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 For Immediate Release
Nov 29, 1999 Contact: Press Office
202-646-5172


HOWARD KURTZ AND THE WASHINGTON POST CANNOT ACCEPT CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM

Larry Klayman's Piece "The Ethical Decline of Liberal Jewish Intelligentsia" Raises Question: "Are Jewish Conservatives Treated By Jewish Liberals Like Black Conservatives Are Treated By Black Liberals?"


(Washington, D.C.) Today, in the "Media Notes" section of the Style Section of The Washington Post ("the Post"), Howard Kurtz and the Post attacked Larry Klayman, Chairman of Judicial Watch, for writing an article entitled: "The Ethical Decline of Liberal Jewish Intelligentsia Under Clinton." The article appeared in Klayman's debut column of WorldNetDaily.com on November 9, 1999, and set the record for hits (over 30,000) that day alone. It can now be found on WorldNetDaily.com's archives, or at Judicial Watch's website at www.judicialwatch.org. The article has received thousands of rave reviews from Jews and Christians and Kurtz was provided with e-mail to quote from. Kurtz' hit piece makes no mention of this.

The article celebrates Klayman's Jewish heritage, and is a salute to his grandparents who taught him these values. It goes on to point out how the Clinton years have exposed a decline in Jewish values among those liberal Jewish journalists who have shilled for the President, Mrs. Clinton and their administration. In essence, the article asks the compelling question -- which Kurtz and other liberal Jews have a hard time confronting -- "Why have they abandoned their proud Jewish heritage -- founded in the Ten Commandments -- to run interference for the most dishonest and corrupt President in American history?" The obvious answer is that they have elevated their leftist political ideology over basic Judeo-Christian values.

The article also candidly points out a sad observation. Since founding Judicial Watch in 1994, Klayman has observed that the overwhelming majority of attacks against him and his group have come from liberal Jewish journalists, raising another question: Do liberal Jews treat conservative Jews the same way liberal blacks treat conservative blacks? Certainly, the viciousness exhibited against Klayman, Justice Clarence Thomas, Alan Keyes, J.C. Watts, Ward Connerly, and others seems to be similar. In the article, Klayman asks whether he is viewed as a "kosher uncle Tom," particularly given his openly expressed belief in Jesus Christ, first taught to him by his devoutly Jewish grandfather, Isadore, who preached the "oneness" of the two religions to him, emphasizing that Christ was a Jew and should be respected.

In short, Klayman's article raises important questions which hopefully will start a dialogue among liberal and conservative Jews. Ironically, the Post has for years mocked and defamed Klayman and his group, causing Klayman to sue a liberal Post reporter, David Segal. Segal, who admittedly gets fed stories by the Clintons' lawyers, routinely publishes an unprecedented and libelous hit column in the Monday Business Section, "The Klayman Chronicles," read by the judges sitting on Judicial Watch's cases. Not coincidentally, the Clintons' lawyers are also the same lawyers used by the Post.

"Now is the time for dialogue, reflection, and reconciliation. Most important, liberals of Jewish origin, like Kurtz and Katherine Graham, the Post's owner, need to embrace their proud heritage in the Ten Commandments, and work with conservative Jews and Christians to clean up the rampant corruption in our nation's capitol, " stated Klayman.

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