Badge of dishonour

THIS POST HAS BEEN UPDATED:

Today on page A2, the National Post printed a lengthy ''Note to Readers'' with the headline "Our mistake,'' in reference to last Friday's shocking front-page story which claimed that Iran would ''require'' Jews to wear Nazi-era style badges. (SEE UPDATE)The mea culpa, signed by editor-in-chief Doug Kelly, reads, in part:

It is now clear the story is not true. Given the seriousness of the error, I felt it necessary to explain to our readers how this happened.

The story of the alleged badge law first came to us in the form of a column by Amir Taheri. Mr. Taheri, an Iranian author and journalist, has written widely on Iran for many major publications. In his column, Mr. Taheri wrote at length about the new law, the main purpose of which is to establish an appropriate dress code for Muslims. Mr. Taheri went on to say that under the law, "Religious minorities would have their own colour schemes. They will also have to wear special insignia, known as zonnar, to indicate their non-Islamic faith."

This extraordinary allegation caught our attention, of course. The idea that Iran might impose such a law did not seem out of the question given that its President has denied the Holocaust and threatened to "wipe Israel off the map." We tried to contact Mr. Taheri, but he was in transit and unreachable.

From there, Kelly tracks the trajectory of how Taheri's column ended up being spun into the horrifying Holocaust-type story on the front page. He concludes with:

We acknowledge that on this story, we did not exercise sufficient caution and skepticism, and we did not check with enough sources. We should have pushed the sources we did have for more corroboration of the information they were giving us. That is not to say that we ignored basic journalistic practices or that we rushed this story into print with no thought as to the consequences. But given the seriousness of the allegations, more was required.

We apologize for the mistake and for the consternation it has caused not just National Post readers, but the broader public who read the story. We take this incident very seriously, and we are examining our procedures to try to ensure such an error does not happen again.

Coupled with a front-page semi-retraction in Saturday's Post, it's fair to say that the paper acted as swiftly as it could to rectify what was a serious error, one with potentially catastrophic consequences. It did much better than did the New York Times did, say, with its Judith Miller/WMDs horsedip.

But have all the right wingdings accepted the fact that the story isn't true? What do you think?

Yes, many have climbed down. But not all. Their reasoning? It's fake but accurate, as the story goes. Well, knowing Iran, and its president's propensity to make hateful comments against Israel and all, what do you think? Here's a sample, one which ignores the fact that I corrected my errors while not correcting their own:

What I find most fascinating is why the Left isn't jumping all over this in defense of women and minorities in Iran!

The zonnar mark for dhimmis ... was used in Iran until 1908. That the Council of Guardians MAY consider its reinstatement is hardly an odd notion. Even if it is sabotaged by Taheri's report, the bigger issue still hasn't been addressed by the Left.

I should emphasize that, while delusions such as this are not the responsibility of the National Post, it sure added fuel to what threatens to become a raging fire.

My friend D.R.A. sent along this Jim Lobe column about the whole mess which he found in the Winnipeg Free Press (sub. req'd.) The AntiWar folks have it too.

The newspapers that so far have run the story are similarly identified with a hard line against Tehran. The National Post, which was bought by CanWest Global Communications from Conrad Black, a close associate of Perle's, is controlled by David and Leonard Asper, who have accused the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation of being anti-Israel, according to Marsha Cohen of Florida International University, who has closely followed the badges story.

Similarly, the (New York) Sun has consistently taken positions consistent with the right-wing Likud Party in Israel on Middle East issues, while Murdoch owns the strongly pro-Israel Weekly Standard and Fox News, in addition to the New York Post.

"I think the way these stories played – particularly the references to the Holocaust – was designed to arouse and play upon concerns and accusations that Ahmadinejad is another Hitler who needs to be dealt with accordingly," noted Cohen, who added that the Iranian president's questioning of the Holocaust and aggressive statements about Israel have made such stories more credible.

Meanwhile, AntiWar's Justin Raimundo goes much further, connecting the dots between this and the -- cue the ominous music -- pro-Israel lobby.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was in Washington Tuesday, presumably to issue the Bush administration its marching orders. On this sojourn, he is hitting all the right notes – Iran,   which is "close to atomic bomb know-how," is "like Hitler," and poses a threat not just to Israel but "to  Western civilization." This is a change in tactics from last time around, when the Israelis were careful to keep a low profile on the question of invading Iraq: emboldened by success, they have sent the Israeli prime minister himself to make the case for war. And the Amen Corner is taking up the cause with alacrity, loudly beating their tom-toms and smearing anyone who – like Professor Juan Cole – dares to expose their tactics of mass deception.

