JerusalemU Lies About the USS Liberty [UPDATED]
Two years ago, I contacted the founder of the JerusalemU website about the claims made in his video mentioning the June 8, 1967, Israeli attack on the USS Liberty.
He told me, “We will look into your website and your claims more in depth.”
He has not.
UPDATE
I had a recent email exchange with Rabbi Raphel Shore of JerusalemU. While he did not distance himself or his organization from the lies about the USS Liberty attack in his video or tell us the lies will be corrected, Rabbi Shore wrote: “While the video you are referring to of ours mentions the USS LIberty, it’s not really about it. We are however, considering a video that does unpack the USS LIberty story, and show the different sides.”
He then asked if I would consider being interviewed for the planned video.
My response:
Thank you for your kindness in responding to my email.
I applaud your effort to create a more inclusive video about the attack on our ship.
While I feel it would be inappropriate for me to direct you in a way that will result in a video that has a pre-determined conclusion, I hope you don’t mind my making a few suggestions of what you should consider for including in your video. I will be the first to admit that any of these suggestions will go a long way in achieving our goal of ensuring the attack is documented as completely as possible.
First on my list would be interviews with Israelis involved in the attack. I was briefly in touch with a retired Israeli Admiral who was the head of an organization of former IDF Navy personnel. He told me he counted in the membership of his group a number of attack participants. I have been looking for his contact information but cannot find it. I’m sure your associates in Israel will be able to obtain that information from the IDF.
You may also find Gen. Yiftah Spector who lead the air attack amenable to being interviewed.
My second suggestion is to have your Congressional Delegation contact the Congressional Research Service and ask the question, “Has the US government conducted an investigation of the attack on the USS Liberty?”
To your offer to my being interviewed for the video, there was a time when I would gladly accept the invitation. A time when I could speak about the attack as if it had happened to someone else. Unfortunately, that time is long past. One can only speak about our being ordered abandoned by the Sixth Fleet while we were still under attack and calling for help for so long before the wall I created between me and the attack comes crashing down. And the knowledge that no Member of Congress has ever accepted our invitation to attend our annual memorial service in DC is just one of the things I have a hard time dealing with.
I’m afraid the mental preparation needed to participate in such an interview has gotten to be too much for me to handle. I hope you can use the videos on our YouTube channel in lieu of a new interview.
Thank you again for your kindness and your interest in the attack on our ship.
According to his Wikipedia reference, Rabbi Shore is a Canadian-Israeli Rabbi who founded JerusalemU and the Clarion Project. In his email to me he showed no concern for the effect the lies in his video about the USS Liberty has on the American survivors of the attack and on our families.
One can only hope that his anticipated video about the attack on our ship will not include comments by parties not involved in the attack itself (e.g. Jay Cristol who did not interview a single USS Liberty survivor for his dissertation about the attack) but will include comments, evidence and testimony made available by those actually involved in the attack.
By Joe Meadors
In a previous version of the JerusalemU website we learned that the organization was “founded by Rabbi Raphael Shore in 2009 to address the prevalent and growing need to educate and inspire the new generation about Judaism and Israel so that they gain a stronger Jewish identity and an appreciation of their heritage.”
Jerusalem U is committed to strengthening the emotional and intellectual connection of young Jews to Judaism and Israel breaking old molds, forging new approaches to Jewish and Israel education through the creative use of film and technology all distributed via the Internet, social media, television, grassroots campaigns and partnerships with mainstream pro-Israel and Jewish organizations.
Apparently, that approach involves lying about the attack on the USS Liberty.
In their video about day six of the Six Day War they repeat the claim that the attack consisted solely of an air attack followed by a recognition of the true identity of the ship and termination of the attack.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56_K78fRdvM]
They omit the apparently mundane facts that are routinely overlooked by those more intent on ensuring their visitors are told a fictionalized account of the attack instead of one supported by evidence and testimony of all persons involved.
Do they think their visitors can’t handle the truth?
If they don’t, why omit the facts that they used unmarked aircraft, jammed our radios on both US Navy tactical and international maritime distress frequencies, deliberately machine-gunned serviceable life rafts we had dropped over the side in anticipation of abandoning ship, fired upon USS Liberty crewmen who attempted to help our wounded shipmates who were trapped topside during the attack, and departed the scene for over an hour instead of offering aid immediately upon cessation of hostilities as is their obligation under international law?
Two years ago, I contacted Rabbi Shore and asked that he consider information we have accumulated over the past 5 decades and include that information in their reference to the USS Liberty.
He promised that he would.
He has not.
Perhaps it is time for me to remind him of his promise.