On March 22, 2023, the Associated Press published an article in the Toronto Star on Israel’s repeal of the “Disengagement Law,” which allows settlers to return to four colonial outposts in the northern West Bank. However, the article failed to acknowledge that Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT) are illegal under international law. Further, it did not mention the recent context in which Israel reneged on a promise to pause the approval of settlements. Click here for an archive of the original article.
After a complaint from CJPME, the article was promptly updated the following day to include this context. The AP added the line, “Most of the international community considers Israel’s West Bank settlements illegal and an obstacle to peace with the Palestinians.” Further, a hyperlink was added to direct readers to an AP article about Israel’s recent promotion of over 7,000 illegal settlement units. While this is not the language that CJPME prefers, as it suggests that the illegality of settlements is a matter of opinion, rather than an international legal consensus, it is nonetheless an important improvement over the original.