Iran is years away from acquiring nuclear weapons and has formally stated that its intentions are peaceful. The Israelis think they have reason to doubt the Iranians' motives, and are scared to death – or so they claim. 

Oh what a tangled web they weave.

Another hat tip to Maz.

* UPPITY DATE: It has been pointed out to me that, to read the Post's retraction online, you need to go beyond the front page and then, you require a paid subscription.

Just one of those things that make me go hmmmmmmmmmmm.

Comments

[Adam in Whitby]

"fake but accurate" stinks as much now as it did when some tried to use it to exonerate CBS for memogate.

Agreed, the Post has done as good a job as it could to answer the charge -- though it would have been nice if they'd checked another source or two before running with the story in the first place.

But Justin Raimondo blaming Israel? I'm shocked. What's next, Noam Chomsky accusing the US of war crimes? Adam Daifallah accusing the MSM of anti-tory bias? We're through the looking glass here, people...

[Bill-Muskoka]

Its now Wednesday! Therein lies my answer to their alleged confession.

Seems it played the right amount of time for certain special interests to take advantage of it. Likewise, do the WH staff actually appraise Bush, Rice, and the NSA on Canadian newspapers? Those question need investigating.

For all we know Bush thought our our PM's name was 'Poutine' until just recently.

To answer your question Antonia 'But have all the right wingdings accepted the fact that the story isn't true? What do you think?'

Like you said...some but not all. I have known too many people that once they hear something that supports their pet position forget them modifying it.

I see a pattern, timing wise, of a very carefully crafted propaganda exercise designed to accomplish its purpose.

Of course we have never seen that trick done before, eh?

[sooey]

"It is now clear the story is not true" okay. we've known that for a couple of days. BUT - that it could have been true - some of us have also been keenly aware. as a canadian - i want the news - without bias. all the more reason for a public broadcaster - whether the news is what we want to hear or not.

I think you are too kind to THE NATIONAL POST.

At best, it is possible to muster a single cheer...if you close your eyes and hold your nose. Having exhausted other possibilities, the paper has done now done the right thing and apologized.

The tipping point seems to have been Taheri's disingenousness. He failed to acknowlege error and sought to pass the blame to THE NATIONAL POST.

The detailed reconscrution of events is welcome, espcecially in light of the fevered conspiracy theories making the Internet rounds. But there is still an unseemly note of defensiveness. THE NATIONAL POST begs readers to understand that while it was irresponsible....IT COULD HAVE BEEN EVEN MORE IRRESPONSIBLE.

Strikingly, there is no mention at all of its use of the holocaust photo. Nor does the
paper say it will no longer print Taheri articles.

[allderblob]

CBC radio ran the fact of the Post's retraction in a 15-second clip on the 6:00 news just now... What will Gary Clement (the Post political cartoonist) make of the retraction? He was right on top of the original article, with a drawing on the editorial page showing Iranian clerics saying "It's just like the lead up to the Holocaust...not that that ever happened..."

[Bill-Muskoka]

The story was false. The picture used to hype it was totally a diabolical hype! There will never be any acceptable explanation for that picture. Pure hyperberly, nothing less!

Shame on them...SHAME! SHAME! SHAME!

[RossK]

I'm with Bill M......

Sure, they moved as fast as they could, but only after unleashing the thing at the front end of the three day Canadian newscycle deadzone that allowed the whirlitzer to run full throttle through the weekend (see Posts - other).

And regarding those 'other' Posts, one of my favorite bits from the Lobe piece was the quote from Juan Cole about the magnificent AsperSons' Nat Post being an out of the way paper whose front page made it easy for the 'more mainstream' RMurdoch NYPost to run with the story.

(at a time when Mr. Kelly was ducking, of course).

.

[sooey]

i'm gonna be poster bad and re-post: what the hell does the weistenthal center really have to do with this story even if it were true. which it isn't. go hunt nazis. whatever. yup. to quote a wise man "whatever".

[Ti-Guy]

Yeah, this does nothing for me. The NatPost is still an egregious, propagandistic rag. I am sure there are a lot of good people working for it; if I were one of them, I would have quit by now. I have done it before.

