Columnist David Horowitz has publicly apologized to Hussein Ibish, Communications Director of the American- Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), for publishing false claims by that he had secretly celebrated the 9/11 attacks on the United States. In his latest column Horowitz’ website FrontPageMagazine.com, entitled “An Apology to Hussein Ibish,” Horowitz writes that “Hussein Ibish is rightly upset that the letter from the alleged ‘Saudi Citizen’ contains what are in his words ‘false accusations’ which ‘constitute not only a vicious and absurd slander, but also an incitement to violence against me.'” Horowitz’ apology can be read online.
Horowitz’ March 15 column, based on an unsigned “letter from a Saudi citizen,” presented unattributed claims that a Saudi individual was with Dr. Ibish on Sept. 11 and that he was “cheering and singing” in private before denouncing the attacks on TV. Horowitz prefaced the unsigned letter with a note saying that “I have no way of knowing whether it is authentic, but its particulars seem accurate to me.”
Horowitz writes today that “The fraudulent nature of the claim in the ‘Saudi’ letter (at least insofar as it may have been intended to refer to this Hussein Ibish) was brought to my attention on the evening of the day it was posted (Friday March 15) by my friend Christopher Hitchens, whose word on this matter as far as I am concerned is conclusive. I received Christopher’s e-mail Friday night when I returned from a weeklong trip to the Northeast and immediately sent an e-mail apology to Hussein Ibish.”
Horowitz cites “political disagreements” with ADC, Ibish and Hitchens, but affirms that “these are irrelevant to the fact that this is a matter of a man‘s character and reputation, and it is important to set the record straight. I have therefore removed the letter from our site and am taking this occasion to make a public apology.”
On Friday, Joseph Farrah, editor and CEO of WorldNetDaily.com which had linked to the March 15 column, wrote to ADC that the website offered “an immediate retraction.”
“We do apologize for any bad judgment made in linking to material that may be incorrect or wrongly injurious,” Farrah added.