UKMW prompts improvement to Indy headline suggesting there’s an Israeli wall around Gaza.

Editors at The Independent upheld our complaint that the headline accompanying a February 5th article falsely suggested that there's an Israeli "wall" which completely surrounds Gaza.

In February, we complained to editors at The Independent about a headline accompanying an article focusing on an Israeli company that wanted to build the proposed wall between the US and Mexico.

The text is clearly misleading, as Gaza shares a border with Egypt as well as Israel. The security fence (“wall”) separates Israel and Gaza, but can’t reasonably be characterised in a way suggesting it’s completely surrounding the territory. The error is not insignificant, as the words “around Gaza” (intentionally or otherwise) reinforce the oft-repeated narrative falsely suggesting that Gaza is a “an open-air prison”.  

Though the response from Indy editors was delayed, we recently learned that the headline has been corrected. Here’s the new headline, which uses the more accurate word “along”, instead of “around”.

(The other problem with the headline not addressed by editors is the use of the word “wall” to characterise what is clearly a fence.  CAMERA has called out multiple media outlets for their erroneous use of terms in reference to Israeli security fences.)

Additionally, the article included the following passage, erroneously suggesting that Gaza borders the West Bank.

Editors revised the text to correct the false suggestion.

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