Atlanta Paper Behind Obama Assassination Article Falsely Associated with Chabad

Atlanta, GA [CHI] — A column that was recently published in the Atlanta Jewish Times caused an uproar in the American media; the author, Andrew Adler, listed the assassination of President Obama as a possible solution to the standoff between Israel and Iran. Media pundits were up in arms, Jewish groups were quick to denounce the paper and even the Secret Service got involved. But there was another unfortunate misunderstanding regarding the ill-conceived article: the notion that the paper is affiliated with the Chabad movement.

The missunderstanding stems from a quick visit to the paper’s website. A visitor is immediately greeted with what appears to be a large banner adevertising Chabad’s services, leading one to conclude that there is some sort of connection.

Some news sources immidiately pounced on the oppertunity to smear Chabad’s name by associating Mr. Adler’s article with the movement. The Jewish Daily Forward, for example, wrote:

“Adler, who is a member of the Chabad Movement and has been active in the Atlanta Jewish community for years, bought the paper 2-1/2 years ago.”

The rabidly anti-Israel magazine +972 wrote this charming headline:

“Inciting to kill Obama: Another Judeofascist from Chabad.”

However, a little further investigation, such as a simple phone call to Chabad of Atlanta or the newspaper, would have confirmed that the paper is entirely independent, and, as well aas the author of the article, has absolutely no connection to Chabad whatsoever.

In fact, the “ad” for Chabad on the homepage is actually just a news article – about a new Chabad House in town; the website used a snapshot of an ad for Chabad as a photo accompanying the news piece. Being that this happens to be the main headline story at the moment (something which is a case of rather unfortunate timing for Chabad), it appears prominently at the top of the site when unknowing visitors come for a peek, leading them to believe that there is some sort of connection.

We would like to reiterate: there isn’t.

Update: The Jewish Daily Forward has removed the allusion to Chabad from their article. The paragraph in question now reads “Adler, who has been active in the Atlanta Jewish community for years, bought the paper 2-1/2 years ago.”

Update 2: It appears the article by +972 Magazine has been taken offline as well. The following disclaimer appeared below the revised article:

“A previous version of this post relied on information from another paper, and linked Andrew Adler to the Chabad movement. A spokesperson for Chabad contacted +972 denying this link, and we have therefore removed references to Chabad.”