At the end of an article describing how Hezbollah is rearming and refortifying itself (good job, UN!), the Telegraph's John Keegan drops this:

That last line is a reference to the Israeli attack on the US spy ship USS Liberty. The attack happened during the confusion of the Six Day War, two days after the US had publicly assured the world that it had no naval assets within hundreds of miles of the area. Israel has always claimed that they thought they were hitting the Egyptian ship El Quseir, which was known to be in the area at the time. Conspiracy theory nutjobs say that Israel deliberately tried to sink a US ship. How can anyone know who's right?

Well. Ten out of ten official US investigations have concluded that it was an accident. Recently declassified documents reveal that covert US investigations also concluded that it was an accident. And the most extensive and comprehensive non-governmental work ever undertaken concluded that it was an accident.

And of course, if you don't want to believe other people, you can always trust your own ears. The IDF released the tapes of the conversation between the pilot and his base. They conclusively prove - the word is prove - that the Israelis thought they were hitting an Egyptian vessel.

Now of course people are free to be as crazy as they want to be, even when they're humiliatingly wrong. They're free to excuse how little evidence they can find for their claims as proof of a massive cover-up - rather than, say, a lack of evidence. Once somebody takes disproof as proof, they are definitionally beyond the reach of evidence or reasoned analysis.

But it is inexcusable to see this demonstrable lie in print. It means that at least one journalist, at least one fact-checker, and at least one editor approved a demonstrable lie. That puts this well, well beyond normal bias or spin, where quotes are manipulated or facts are lined up in an intellectually dishonest way.

This is the publication of perhaps the most popular and vicious anti-Israel myth in existence as a statement of fact.

Previously:
The Telegraph Celebrates, Excuses Palestinian Atrocities, When They Say "Cycle of Violence" This is What They Mean, Conspiracy Theories in the Arab World