Topic: WorldNetDaily
British media have published a list of people who have been barred from entering the UK because they "promote hatred, terrorist violence or serious criminal activity." Among the Islamic extremists, racist skinheads and neo-Nazis -- as well as anti-gay pastor Fred Phelps and all-around hater Michael Savage -- is another interesting name: Mike Guzovsky.
As we've detailed, Guzovsky -- also known as Yekutiel Ben Yaacov -- is a one-time leader of the now-outlawed far-right Kahane Chai movement in Israel. The Anti-Defamation League has described how, under Guzovsky/Ben Yaccov's leadership, Kahane Chai signaled its support of 1994 incidents in which bombs were placed outside the New York offices of two American Jewish groups that supported the Middle East peace process. Guzovsky/Ben Yaacov also expressed his support for Baruch Goldstein, who in 1994 massacred approximately 30 Arabs at Hebron's Tomb of the Patriarchs; Goldstein "did what he did out of a love for the Jewish people ... We don't condemn anybody who is targeting the enemies of the Jewish people," the ADL quotes Ben Yaacov as saying.
Guzovsky/Ben Yaacov has been a trusted source for WorldNetDaily's Aaron Klein -- so trusted that Klein endeavored to whitewash his extremism. In an August 2004 WND article, Klein endeavored to show that people like Guzovsky whom Israeli officials were portraying as "dangerous Jewish extremists" were just regular Joes and not prone to violence, and that "Jewish terrorism ... is considered extremely rare" -- even though Guzovsky has a history of supporting such violence.
Klein has quoted the man under both his Guzovsky (Guzofsky) and Ben Yaacov (Yekutel Ben Yaacov) names, failing to explain that they are one in the same. Klein has benignly described him as a "northern Samaria resident" without detailing his history of supporting far-right extremism.
Klein doesn't appear to have used Guzovsky/Ben Yaacov as a source since early 2006, but it's telling that whitewashing right-wingers like him has been a significant part of Klein's journalistic agenda.
A May 5 WND article about the list prominently features Savage -- not a surprise given WND's longtime ties with him -- but mentions Guzovsky only in passing, failing to note that the man has been a trusted source for one of its reporters.
UPDATE: Aaron Klein runs to Guzovsky's defense again:
Making the list was well is Mike Guzofsky, a leader of the ultra-nationalist Kahane movement, which seeks to ensure that Israel retains biblically-rich territories, such as the West Bank and Jerusalem. A BBC profile falsely claims Guzofsky is "actively involved with military training camps." The only camps Guzofsky currently runs are to train dogs to protect Jewish communities in the West Bank. Dogs trained at Guzofky's northern West Bank kennels recently prevented several terrorist attacks. Guzofsky previously was involved in leading workshops to teach self-defense to Jews. He has also pushed for Jews in the West Bank to cede from Israel and create their own state in the event the Israeli government seeks to evacuate that territory in a deal with the Palestinians.
Kahane only "seeks to ensure that Israel retains biblically-rich territories"? Please. It also seeks to expel Arabs from Israel. Why won't Klein mention that? On whose word is Klein asserting that "The only camps Guzofsky currently runs are to train dogs to protect Jewish communities in the West Bank"? And why won't Klein mention Guzovsky's alias, Yekutiel Ben Yaacov, even though he has quoted the man in his articles under both names?
With this continued whitewashing of Guzovsky/Ben Yaacov, Klein is demonstrating himself again to be little more than a far-right apologist.
UPDATE 2: WND unsurprisingly runs to the defense of Savage. Will it also defend Phelps, whose anti-gay crusade WND tiptoed into promoting a couple years back before learning that even WND readers think he's too extreme?
