The New York Times published on April 17 a clarification to an editorial remark that appeared beneath an opinion piece written on April 16 by senior Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti. The original remark referred to the author as "Palestinian leader" and "parliamentarian." But the real importance of the clarification is that it shifted the debate over the Palestinian detainees' hunger strike back to concrete spheres.
Barghouti, currently imprisoned in Israel, wrote an editorial under the headline, "Why We Are on Hunger Strike in Israel's Prisons." The aforementioned note about Barghouti beneath the article fails to list the crimes for which he was convicted in 2004, including several terrorist attacks, which led to the deaths of five Israelis.