AtlantaJewishNews.com Denounces The Atlanta Jewish Times

 Bottom line upfront: AtlantaJewishNews.com condemns the Jan. 13 column in which Atlanta Jewish Times Publisher Andrew Adler suggested the Mossad would consider assassinating President Barack Obama to protect Israel.

We are not in any way affiliated with The Atlanta Jewish Times, a print-first publication owned by Adler.

 Such a piece is a disgrace to the news media’s wavering credibility and to Jews around the world. It’s also a slap in the face to the Jewish community of Atlanta, for which The Atlanta Jewish Times once stood.

If you were not privy to reading “What Would You Do?” in its original print format, you are not alone; The Atlanta Jewish Times has a sadly limited circulation these days.

When that outrageous column was written last week, it lay dormant outside metro Atlanta until the website Gawker.com posted a scanned version and brought it to the world’s attention.

Adler proposed three scenarios for the state of Israel to protect itself: Order a pre-emptive strike on Hezbollah and Hamas; destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities “at all costs”; and “give the go-ahead for U.S.-based Mossad agents to take out a president deemed unfriendly to Israel in order for the current vice president to take his place, and forcefully dictate that the United States' policy includes its helping the Jewish state obliterate its enemies.”

Adler added: “Yes, you read ‘three’ correctly. Order a hit on a president in order to preserve Israel's existence. Think about it. If I have thought of this Tom Clancy-type scenario, don't you think that this almost unfathomable idea has been discussed in Israel’s most inner circles?

“Another way of putting ‘three’ in perspective goes something like this: How far would you go to save a nation comprised of seven million lives … Jews, Christians and Arabs alike? You have got to believe, like I do, that all options are on the table.”

I am flabbergasted that the publisher of a Jewish newspaper that has been credible for most of the past 80 years would write something so despicable that it would feed into conspiracy theories and slanders regarding Jews’ national loyalties. I know it has done so because I have received angry emails and phone calls from people who made the mistake of confusing AtlantaJewishNews.com with The Atlanta Jewish Times.

I am not a scholar on Israel, Judaism or the First Amendment; I am simply a publisher and a 13-year journalist. My loyalties are with my country, my family and my community. I am an American Jew with strong ties to Israel, and I own a Jewish news source. I also know and operate by ethics and standards in journalism. I abhor the use of our country’s First Amendment rights at the expense of the Jewish community at large for someone to propagandize delusions.

Erasing party lines, this column was not the work of a Democrat, Republican, Libertarian or any other political pundit. Adler’s column does not represent the Jewish people of Atlanta, America or the world; this was one man’s disturbing cry for attention.

This Jewish man maketh not a Jewish problem.

Israel gets plenty of attention in the news, and it’s not always positive. Jews as a people and religion get plenty of attention, and it’s not always positive. Why write something that would put into further question the loyalty of Jews? Haven’t we been mistrusted enough in our history? Haven’t we seen the toll in millions of Jewish deaths? Does Adler want people to think Jews poisoned the water and caused the plague too?

I am appalled by the nature, tone and overall unprofessionalism of Adler’s column. Thank you, United States, for our many freedoms—of speech and press and religion. But damn you, Andrew Adler, for the damage you have done to our industry and our people.

AtlantaJewishNews.com is published daily (except during the Jewish Sabbath) by Atlanta Jewish News, LLC.