Kiwis for Balanced Reporting on the Middle East

December 14, 2008

SST accuses Israel of massacre, makes correction

In a review of the Israeli movie ‘Waltz with Bashir’ in the Sunday Star-Times, it was stated that the 1972 massacre of Palestinians in Lebanon was committed by ‘Israeli forces’. The truth, as was quite clear in the movie, is that the massacre was committed by Lebanese soldiers. KBRM wrote to the editor to request a correction:

Dear editor,

In the review of '‘Waltz with Bashir’ (Escape, p. 21, 14/12/08) we find the statement, ‘He [ the director] was surprised and alarmed he didn't remember the massacre of Palestinian refugees in Sabra and Shatila by Israeli forces...’.
Although it is an undisputed fact that the massacre occurred, it is also an undisputed fact that it was carried out by Lebanese soldiers, not Israeli forces. The Lebanese were let into the camp to root out Palestinian terrorists. The Israeli soldiers guarding the camp were unaware that a massacre was taking place until after the event.
In the interest of accuracy, I hope you will agree that a correction needs to be issued. If such a false charge were made against an individual, you would surely rush to correct it. Could you please notify us when the correction has been published?

Thanks in advance,
Rodney Brooks, Chairman
Kiwis for Balanced Reporting on the Mideast

On Dec. 21 the SST published the following correction:

Correction
THE REVIEW of the film Waltz with Bashir (escape December 14) stated that Palestinian refugees in Sabra and Shatila were massacred by Israeli forces. The killings were carried out by Lebanese.

The KBRM chairman then sent the following letter to the editor:

Dear Editor,

We were glad to see the correction appear yesterday (see below). There is no need to thank us — seeing the correction is thanks enough. However you might want to talk to your reviewers about the importance of actually watching the movies they review.
Rodney Brooks