Telegraph clarifies: settler violence 'statistic' is just a Palestinian claim

We recently complained to Telegraph editors about a claim on the number of Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank town of Kisan.

In our post about the Telegraph article, (“Palestinian village sets up surveillance system to ward off marauding settlers”, Oct. 19), citing UN data, we refuted the journalist’s suggestion that settler attacks take place daily, and a more specific claim in this sentence:

After some 400 incidents in Kisan and the surrounding area, the villagers say they have had enough and installed a camera system that can monitor clashes with the settlers and hopefully provide evidence for prosecutors.

We pointed out to editors that, based on our research, this 400 figure was merely an unsubstantiated (and, as we demonsrated in our post, highly dubious) claim by a Palestinian activist, and not based on any actual source.

Editors upheld our complaint and amended the sentence to make it clear that the number only represents a claim:

After some claims of 400 incidents in Kisan and the surrounding area, the villagers say they have had enough and installed a camera system that can monitor clashes with the settlers and hopefully provide evidence for prosecutors.

As we often remind journalists and editors, the Accuracy clause of the Editors’ Code requires that media outlets “distinguish clearly between comment, conjecture and fact”.