On June 18th, we tweeted the New Statesman’s international correspondent, Ido Vock, to alert him of an error in the first sentence of his article on the possible application of Israeli law to parts of the West Bank (“Four consequences of Israel’s plan to annex West Bank territories”, June 17).
Here’s the sentence in question:
However, July 1st is merely the earliest Israel’s parliament can begin the process of ‘annexation’.
It’s a significant error because it amplifies misleading media reports suggesting it’s certain that Israel will, on that date, apply sovereignty (‘annex’) to all the territories in question – representing 30% of the West Bank. However, it’s not clear which territories, if any, Israel will annex, as both the US and Israeli governments are still intensely debating the issue, and the Israeli public is mixed on the wisdom of the plan.
To his credit, the journalist promptly replied and agreed with our assessment, thanked us for flagging it and corrected the sentence, which now correctly notes that July 1st is merely the earliest the legislative process can begin.
Here’s the revised sentence:
In May, CAMERA UK prompted a similar correction at the BBC.
