Readers had to delve deep into the report to find out that the IDF was responding to Palestinian fire when the UN convoy showed up, and that the IDF asserts it did not fire on the convoy.

And later on in the day, the UN retracted its claim that the IDF fired upon its convoy. But we haven't seen that retraction in a follow-up from AP or MSNBC, whose readers were left with yet another distorted image of 'barbaric IDF action' against humanitarian norms.

Comments to AP: feedback@ap.org
Comments to MSNBC: letters@msnbc.com
 

CSM: EFRAT IS 'SETTLER OUTPOST'

Ben Lynfield of the Christian Science Monitor recently filed a story on settler outposts that had been slated for removal under the road map. In an accompanying piece, Lynfield offered this vignette of a Peace Now activist who accompanied him:

The conundrum: If he buys a drink from a settler outpost, he is contributing to the economic well-being of a project that he's opposed to.

On this day, thirst won out. "We stopped at a little store in Efrat, another settler outpost, and he emerged with bottles of mineral water and orange juice," says Ben.

Efrat, a 'settler outpost'?! Actually, there are about 10,000 people living in Efrat, which is one of the largest and most established West Bank communities, and is situated in Gush Etzion, site of numerous Jewish settlements prior to 1948.

Is Lynfield so misinformed regarding his own subject matter as to believe that Efrat is one of the 'settler outposts' slated for dismantling under the road map?

Comments to Christian Science Monitor: click here

JAMES BENNET'S WEB REPORT

The New York Times' James Bennet is finishing up his three-year appointment as Jerusalem bureau chief. In an apparent farewell gesture, Bennet released a special web report on the status of the Palestinian people: 'Palestine Lost'  [see also the text version]

Bennet's lengthy audio-video report focuses repeatedly on two reasons for the unfortunate state of Palestinian life ― Israeli raids, and poor Palestinian leadership. For example:

President Bush and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon speak of a state of Palestine as almost a historical inevitability. But on the ground, after years of Israeli military raids and blockades and Palestinian political paralysis, the economy is growing more dependent on foreign donors, and institutions of statehood are crumbling.

It's remarkable that throughout his lengthy report, Bennet makes almost no mention of Palestinian terrorism ― which is, of course, the very reason for Israeli raids, and a defining aspect of irresponsible Palestinian leadership. In his text version, Bennet won't even allow Israel to refer to terrorism:

In June, Israeli forces regularly raided Jenin by night, arresting or killing young men the Army accused of being militants.

No, the Israeli Army accused them of being terrorists, and therefore found it necessary to enter Jenin to stop them before they killed more Israeli civilians. It's one thing for the Times to refuse to call terror by its name. It's quite another to actively twist another party's language to fit the paper's editorial policy.

Comments to: letters@nytimes.com

[For more on the media and the 'T-word,' see our special report.]

TOM GROSS ON REUTERS' BIAS

HonestReporting