After the Boston Globe and Associated Press published corrections noting that there are no “Jewish-only roads” in Israel or the West Bank, the Washington Post cleared the record with its own detailed correction:
Error (Washington Post, AP, 12/30/09): Israel’s Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the military 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 (1/28/10): A Dec. 30 A-section item from the Associated Press, about an Israeli Supreme Court ruling giving Palestinians access to a section of West Bank highway previously closed to them, incorrectly said that Israel reserves some roads for Jews. The country closes some roads to virtually all Palestinians, but they are open to all Israeli citizens and to other nationals, regardless of religious background.
The “Jewish-only roads” canard has long been trupeted by ideologues — Jewish and otherwise — seeking to spread misinformation about Israel. But responsible media outlets, which strive to adhere to journalistic guidelines calling for accuracy, have largely managed to avoid echoing the false claim. It is to their credit that when the erroneous information was corrected after being published. (By contrast, Israel’s Ha’aretz has opted not to adhere to journalistic norms, having consistantly refused to correct stories by journalist Amira Hass that spread the falsehood.)