Assertions that the Jewish Telegraphic Agency had accused Sen. Barry Goldwater of anti-Semitism were rejected this weekend by two leading American Jewish newspapers.
The Jewish Chronicle of Pittsburgh termed the charge, first made in a syndicated column in the New York Herald Tribune, “poppycock.” The Jewish Floridan, of Miami termed the discussion “a sad one.”
The charge that “liberal Jewish sources are implying nothing less than anti-Semitism by Goldwater himself” was made by the Herald Tribune writers on the basis of a column by Milton Friedman, JTA Washington correspondent, dealing with speeches by the Arizona Republican criticizing the political affiliations of American Jewry. The JTA denied that there was any intent or attempt to accuse Sen, Goldwater of anti-Semitism in that column. The Jewish Floridian pointed out editorially that the Herald Tribune column “half-quotes the JTA correspondent and therefore imputes to him attitudes he never even implied.”
The Jewish Chronicle declared that the Herald Tribune columnists were “way off the beam,” Sen, Goldwater, the editorial said, “can clear this tempest in a teapot through an interview with Milton Friedman in Washington at any time. We’d be delighted to print it.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
