Assange blames “Jewish conspiracy” to discredit Wikileaks: reporter

Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, has alleged the existence of a “Jewish conspiracy” that seeks to discredit him and his organization.

According to Ian Hislop, editor of Private Eye, a satirical British newsmagazine, Assange called him to complain about an article it published regarding Israel Shamir, a Russian associate of Assange who is a notorious anti-Semite and Holocaust denier. (Shamir is reportedly actually a Swede named Joran Jermas. According to other reports, Shamir also goes by the name of Adam Ermash).

Hilsop said Assange told him the article was designed to smear him and to push away Jewish support and donations for Wikileaks. Then, according to Hilsop, Assange assailed three journalists for carrying out a “Jewish” conspiracy against him (although none of the three was Jewish).

Hilsop added that afterwards Assange told him to “forget the Jewish thing.”

In response to the accusation, Assange released a statement: Hislop has distorted, invented or misremembered almost every significant claim and phrase. Assange also described the “Jewish conspiracy” phrase as completely false.

He added that: We treasure our strong Jewish support and staff, just as we treasure the support from pan-Arab democracy activists and others who share our hope for a just world.