Rabbi Joseph Harari, executive director of the Committee for the Rescue of Syrian Jewry, charged today that the re-broadcast of Mike Wallace’s “60 Minutes” contained erroneous statements. On the original broadcast, Wallace said that four young Jews were executed for espionage. On the re-broadcast, in an answer to complaints, Wallace justified this by asserting that a Syrian Jew had told him the story, Rabbi Harari said. He complained that this “is totally fictitious,” and added “No Syrian Jew has ever been convicted or executed for espionage.” He accused Wallace of “lending credibility to the Syrian government’s claim that the Jews present the threat of a possible fifth column.” He further rebuked Wallace “because he caused a man to falsely stand witness against his own people. No Jew would justify such a lie unless he was forced to,” Rabbi Harari concluded by asking Wallace why he did not mention a truthful and more recent incident in which he said, “Last year the secret police delivered to the Damascus Jewish community the bodies of four young women and two men who were murdered as they attempted to flee the country.”
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.
