Guardian peddles baseless ‘new Berlin wall’ claim

Middle East correspondent gives undue prominence to unsubstantiated claims about Ghajar pullout.

Just Journalism
The Wire
18 November '10

Harriet Sherwood’s coverage of Israel’s plan to pull out of land deemed by the UN as occupied Lebanese territory offers a unique twist on events. ‘The battle to prevent a ‘new Berlin wall’ on the Israel/Lebanon border’ – accompanied by a picture of cement blocks in Ghajar – leads:

“At the end of a dusty track, through an Israeli checkpoint and beyond a slalom of concrete blocks, Ahmed Khatib stood on land claimed by three countries, where he fears a new Berlin wall will soon be built.”

She then showcases comment from Ghajar villagers incensed by the alleged plan and threatening to ‘resist’ it by all means:

“Civilised Europe destroyed the Berlin wall,” said Ahmed Khatib, the deputy director of the village council. “Now it will be rebuilt in Ghajar.”

“Other residents echoed this fear, pledging to resist any attempt to construct a physical barrier along the “blue line” drawn by the UN 10 years ago to mark the border between Lebanon and Israel.

“We will stop it by all means,” said Shahada Khatib, 26, who travels daily from his home in the north of the village to his job in a bakery in the Israeli town of Kiryat Shimona. “We are ready to sacrifice our souls for that.”

So what is The Guardian Middle East correspondent’s source for the claim that any such barrier will be erected by the Israelis? It certainly is not the Israeli government, whom she herself quotes, categorically denying the idea:

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