Israel Matzav

ElBaradei interview endorsing terrorism faked?

On Tuesday, I linked to an interview with former IAEA chief and current possible Egyptian Presidential candidate Mohamed ElBaradei in which ElBaradei in which ElBaradei allegedly expressed support for the 'Palestinian resistance' and suggested that the Palestinian Authority use violence, since “power is the only language the Israeli occupiers understand.” Now, it turns out that whole interview may have been faked (Hat Tip: Elder of Ziyon).

However, upon further checking and a message received by Ali ElBaradei, the opposition leader’s brother and press contact, it appears the entire “interview” was made up.

“If you are referring to the interview with that Palestinian media agency, it is total bogus,” the brother told Bikya Masr. “He never gave such an interview.”

According to al-Qassem, they reported that ElBaradei had said “the peace process has become a stupid joke ,which we talk about without achieving any progress.” But, the comments never occurred. The agency added that ElBaradei said that “Arabs should back their negotiation option with force and deterrence.”

It begs the question as to why an organization would create a false interview with such a high profile Egyptian politician. According to Mohamed Latif, a Palestinian media analyst and blogger based in Ramallah, the idea was probably to create solidarity with the Palestinian cause, “after so much frustration with Egyptian political leaders.”

However, Latif believes that fabricating such interviews will do more harm than good to other Palestinian news organizations and agencies who seek proper news gathering.

“Now, it will be even harder for Palestinian reporters and organizations to deal with ElBaradei because there will be a lot of suspicion as to how the quotes will be used and rightfully so,” he added.

There's more too. Read the whole thing.

Bikya Masr and Elder of Ziyon both speculate as to who might have been behind the 'interview.' Bikya Masr assumes it was the 'Palestinians,' while Elder of Ziyon believes it could have also been Iran.

I have to wonder whether the Egyptian government might have been involved. They're the ones with the biggest interest in discrediting ElBaradei. Hmmm.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 9:37 AM