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>http://www.jta.org/story.asp?id=011220-foxn > > >Jewish Telegraph Agency, New York, 5 Tevet 5762 02:21 | Thursday >December 20, 2001 > > > >BEHIND THE HEADLINES > >Jews worry that "baseless" report on Sepember 11 could be a blow to Israel > >By Matthew E. Berger > > > >WASHINGTON, Dec. 20 (JTA) -- American Jews have been complaining >that a four-part series on Fox News last week insinuated that >Israeli intelligence had foreknowledge of the Sept. 11 terror >attacks but didn't tell American authorities. > >Israeli officials have called the stories "totally baseless," and >the reports were not picked up by other media outlets. Still, some >American Jews are concerned the report will foster negative images >of Israel that they feared in the immediate aftermath of the attacks. > >"In the conspiracy media world and the hate groups, its going to >have lots of legs," said Alex Safian, associate director of the >Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America, or >CAMERA. > >The series, reported by Carl Cameron in Washington, alleges that >Israeli intelligence may have had foreknowledge of the Al Qaida >terrorist attacks because Israelis have been spying on the movements >of Arabs in the United States. > >"There is no indication that the Israelis were involved in the >September 11 attacks, but investigators suspect that the Israelis >may have gathered intelligence about the attacks and not shared it," >Cameron said in the first segment of the series. "A highly placed >investigator said there are 'tie-ins.' " > >Israeli officials denied the spying charges, and said that most of >the Israelis rounded up after the Sept. 11 attacks were held for >minor visa infractions and have since been released. > >Later parts of the series accuse an Israeli telecommunications >company, Amdocs Ltd., of not protecting private call records and >billing data, which Fox said could have hindered the American >investigation into the terrorist attacks. > >A second Israeli telecommunications firm, Comverse Infosys, is >accused of illegal moves in providing private phone information to >the Israeli government. > >Critics say the pieces offer no on-the-record sources and rely >heavily on innuendo and hypothesis. > >Safian cites one example, in which Cameron says the U.S. government >"looked at Amdocs" when trying to determine the cause of leaks in a >Los Angeles drug investigation of suspects linked to Israeli >organized crime. > >What the reporter fails to mention, Safian says, is that someone >unrelated to Amdocs later pleaded guilty to leaking the information. > >Other charges against Fox News -- which Jewish groups felt generally >has been fair in its reportage on Israel -- is that the station did >not seek on-camera comments or rebuttals from Israeli officials or >the companies cited, and that it recycled previously aired stories. > >However, American Jewish and Israeli officials are baffled about >what might have led Fox or Cameron to pursue so controversial a >story on the basis of evidence they regard as so flimsy. > >Jewish groups that have spoken to reporters following up on >Cameron's charges have been told that American government sources >have debunked the allegations. Virtually no other American media >organization has run a piece on the Fox allegations -- a sign that >the story lacks merit, Jewish leaders say. > >A Fox News spokesman said, "We stand by the story," but would not go >into further detail. > >American Jewish leaders and Israeli officials said they are holding >conversations with Fox News representatives, but refused to >elaborate. > >Jewish organizations have been receiving frantic calls from Jews >concerned that the reports may fuel anti-Semitism. In the first days >after the Sept. 11 attacks, Jewish organizations feared attempts to >link the attacks, and Al Qaida's hatred of the United States, to >U.S. support for Israel. > >While such linkage has been successfully refuted, those fears have >been reawakened by the Fox report. > >Fox "comes to the conclusion that if maybe" the Israelis "spied, >they had the information and didn't share it," said Abraham Foxman, >national director of the Anti-Defamation League. "That's insidious. >It almost said the Israelis were responsible for what happened." > >Foxman said the report falls just "one step below" Arab claims that >Israel was responsible for the terrorist attacks. So far, there is >no evidence that Arab countries or groups are incorporating the >report into their anti-Israel propaganda. > >Most Jewish organizations have chosen not to issue formal statements >about the Fox News report for fear that it would give the >allegations undue exposure. > >"When a serious news outlet decides to run with a story that is >factually incorrect, I think that more public damage is ultimately >going to be done to the reputation of that news outlet than the >target of the story," said Mark Regev, spokesman for the Israeli >embassy in Washington. > >� JTA. ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9WB2D Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
