gaza Strip, The Associated Press erroneously reported that Israel also is planning to pull out of the West Bank. The plan calls for a limited withdrawal from four West Bank settlements.
Also, the San Francisco Chronicle corrected yesterday:
An Associated Press story published Friday erroneously reported that Israel plans to pull all its soldiers out of the West Bank. The Israeli plan calls for a limited withdrawal of residents and military guards from four West Bank settlements.
The Boston Globe today corrected:
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.