(CAMERA) Alex Safian - CNN recently reported the sad tale of Palestinian Olympic hopeful Raad Awisat: "Because he was Palestinian, he was given two choices. Either join the Israeli swim team or pay to use the [Jerusalem YMCA] pool." A YMCA official denied that the organization demanded Awisat join the Israeli swim team. The YMCA is an independent organization with no connections to the Israeli government. According to the YMCA official, Raad's father, Hussein Awisat, who is also the coach of young Awisat's swim team, demanded special treatment for his swimmers. Yet it seems that for CNN, AP, the Washington Post, and the London Times, any Palestinian charge, no matter how outlandish, is worth reporting, but the facts are never worth checking.
2004-01-15 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive