A clandestine undertaking on behalf of Israel, the Jets and the Jews.

 
Jack Kelley's Lies and Settlers

Here's what Jack Kelley, then the Jerusalem correspondent of USA Today, wrote on September 4, 2001:

After a quick prayer, Avi Shapiro and 12 other Jewish settlers put on their religious skullcaps, grabbed their semiautomatic rifles 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. Then they waited for a vehicle to arrive.

As they crouched in a ditch beside the road, 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 3 years ago from Brooklyn. ''If he won't get rid of the Muslim filth, then we will...''

On a recent Sunday, Shapiro and the 12 other extremists spotted their first target: a white Palestinian taxi that had turned the corner and begun to rumble toward them. From a hill 50 yards away, the Jewish men could be seen removing the safety locks from the weapons. Their wives were grabbing extra ammunition clips. Their children, all of them younger than 12, were picking up rocks.

But the Palestinian driver, upon seeing the settlers, brought his Mercedes stretch taxi to a sudden stop 50 yards from the checkpoint. He quickly turned the car around. Cursing aloud, Shapiro ordered the men to open fire. The shooting lasted for 10 seconds.

At least two bullets hit the car. One shattered its back window. Several women wearing white Islamic headscarves could be heard screaming and seen ducking. It wasn't known whether anyone was injured.

''We'll keep this up until we eliminate all the Muslim filth,'' Shapiro said before the confrontation. ''We have to: It's our Jewish duty.''

At the time, the Jewish community in Hebron went ballistic. In a letter to the heads of USA Today, David Wilder, the community's spokesman, wrote, in part:

Jack Kelley's article is an example of anti-Israel, anti-Semitic propaganda. The article is so full of lies, and is so inaccurate, that it is almost not worth relating to. However, due to the wide circulation of USA Today, I have no choice but to refute the charges, and correct the inaccuracies.

1. Kelley begins, "After a quick prayer, Avi Shapiro and 12 other Jewish settlers put on their religious skullcaps," This is ridiculous. A religious Jew wears his skullcap all hours of the day, and most especially during prayer. We do not "put on our skullcaps" before going out...

There is no one with the name Avi Shapiro who lives in Hebron, Kiryat Arba, Gush Etzion or Efrat. I spent much of the day searching for this person, who, to the best of my knowledge, does not really exist. Avi Shapiro seems to be a figment of Kelley's imagination. Or perhaps he does exist, but does not live anywhere in this area...

13. "On a recent Sunday, Shapiro and the 12 other extremists spotted their first target: a white Palestinian taxi that had turned the corner and begun to rumble toward them. From a hill 50 yards away, the men could be seen removing the safety locks from the weapons. Their wives were grabbing extra ammunition clips. Their children, all of them under age 12, were picking up rocks."

As stated above, Avi Shapira does not exist. Nor did this event ever occur. Where is Kelley's proof? Where are the pictures? Why wasn't anyone arrested? A report of "wives grabbing extra ammunition clips" is total nonsense, a total fabrication.

In conclusion, Jack Kelley's article is an intentional attempt to besmirch the good name of the Jewish Community of Hebron, using fabrication, distortion and inaccuracy. It is unfortunate that a publication such as USA Today should see fit to publish such trash. 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.

Sincerely,
David Wilder
Spokesman
The Jewish Community of Hebron hebron@hebron.org.il

Needless to say, it's worth reading the entire Kelley fabrication, and Wilder's full letter.

In any event, just a few days after Kelley wrote the piece, the horrible events of 9/11/01 occurred, and few remained focused on the issue, which was largely forgotten.

Until now.

Today, Howard Kurtz reported in the Washington Post that Kelley was forced to resign last week after an internal investigation showed that he fabricated stories, possibly including, Kurtz writes, "a 2001 piece recounting Israeli settlers opening fire on a Palestinian taxi while shouting such comments as 'Muslim filth' -- USA Today said its reporter Mark Memmott 'could not find anyone with first-hand knowledge of the attack.'"

Similarly, an article in today's USA Today states that the scandal arose after the paper investigated a story Kelley wrote about Serbia. Regarding the piece about settlers (and a separate article about the Sbarro bombing a month earlier), USA Today said:

The newspaper spent less money, effort and time trying to verify at least two of the seven stories Memmott said it earmarked for investigation. The stories were among the work that made Kelley a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2002.

In one, published Aug. 10. 2001, Kelley recounted how he "happened to be walking near the restaurant" where a suicide bomber struck moments later. Kelley wrote that he saw the bomber before the attack and describes him in detail.

Another story, published Sept. 4, 2001, contains an account of an attack on Palestinians by 13 Jewish settlers in the West Bank. Memmott said he could not find anyone with first-hand knowledge of the attack.

When asked for sources to verify both stories, Memmott said, Kelley pointed him to one man: an Israeli undercover agent Kelley says was with him at the restaurant bombing earlier that year. Memmott said he was called by a man who identified himself as the Israeli agent.

The man said he was with Kelley outside the bombed restaurant but was not during the attack by settlers. Memmott said he never learned the full name of the man. He said he is certain only that he spoke with someone calling from Israel.

Jurgensen said editors believe Kelley's account of the restaurant bombing because his direct supervisor remembers Kelley calling her shortly after the bombing. She and Gallagher said confirming the Jewish settlers story appears to be impossible.

This story has just broken today, but the implications will likely be very significant.
posted on 1/13/2004