[Let'sGetReal]

After the U.S. House voted to cut off aid to the Palestinians yesterday, Ehud Olmert, Prime Minister of Israel, was given a standing ovation in the U.S. Congress today, with both Democrats and Republicans participating in the clap-fest.

This was after George W. (What's his last name again?) said for the second time that he would use U.S. military might to defend Israel, even while

- the United States concedes that Israel has better better military technology in some areas

- dual Israeli-American citizens are being stripped of Pentagon clearances

- two of the former top officials of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC -- simply known as "The Lobby" in Washington) are on trial under the U.S. Espionage Act for passing classified information on Iran to Israel.

Again, Israel and the U.S. do not have a formal U.S. Senate ratified defense treaty, thus Bush is making a promise to defend Israel, which is illegal under U.S. law.

And the U.S. has only approximately 150,000 potential GI hostages at stake in Iraq should USrael decide to attack Iran and the enraged Shia decide to kill U.S. troops as well as troops from all the other countries in the "Coalition of the Willing."

Canada -- oh Canada ;-) -- take Israel off our hands! Your media appears to be leading the charge, but why don't the citizens of Canada who like what Israel is doing -- starving and bombing the Palestinians; lying the U.S. into endless wars that have nothing to do with Americans; generating endless hatred towards the U.S. across the world -- take the initiative?

You'll have plenty o' dead bodies (of your children no less!) as well as a massive deficit, as a reward for taking the burden of Israel off us poor suffering "Mur-cans."

Canada -- do it now! Sacrifice your children and your treasure for Israel, because the people of the U.S. in the know are fed-up, and I would venture to guess that many of us plan to make our feelings known when we attempt to kick out the pro-Israel bums in both parties during the 2006 elections.

Personally, I have a true dislike of dead bodies, especially if they are the bodies of the children I love...

[Maz]

The "fake but accurate" mantra mentioned above recalls an utterance from the Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Elie Wiesel, on the protean nature of historical reality:

"Things are not that simple, Rebbe. Some events do take place but are not true; other are, although they never occurred" (Legends of Our Time, New York Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1968, p. viii). IOW, two plus two may equal five.

Against the backdrop of National Post's baldly propagandistic yellow-badges-for-Jews-in-Iran story and its "fake but accurate" coterie of defenders, we can, I think, better understand George Orwell's equation of inalienable freedom with the right to say that two plus two equals four.

[Antonia Z.]

This is some international incident. Today Radio-Canada reported that the Iranian government called a meeting with Canada's ambassador to Tehran.

http://radio-canada.ca/nouvelles/International/2006/05/24/004-Iran-Canada-Ambassade.shtml

Here's an English-language story for you uni-tongues.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=24705

[Diana-Marie]

Oh boy, Canadian ambassador called in by Iranian govt., retractions and mea culpas all over the National tonight. NP's editorial processes 'being reviewed', but their spokesperson says 'these things happen, we're human'. Hey ho, guess that's as good as it gets .....

Makes a good match with Harper's 'unfortunate accident' re Afghanistan civilian deaths; heck, falling of your bike is an unfortunate accident .....

[Adam]

"That is not to say that we ignored basic journalistic practices..."

I'm sorry, but didn't Kelly just admit that they ran this story based on a single source that they couldn't contact to verify his information? Wouldn't "basic journalistic practices" involve a single phone call to the Iranian embassy?

I admit I've never taken a course in journalism, but it seems kind of basic to me...

[arthurdecco]

Maz, I've been meaning to tell you: Great Posts!

[Alison]

Great post from Jim Henley on how the "fake but accurate" angle is being played on this story :
http://highclearing.com/index.php/archives/2006/05/22/5132

[Mark Bourrie]

Geez, you don't think the (Lebanon) Daily Star (linked by Zerb a couple of posts above) completely ripped off TorStar's web site design, right down to the fonts, huh?

[Paleo]

The same people using the same tactics are agit-propping the U.S. into going to war against Iran. You'd think the non-neo-con MSM would have learned from being bamboozled in the Iraq debacle. Yet, they continue to regurgitate the neo-con talking points. Meanwhile, the average person is just swept along in this charade, not knowing what to believe and helpless to change the direction.

[Glowbull]

The National Post sux.

Full friggin stop.

