The news that USA Today's ex-star foreign correspondent Jack Kelley apparently fabricated substantial portions of several of his major articles over the past ten years is a vindication of sorts for the Hevron Jewish Community.
On Sept. 4, 2001, Kelley wrote an article in USA Today entitled, "Israeli extremists take revenge on Palestinians." Hevron spokesman David Wilder, in a letter at the time to USA Today publishers and editors, called the article "anti-Israel, anti-Semitic propaganda [that] is so full of lies and is so inaccurate..." Wilder wrote afterwards that he never received a response to his letter.
Kelley's article began:
"After a quick prayer, Avi Shapiro and 12 other Jewish settlers put on their religious skullcaps and headed toward Highway 60. There, they pushed boulders, stretched barbed wire and set tires afire to form a barricade that, they said, would stop even the biggest of Palestinian taxis... Shapiro, the leader of the group, gave the settlers orders: Surround any taxi, "open fire" and kill as many of the "blood-sucking Arab" passengers as possible. "We are doing what [Israeli Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon promised but has failed to do: drive these sons of Arab whores from the land of Israel," said Shapiro, 42, who moved here with his wife and four children three years ago from Brooklyn. "If he won't get rid of the Muslim filth, then we will.""
Wilder wrote, after checking for several hours, "There is no one with the name Avi Shapiro who lives in Hebron, Kiryat Arba, Gush Etzion or Efrat... To the best of my knowledge, [he] does not really exist..." Wilder acknowledged that local Jews participated in roadblocks during times when "scores of Jews were being murdered by Arab terrorists in drive-by shootings... There was an attempt made to hinder Arab traffic, so as to save Jewish lives. However, at no time were any 'orders' ever given to 'open fire and kill...'"
Wilder also noted several factual errors in Kelley's report, such as writing that "at least 119 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli civilians in the West Bank and Gaza, according to B'Tselem, an Israeli human rights group" - when in fact B'Tselem reported that only "eleven Palestinian civilians were killed by Israeli civilians." For another example, Wilder notes Kelley's outright "lie" that "in July, Jewish vigilantes killed three Palestinians, including a 3-month-old boy, in Nablus."
Even more telling, in light of the ongoing investigation against Kelley, Wilder notes that Kelley's audio and written reports contradict themselves: "In his audio report, Kelley accuses 'settler teenagers, many of whom are from Brooklyn' of beating [a certain] man and then setting him on fire. In this written report, Kelley says that the man was beaten and set ablaze by Israeli soldiers. Why does Kelley contradict himself in the two reports? How does he know that the supposed 'attackers' are from Brooklyn?"
"In conclusion," wrote David Wilder over two and a half years ago, "we expect that Kelley's tenure with the newspaper will be terminated immediately and that USA Today will not only publish this rebuttal, but will also print an apology for slandering our community."
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On Sept. 4, 2001, Kelley wrote an article in USA Today entitled, "Israeli extremists take revenge on Palestinians." Hevron spokesman David Wilder, in a letter at the time to USA Today publishers and editors, called the article "anti-Israel, anti-Semitic propaganda [that] is so full of lies and is so inaccurate..." Wilder wrote afterwards that he never received a response to his letter.
Kelley's article began:
"After a quick prayer, Avi Shapiro and 12 other Jewish settlers put on their religious skullcaps and headed toward Highway 60. There, they pushed boulders, stretched barbed wire and set tires afire to form a barricade that, they said, would stop even the biggest of Palestinian taxis... Shapiro, the leader of the group, gave the settlers orders: Surround any taxi, "open fire" and kill as many of the "blood-sucking Arab" passengers as possible. "We are doing what [Israeli Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon promised but has failed to do: drive these sons of Arab whores from the land of Israel," said Shapiro, 42, who moved here with his wife and four children three years ago from Brooklyn. "If he won't get rid of the Muslim filth, then we will.""
Wilder wrote, after checking for several hours, "There is no one with the name Avi Shapiro who lives in Hebron, Kiryat Arba, Gush Etzion or Efrat... To the best of my knowledge, [he] does not really exist..." Wilder acknowledged that local Jews participated in roadblocks during times when "scores of Jews were being murdered by Arab terrorists in drive-by shootings... There was an attempt made to hinder Arab traffic, so as to save Jewish lives. However, at no time were any 'orders' ever given to 'open fire and kill...'"
Wilder also noted several factual errors in Kelley's report, such as writing that "at least 119 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli civilians in the West Bank and Gaza, according to B'Tselem, an Israeli human rights group" - when in fact B'Tselem reported that only "eleven Palestinian civilians were killed by Israeli civilians." For another example, Wilder notes Kelley's outright "lie" that "in July, Jewish vigilantes killed three Palestinians, including a 3-month-old boy, in Nablus."
Even more telling, in light of the ongoing investigation against Kelley, Wilder notes that Kelley's audio and written reports contradict themselves: "In his audio report, Kelley accuses 'settler teenagers, many of whom are from Brooklyn' of beating [a certain] man and then setting him on fire. In this written report, Kelley says that the man was beaten and set ablaze by Israeli soldiers. Why does Kelley contradict himself in the two reports? How does he know that the supposed 'attackers' are from Brooklyn?"
"In conclusion," wrote David Wilder over two and a half years ago, "we expect that Kelley's tenure with the newspaper will be terminated immediately and that USA Today will not only publish this rebuttal, but will also print an apology for slandering our community."
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