More censorship in the name of anti-Anti-Semitism for all P-List censors

[S.R. Prozak]

Irish best-selling author Gordon Thomas discovers the ADL is 
preventing his books from being sold at bookstores

By Gordon Thomas

THE paragraph was short and based on information from NASA and the 
Israeli's Space Agency. It dealt with the role of Israeli astronaut, 
Ilon Ramon, one of the crew of the ill-fated Columbia shuttle.

This is what I wrote in that paragraph:

"Astronaut Ilon Ramon was conducting secret experiments on the 
Columbia to discover new ways to beat Saddam's threat to use 
biological and chemical weapons against Israel. For most of his 16 
days on board the Columbia, he had been using cameras linked directly 
to the Israeli Space Agency to study desert dust and wind-drifts 
emanating from the deserts of Iraq."

In a splurge of rage, the New York based Anti-Defamation League of 
B'nai B'rith, through its "Anti-Semitism-International" -- a 
newsletter rant on the Internet -- accused me of being an 
"anti-Israel author", and one of those who used "the Space Shuttle 
Columbia disaster for their own purposes, anti-Semites, Holocaust 
deniers and Israel bashers promoting warped conspiracy theories".

Abraham H Foxman, the Anti-Defamation League's National Director even 
managed to include me in his all-sweeping diatribe that "even in 
times of tragedy for the American people, the anti-Semites and 
hatemongers never let up".

There is much, much more, of this demented hysteria in 
Anti-Semitism-International.

IN OVER 50 years of being a published writer, I have never met such a 
vicious smear. It's all the more incredible for when I first reported 
from Israel, since the Suez Crisis of 1956, I have been repeatedly 
praised for my balanced reporting about that country.

I co-authored the Academy Award multi-nominated "Voyage of the 
Damned", a saga of Jewish courage. I arranged for the Holocaust 
Museum in Washington DC to receive all the research material on this 
saga. I have lectured widely to Israeli congregations about the 
pernicious anti-Semitism now rife. I write for a UK newspaper, the 
Sunday Express, owned by a powerful Jew. I have a huge network of 
Jewish correspondents and contacts, many of them highly placed in 
Israel. Would all these good people continue to help me if they 
thought I was "anti-Israel" or anti-Semitic?

That is what makes outlandish, vicious and dangerous labelling by the 
League so serious, because if they can label me an anti-Semite, then 
who else can they damage at the whim of the likes of Mr Foxman? 
People who cannot reply to their ridiculous accusations.

The reality is that, what it espouses to defend -- free speech -- the 
League sets out to stifle it. I had asked them to print a simple 
apology. My request was ignored. Hence this article. It will, as 
usual, be widely circulated.

It is time that somebody stood up to the bully-boy tactics of the 
Anti-Defamation League. It is rich and powerful and operates from its 
exclusive address at 823 United Nations Plaza [New York, NY 10017, 
USA]. It has been around a long time, since 1913. Its stated aim is 
"fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract 
hatred, prejudices and bigotry".

Noble aims. No one can criticise them. But even so much as dare to 
ask for the right of reply in their "Anti-Semitism International" -- 
as I did over its offensive linking of my name with anti-Semitism -- 
and you are brushed aside.

When I protested, I received a somewhat bizarre email from the 
League's "Corporate Counsel", Jill Kahn Meltzer.

She is, of course, a lawyer. And the truth does not always sit easy 
with attorneys -- whoever they are. She writes:

"ADL has not accused you of anti-Semitism. As the press release and 
the story notes, the conspiracy theories about the shuttle have been 
circulated by anti-Semites."

I wrote the story, and it has been clearly linked as part of the 
League's attack on anti-Semites. The truth is that in doing so the 
League has defamed me -- because there's nothing in my story that can 
be remotely called anti-Semitic or anti-Israeli.

But there is more from Ms Meltzer.

"While you are within your rights to criticise Israel and theorise 
about nefarious missions and practices it engages in, it is ADL's 
right to comment on those writings."

Hold it right there, Ms Meltzer. Where is there any criticism about 
"nefarious missions and practices" in the paragraphs used in 
Anti-Semitism-International to brand me as an "anti-Semite" and 
"anti-Israel"?

