Assange Blames Troubles on 'Jewish Conspiracy'

Media out to smear WikiLeaks, Assange tells editor
By Mary Papenfuss,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 2, 2011 1:42 AM CST
Assange Blames Troubles on 'Jewish Conspiracy'
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange leaves Belmarsh Magistrates Court last month in London.   (Getty Images)

Julian Assange is coming under fire after a British journalist accused the controversial WikiLeaks founder of blaming a "Jewish conspiracy" for his problems with the media. "He said that I and Private Eye should be ashamed of ourselves for joining in the international conspiracy to smear WikiLeaks," writes Private Eye editor Ian Hislop. Assange claimed that the publication was "part of a conspiracy" led by the Guardian and including individuals all of whom "are Jewish," Assange noted, according to the journalist.

When Hislop pointed out that one of the individuals named was not actually Jewish, Assange responded that he was "sort of Jewish" because he's the brother-in-law of a Jewish journalist, reports the Guardian. "When I doubted whether his Jewish conspiracy would stand up against the facts," Assange suddenly responded: "Forget the Jewish thing," according to Hislop. Assange has denied the allegations in a statement. "Hislop has distorted, invented or misremembered almost every significant claim and phrase," he said. "In particular, 'Jewish conspiracy' is completely false, in spirit and in word." (More Julian Assange stories.)

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