American Arab Anti Discrimination Committee

Rumors continue to circulate through the internet and other sources that footage of a small group of Palestinians in Nablus celebrating the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington were recycled from 1990-1991. ADC is convinced that there is no basis for this allegation and that this is yet another hoax affecting the Arab American and Arab communities. Statements below from CNN, the Brazilian University that was alleged to be the source of the "discovery" and every element of logic and common sense indicate that there is no reason at all to believe this story. Like the invidious hoaxes about Macdonald's and Coca-Cola, this is another crude attempt to confuse our community and divert our energies from the urgent tasks confronting us. Clear signs of an internet rumor include: 1) no attribution or original return email address; 2) No specific source (i.e. "one of my former professors says" and "I will try to get hold of the tape," etc.); 3) Inconsistency with all other known facts; 4) Dramatic information otherwise unknown and inconsistent with logic or historical patterns of behavior. ADC urges all its friends to view all internet communications with skepticism, and to be aware that there is a pattern of hoaxes on the Palestinian issue which, whether maliciously intended to do so or not, cause various forms of damage to our community. For more on this and other hoaxes, please see www.electronicintifada.net.

That aside, ADC has communicated to CNN and other American broadcasters its strong objections to the fact that footage of the small "celebrations" were aired continuously, while much larger commemorations, candle-light vigils and other expressions of public grief by Palestinians were ignored. ADC believes that a false impression of the reactions of the Palestinian people to the attacks, which was overwhelmingly negative, has been created by this select use of footage, but not by any falsification or recycling of old footage.

STATEMENTS FROM CNN AND UNICAMP:

Statement from Eason Jordan, CNN's chief news executive:

"CNN rejects as baseless and ridiculous an allegation claiming CNN televised 10-year-old videotape to illustrate Palestinians celebrating in the wake of the horrific September 11 tragedies in the United States. My colleagues and I applaud the UNICAMP for setting the record straight."

The videotape in question was shot in East Jerusalem by a Reuters TV camera crew on September 11. Reuters TV can provide confirmation.

Below is the statement from the university where the student who authored the email attends. Should you wish to follow up with the the school you can call Universidad Estatal de Campinas-Brasil directly.

As you can see from the very candid statement from the university -- there is no basis in fact at all for this rumor.

OFFICIAL STATEMENT FROM BRAZILIAN UNIVERSITY UNICAMP:

17/09/01

UNICAMP would like to announce that has no knowledge of a videotape from 1991, whose images supposedly aired on CNN showing Palestinians celebrating the terrorist attacks in the U.S. The tape was supposedly from 1991, and there were rumors that the images were passed off as current.

This information was later denied, as soon as it proved false, by Marcio A. V. Carvalho, a student at UNICAMP. He approached the administration today, 17.09.2001, to clarify the following:

the information he got, verbally, was that a professor from another institution (not from UNICAMP) had the tape;

he sent the information to a discussion group email list;

many people from this list were interested in the subject and requested more details; .

he again contacted the person who first gave him the information and the person denied having the tape; .

the student immediately sent out a note clarifying what happened to the people from his email list.

The original message, however, was distributed all over the world, often with many distortions, including a falsified by-line article from the student. He affirms that a hacker attacked his domain. Several E-mails have been sent on his behalf and those dating from 15.09.2001 should be ignored.

Among the distortions is the fact that UNICAMP would be analyzing the tape, which is absolutely false. The administration considers this alert definitive and will be careful to avoid new rumors.

	21 September 2001
	Ignore Rumors of Faked Footage of Palestinians in Nablus

	Rumors continue to circulate through the internet and other sources that footage of a small group of Palestinians in Nablus celebrating the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington were recycled from 1990-1991. ADC is convinced that there is no basis for this allegation and that this is yet another hoax affecting the Arab American and Arab communities. Statements below from CNN, the Brazilian University that was alleged to be the source of the "discovery" and every element of logic and common sense indicate that there is no reason at all to believe this story. Like the invidious hoaxes about Macdonald's and Coca-Cola, this is another crude attempt to confuse our community and divert our energies from the urgent tasks confronting us. Clear signs of an internet rumor include: 1) no attribution or original return email address; 2) No specific source (i.e. "one of my former professors says" and "I will try to get hold of the tape," etc.); 3) Inconsistency with all other known facts; 4) Dramatic information otherwise unknown and inconsistent with logic or historical patterns of behavior. ADC urges all its friends to view all internet communications with skepticism, and to be aware that there is a pattern of hoaxes on the Palestinian issue which, whether maliciously intended to do so or not, cause various forms of damage to our community. For more on this and other hoaxes, please see www.electronicintifada.net. That aside, ADC has communicated to CNN and other American broadcasters its strong objections to the fact that footage of the small "celebrations" were aired continuously, while much larger commemorations, candle-light vigils and other expressions of public grief by Palestinians were ignored. ADC believes that a false impression of the reactions of the Palestinian people to the attacks, which was overwhelmingly negative, has been created by this select use of footage, but not by any falsification or recycling of old footage. STATEMENTS FROM CNN AND UNICAMP: Statement from Eason Jordan, CNN's chief news executive: "CNN rejects as baseless and ridiculous an allegation claiming CNN televised 10-year-old videotape to illustrate Palestinians celebrating in the wake of the horrific September 11 tragedies in the United States. My colleagues and I applaud the UNICAMP for setting the record straight." The videotape in question was shot in East Jerusalem by a Reuters TV camera crew on September 11. Reuters TV can provide confirmation. Below is the statement from the university where the student who authored the email attends. Should you wish to follow up with the the school you can call Universidad Estatal de Campinas-Brasil directly. As you can see from the very candid statement from the university -- there is no basis in fact at all for this rumor. OFFICIAL STATEMENT FROM BRAZILIAN UNIVERSITY UNICAMP: 17/09/01 UNICAMP would like to announce that has no knowledge of a videotape from 1991, whose images supposedly aired on CNN showing Palestinians celebrating the terrorist attacks in the U.S. The tape was supposedly from 1991, and there were rumors that the images were passed off as current. This information was later denied, as soon as it proved false, by Marcio A. V. Carvalho, a student at UNICAMP. He approached the administration today, 17.09.2001, to clarify the following: the information he got, verbally, was that a professor from another institution (not from UNICAMP) had the tape; he sent the information to a discussion group email list; many people from this list were interested in the subject and requested more details; . he again contacted the person who first gave him the information and the person denied having the tape; . the student immediately sent out a note clarifying what happened to the people from his email list. The original message, however, was distributed all over the world, often with many distortions, including a falsified by-line article from the student. He affirms that a hacker attacked his domain. Several E-mails have been sent on his behalf and those dating from 15.09.2001 should be ignored. Among the distortions is the fact that UNICAMP would be analyzing the tape, which is absolutely false. The administration considers this alert definitive and will be careful to avoid new rumors.