WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange accused British journalists of a “Jewish conspiracy” against him, according to remarks published in the British magazine Private Eye.
The magazine was reporting on a Feb. 16 phone call Assange made to the magazine’s editor complaining about British coverage of WikiLeaks, the New York Times reported.
Private Eye had published an article on Assange associate in Russia, Israel Shamir, saying that he had denied the Holocaust. Assange was quoted as calling that article “an obvious attempt to deprive him and his organization of Jewish support and donations,” according to the U.K.’s Jewish Chronicle.
He also was quoted as saying the magazine was “part of a conspiracy” led by “Jewish” writers and specifically cited the Guardian newspaper, naming editor Alan Rusbridger, a non-Jew, and investigations editor David Leigh.
Assange responded to the Private Eye article on Twitter, saying that editor Ian Hislop, who wrote the article, “distorted, invented or misremembered” what he said, calling his use of the term Jewish conspiracy “false in spirit and in word.”
“We treasure our strong Jewish support and staff, just as we treasure the support from pan-Arab democracy activists and others who share our hope for a just world,” Assange tweeted. — jta