It’s been a while since I did a compare-and-contrast in an AP story, watching it spin more anti-Israel as it gets updated. So here’s one for you.
First edition:
Haniyeh: Hamas May Make Peace With Israel
Mar 17, 5:41 AM (ET)
By AMY TEIBEL
JERUSALEM (AP) – The Palestinians’ incoming prime minister suggested Hamas could one day make peace with Israel, but undercut his statement by saying his militant group wouldn’t disarm or recognize Israel unless it recognized a Palestinian state within boundaries the Israelis reject.
Updated article:
Haniyeh Discusses Peace, but Makes Demands
Mar 17, 11:36 AM (ET)
By AMY TEIBEL
JERUSALEM (AP) – The incoming Palestinian prime minister has suggested Hamas could one day make peace with Israel, but undercut the gesture by demanding Israel first recognize a Palestinian state within boundaries the Israelis reject.
The boldfaced words are missing in the update. Big change in meaning to that opening paragraph.
Here’s a very subtle change.
First:
Israel, while accepting the principle of an independent Palestinian state, has said many times that it has no intention of returning to the borders it held before capturing those territories in the 1967 Mideast war.
Updated:
Israel accepts the principle of an independent Palestinian state, but has said many times that it has no intention of returning to the borders it held before capturing those territories in 1967.
Once again, the words in bold make a big change to the meaning of the paragraph. The update makes it look like Israel just up and decided to take some palestinian territories in 1967. For no reason.
Interestingly, there’s a bit of reversal in these paragraphs. Probably because an editor caught the fact that AP didn’t mention in the first article that Hamas is the terrorist group that has murdered hundreds and wounded thousands of Israelis. First:
The U.S. and Europe have threatened to withhold some of the hundreds of millions of dollars they inject into the cash-starved Palestinian Authority annually unless Hamas changed its ways.
There are three conditions for Hamas to receive international legitimacy: recognize Israel, renounce violence and accept Mideast peacemaking, Regev said.
“Nothing we have heard from any Hamas leader since the election indicates that they are going to accept these benchmarks,” he said.
In a published interview last month, Haniyeh said Hamas would establish “peace in stages” if Israel would withdraw to its boundaries before the 1967 war. But he immediately distanced himself from those remarks by saying Hamas was interested in a long-term truce with Israel, but did not seek peace with it.
Following Hamas’ election, Israel declared it would have nothing to do with a government that incorporated the militant group.
And it has rejected Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas’ offer to continue negotiations under the auspices of the Palestine Liberation Organization, which he heads, saying Abbas is part and parcel of a terrorist government even though he doesn’t belong to Hamas and holds more moderate views.
Updated:
The U.S. and Europe have threatened to withhold some of the hundreds of millions of dollars they inject into the cash-starved Palestinian Authority annually unless Hamas, which has killed hundreds of Israelis in suicide bombings, changes its ways.
To gain international legitimacy, Hamas must meet three conditions: recognize Israel, renounce violence and accept Mideast peacemaking, Regev said.
“Nothing we have heard from any Hamas leader since the election indicates that they are going to accept these benchmarks,” he said.
In a published interview last month, Haniyeh said Hamas would establish “peace in stages” if Israel would withdraw to its boundaries before the 1967 war. But he immediately distanced himself from those remarks by saying Hamas was interested in a long-term truce with Israel, but did not seek peace with it.
Following Hamas’ election, Israel declared it would have nothing to do with a government that incorporated the militant group. And it rejected Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ offer to continue negotiations under the auspices of the Palestine Liberation Organization, which he heads. Israel says Abbas is part of a terrorist government even though he does not belong to Hamas.
But there you have it. Another AP story that gets edited to make Israel look worse, and the palestinians look better, as the day wears on. At the end of the updated story are five paragraphs about Israel shutting down the Karni crossing, with no real mention of the reasons why — just the vague “citing security concerns.” Nothing about the explosion a few weeks ago, the dozens of terror alerts, the gunfire attacks, and the constant attempt to smuggle weapons and bombs into Israel. “Security concerns.” Uh-huh. That’s like calling the Grand Canyon a hole in the ground.