Toronto’s Globe & Mail published a report yesterday from Jerusalem freelancer Carolynne Wheeler, covering Tuesday’s Abbas-Sharon meeting:
Although Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said both sides agreed on co-ordinating his military’s withdrawal from Gaza this summer, Palestinian leaders left the meeting in Mr. Sharon’s flag-draped residence in the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City grim-faced, appearing only briefly before reporters in Ramallah to announce their disappointment…. this meeting of just under three hours was held on disputed home turf…
There’s just one problem with Wheeler’s eyewitness report — the meeting didn’t take place in the Old City. It was held in the Prime Minister’s residence in a western Jerusalem neighborhood. It seems Wheeler invented the scene to bring some anti-Israel color to her report, adding the ‘stinging symbol for Palestinians struggling to hold onto Arab neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem.’
Kudos to CAMERA for jumping on this first, contacting Globe & Mail editors, and making a very appropriate comparison to other journalists’ recent claims to have attended an event that never occurred. Wheeler pulled a Mitch Albom, plain and simple.
The Globe & Mail published a correction today regarding the setting for the meeting, but hasn’t yet commented on the journalist’s bald lie and what action the paper intends to take against her.