Comment is fair. But to use the language your organisation chose is 
-- dare I say it -- more in keeping with the smear tactics we all 
abhorred: those of Joseph Goebbels (left) and his fellow Nazis.

I suppose saying that makes me pro-Nazi in the eyes of the League!

For some time now I have been aware of the ways the League pounced on 
those less rich and powerful. It has its followers in all levels of 
the media: in publishing, in radio and in television.

Others who work in those areas have told me of their fear of the 
League. How it can black-list a book, mobilise an onslaught against a 
columnist, use its powerful connections in Washington to crush 
opposition.

But until recently, I had no idea just how powerful it could be. The 
first hint came when I published "Seeds of Fire" (Dandelion Books), a 
non-fiction book which dealt with the relationship between Israel and 
China and the role of Mossad in the United States. The book drew 
favourable reviews from distinguished critics. Carol Adler, my feisty 
publisher based in Phoenix Arizona, felt optimistic that the book 
would continue to sell in big numbers.

But suddenly, though she could not prove it, she felt the heat. 
Barnes & Noble, America's largest bookseller, withdrew its support 
for the book. Why? Because it had just announced it was going to 
collaborate with the stated aims of the League.

Seeds of Fire became among the first victims of what I regard as a 
pogrom against the truth. Carol Adler had lined up a major promotion 
to build upon the reviews. Suddenly she found that radio and TV 
appearances were cancelled on national shows.

Now what makes this doubly disturbing is that Seeds of Fire was 
preceded by another book of mine, "Gideon's Spies". Published by St 
Martin's Press (New York), it is a detailed account of Mossad [the 
Israeli secret service] It became a successful documentary for 
Britain's Channel-4. It has been published, so far, in 55 countries. 
It is a book that carries the imprimatur of Meir Amit, the former 
director-general of Mossad. He states: "Thomas tells it like it was 
-- like it is". The book's jacket is peppered with similar accolades.

I do not know at what stage the League became aware of it, but aware 
they did become. And, despite Mr Amit's unstinted praise, League 
hatchetmen in the media set to work. The normal standards of 
reviewing were shunted aside; the charge was that I was an 
anti-Semite for daring to have shown that Mossad was less than 
infallible!

So the way was paved for the assault on Seeds of Fire. It is still 
selling on the Internet -- though Carol Adler has indicated she is 
still having difficulties in collecting my royalties!

But still the League was not satisfied. Last year, I co-published 
(with Martin Dillon) "Robert Maxwell: Israel's Super Spy" (Carroll & 
Graf, New York).

Maxwell, a media tycoon and crook on a grand scale, as well as being 
a Mossad "asset" was a staunch supporter of the League.

The result was that the League mounted a disgraceful attempt to bury the book.

Newspapers that support the League -- The New York Times among them 
-- either refused to review the book or used it, yes, you've got it, 
to accuse Dillon and myself of anti-Semitism. When we protested about 
one such scabrous attack in The Washington Post, it refused to 
publish our letter. When we challenged Alan Dershowitz -- the lawyer 
who helped to defend O J Simpson -- on misreporting the facts in his 
"review", we were again refused the right of reply.

That said, I must also add that The Times of London, Britain's 
DailyMail and Daily Mirror showed they will stand up to the League by 
devoting considerable space to the book. So far, the book is in its 
sixth UK printing and doing well in the US.

But what I complain of about the League is this. No matter how 
favourably I have handled Israel in the past, the slightest criticism 
brings down a garbage-can of attacks in its newsletter.

In these dangerous times, their Anti-Semitism-International commits 
what Jews call a blood libel by linking my name and writings with the 
foul words of Abu Hamza al-Masri, an Islamic Fundamentalist.

If it is to continue to make such irresponsible links, then it will 
demean its aims even further.

There is only one way to make the League know how my hundreds of 
thousands of readers feel about their baseless accusations.

It is to make your view known. Why not spare a moment and sent an 
email to jill.meltzer at adl.org and tell us if she responds. If you 
feel like calling her, here is the number in the USA: (212) 885 7734. 
Of if you care to fax her, the number is (212) 953 9691. But try and 
spare the time to express your feelings.

It will be another step in stopping the smears and misrepresentations 
that are not needed in these troubled times.


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