Letter to Washington Post Ombudsman

From: Dr. Michael Berenhaus [mailto:mberenhaus@comcast.net]
Sent: Friday, January 26, 2007 4:16 PM
To: wash post ombudsman
Subject: correction sought

Dear Ms. Howell:

On page A21, in All Quiet on Israel’s Eastern Front? Not Quite.[Jan. 24, 2007], former President Bill Clinton is quoted as referring to “al-Quds” as the possible capital for a Palestinian state. The Washington Post defined “al Quds” in brackets as “East Jerusalem.” This is incorrect: Al-Quds means Jerusalem in Arabic – not East Jerusalem.

Of course President Clinton misspoke – it was East Jerusalem as capital that was on the negotiating table. Jerusalem is an absolute deal-breaker; East Jerusalem a possibility - assuming all Palestinian Arabs permanently forgo violence. In any case, the negotiations fell through as the offer was not accepted - or even countered - by Palestinian leader Yassir Arafat.

Please cite a correction and/or clarification for this.

Thank you,

Michael Berenhaus