Senator Raps Canberra Paper, Denies That Jews `peddle Lies’

A top Australian official has assailed a newspaper here for publishing a headline and story that claimed that his spokeswoman has said members of the country’s Jewish community are involved in “peddling lies.”

The Canberra Times, the only daily in Australia’s capital city, reported that a spokeswoman for Sen. Gareth Evans, Australia’s minister for foreign affairs and trade, used that phrase in describing Jewish protest of a government invitation to Palestine Liberation Organization official Farouk Kaddoumi.

The article identified Australia/Israel Publications and the Executive Council of Australian Jewry as the organizations opposed to Kaddoumi’s visit here.

Colin Rubenstein, editorial chairman of Australia/Israel Publications, said the article and the headline were “grossly offensive” and represented ” an extraordinary lapse in standards and judgment.”

Evans, who defended his invitation to Kaddoumi and said he did not agree with all of Kaddoumi’s positions, told the Senate that the newspaper headline “ascribing the view to my press spokeswoman of Jewish elements `peddling lies'” is a “wildly inaccurate account of what was said.”

He also said, “The words in quotation marks were never said by the government and do not reflect the government’s position.”

The Canberra Times has since acknowledged that the words in question were a construction of the reporter and not a quotation of my source.

Rubenstein said that “The Canberra Times is, to this point, not accepting responsibility for what we are advised is clearly defamatory.”

He has written to the newspaper demanding an apology.