All these half-wits with PhDs (yes, they write it on their business cards) who spend all day focusing on such important matters as, "Should this text go up-and-down or sideways on the page?" Maybe they should spend less time trying to sound smart by editing in as many BIG GIANT WORDS AS POSSIBLE INTO THEIR COPY and instead check their friggin facts.

[Moni]

Ok, I don't get it. How come "We tried to contact Mr. Taheri, but he was in transit and unreachable" is a sufficient explanation for some people? This was about a law. Shouldn't the first thing the Post does is read the stupid thing? Surely they can find someone who reads Farsi and can identify the words "yellow", "Jews", and "insignia".
Instead the first thing they did was run the story without any sources (since their only source was "unavailable")
Another time when I just throw my hands up.

On another note, I do agree that this story will have a life of its own as true even though it has been shown otherwise. The same is true of the "Iraq tried to buy uranium" story. I wasn't sure of that one so I looked it up (I posted it here before). The CIA seems to believe Iraq did not credibly try to get uranium and the only dialogue with Niger was in 1999 and uranium wasn't mentioned. So the "16 words" shouldn't have been said by Bush (his office admitted so I'm sure we would have heard if it was true). But I've been shouted down by others saying the story is true and the "left" should lay off the "16 words meme."
Can't wait for this to be called the "covert (rather than fake) badges for Jews law" or something similar.
Hooray!

[Ted]

Antonia: Speaking of retractions, any word from WK about a retraction of his over-the-top smears on you for calling the National Post on their outrageousness?

Hmmm. Thought not.

[hbo]

More from the Daimnation! post referred to by Antonia

"The truth of it, though, is that Zerb and her ilk were more interested in smearing the Right than they were in reports of potential new civil rights abuses by a regime infamous for just such behaviour."

That is not what I understood from reading the many and (mostly) intelligent and informative posts over the past week. I am new to middle east politics, and learned alot from what was posted here and elsewhere, and here are my thoughts.

My take is that the anger was directed at the NP for placing on the front page an image that reminded people of one of the most atrocious crimes in history, and falsely linking that image, and all the emotions that go with it, to Iran. The anger was directed at the NP for not being absolutely certain that a story, which THEY KNEW would boost support for a another violent war, this time against Iran, was true. It's that simple.

but what about this guy?

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&call_pageid=971358637177&c=Article&cid=1148077814324

Proof that things aren't so good in Iran.

Zahra Kazemi is more proof.

Civil rights are abused. Women are second class citizens. Iran is a troubled country. That absolutely needs to be addressed.

But not with a nuclear bomb (another one of the most atrocious crimes in history?), and expendable soldiers. Women's rights and minority rights were (and still are, sometimes) a long time coming in Canada and in other industrialized countries - in times of peace and prosperity. It's hard to organize a movement for civil rights, when you are constantly having to deal with your "fight or flight" instinct. Has there ever been an extended period of peace in the middle east for such a movement to begin? I am honestly asking, because I don't know. Does a movement for civil rights have to come from within the country itself? With the best and purest intentions, (if such intentions exist) intervening might work I guess. But a military intervention to bring democracy and civil rights? Declaring war? Even if you do "want to teach the world to sing, in perfect harmony", the fact is that while you are opening that coke you plan to share, you are straddling a big gun, on a big tank, pointing directly at the people you say you are coming to save. Not a very welcoming sight. Don't be offended if you're not offered a bouquet of flowers.

My thanks to all who have researched (and double checked that research) and shared what they've learned on this issue. I decided that after I had my children that I should learn a bit more about the world I brought them into. Sometimes I regret that decision (the learning bit, not the birthing bit). It's scary out there, and ignorance is bliss.

[ronnie Parson]

The NP mea culpa is not good enough. It should carry the apology on its frontpage for a week.

[entlord]

However, the editor continues to insinuate that by its President's being a Holocaust denier, this automatically makes Iran Nazi Germany. He also repeats that Iran wants to "wipe Israel off the map". Has anyone ever determined if this is a phrase which can be translated idiomatically into Farsi?
Professor Juan Cole has argued that the "wiping" quote is not colloquial Farsi and so far I have not seen a credible refutation of his position.
I guess accuracy in translation is something readers can't expect of our current media.

[Dr.Dawg]

I see Warzie has called his link to your site "Bilious Anti-Warren Harridan." WTF? What a child.