The Washington Post attacks presidential candidate Donald Trump’s plan to build a wall along the U.S-Mexico border. In explaining how expensive and difficult construction of such a wall would be, they show other examples where countries have erected barriers along their borders. In describing the Israeli security barrier, they say:
“(Israel’s barrier) is made of prefabricated concrete sections interspersed with watch towers. The wall generally follows the 1949 armistice line, but it also includes several illegally placed Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Once complete, it will be 400 miles long.
The following drawing accompanies the description:
However, over 90 percent of the barrier is made up of chain-link fencing. In addition, only about 64% of the fence is complete, and there is little work being done today on the project. Yet the Post’s reference (complete with a soldier on one side and children playing on the other) implies Israel has created a concrete prison, sealing off the disputed territories. Throw in a reference to “illegal Israeli settlements” and the anti-Israel bias of the article is clear.
One wonders why the Washington Post would not use a picture that reflects the reality of Israel’s fence, such as the one below:
Even though the article is primarily about Trump’s proposal, inaccurate references to Israel’s security barrier are destructive and misleading and have no place in the paper.
Please contact the Post and demand a correction to the story by sending an email to [email protected].
[sc:graybox ]The graphic accompanying the July 19 article (“Building Trump’s border wall not exactly “easy” experts say” claims that Israel’s security barrier is made of prefabricated concrete sections interspersed with watch towers. In fact, only 64% of the barrier has been constructed to date and of the completed portion, 90% is made up of chain-link fencing. The drawing implies that the entire route resembles a prison wall and is misleading and inaccurate.
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