Shocka! Associated Press Fact-Checks Palestinian Claim

Sun, Nov 4, 2007 at 12:30:20 pm PST

A Palestinian “university student” supposedly trapped in Gaza tried to slip past Israeli authorities and into Texas with a forged document—but was thwarted by the Associated Press.

Kudos to the AP for this one.

A Palestinian included by a human rights group as one of hundreds of university students trapped in Gaza is apparently not a student and used what appeared to be a forged document to make his case to leave for Texas, The Associated Press learned on Thursday.

“Gisha,” a human rights group advocating freedom of movement for Palestinians, is pressing the Israeli Supreme Court to allow university students to leave Gaza to continue their studies abroad. The group included Yaser Betar in its suit, presenting the court with a one-page document from the University of North Texas affirming that he is enrolled in a doctorate program.

But after the AP sent the document to the university, its spokeswoman replied that the document was not authentic, and Betar “is not currently enrolled at the university. He studied Engineering Technology as an undergraduate student from spring 1992 to fall 1998 and did not earn a degree.”

University spokeswoman Kelley Reese wrote in an e-mail message, “The document The Associated Press shared with the University of North Texas is not a UNT document. The university repudiates the document.”

(Hat tip: CAMERA Snapshots.)