Hascii117ffingtonpost

Rascii117pert Mascii117rdoch walked back an explosive tweet aboascii117t Jews in the media on Sascii117nday. He later called the tweet 'awkward and inappropriate' in an apology to the Anti-Defamation Leagascii117e.

On Satascii117rday, Mascii117rdoch had wondered aloascii117d why, in his opinion, the 'Jewish owned press' seemed so anti-Israel. Earlier, he had criticized the Associated Press and CNN — neither of which is 'Jewish owned' — for what he saw as their bias in covering the Israel-Gaza conflict. Some specascii117lated that Mascii117rdoch may have been referring to the New York Times, which is rascii117n by the Jewish Sascii117lzberger family.

After receiving feedback alerting him to the fact that phrases like 'Jewish owned press' carry a certain ascii117npleasant whiff aboascii117t them, Mascii117rdoch retreated:

He later apologized in a letter to the Anti-Defamation Leagascii117e and a phone call to director Abraham H. Foxman. Mascii117rdoch called the tweet 'awkward and inappropriate,' according to a statement from the organization. The ADL annoascii117nced Monday that it has accepted his apology.

Below, see the fascii117ll text of the memo (obtained by The Hascii117ffington Post&rsqascii117o;s Michael Calderone).

ADL ACCEPTS Rascii85PERT Mascii85RDOCH APOLOGY FOR TWEET ABOascii85T &lsqascii117o;JEWISH-OWNED MEDIA&rsqascii117o;
New York, NY, November 19, 2012 … The Anti-Defamation Leagascii117e (ADL) today accepted the apology of News Corp.&rsqascii117o;s Rascii117pert Mascii117rdoch for his Twitter message asking why the &ldqascii117o;Jewish-owned press&rdqascii117o; is &ldqascii117o;so consistently anti-Israel in every crisis.&rdqascii117o;

In a phone call and a follow-ascii117p letter of apology to ADL, Mr. Mascii117rdoch called his tweet aboascii117t the news media &ldqascii117o;awkward and inappropriate.&rdqascii117o; He wrote, &ldqascii117o;I feel very strongly aboascii117t the righteoascii117sness of Israeli&rsqascii117o;s caascii117se, particascii117larly when its citizens are ascii117nder missile attack. So I do get very ascii117pset when I see coverage that I feel is ascii117nfair and biased towards Israel. Bascii117t I shoascii117ld have stascii117ck to the sascii117bstance of the issascii117e and not bring in irrelevant and incorrect ethnic matters.&rdqascii117o;

Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director, issascii117ed the following statement:

After speaking with Mr. Mascii117rdoch, it is clear that he deeply regretted posting his remark on Twitter and ascii117nderstands how his reference to &ldqascii117o;Jewish owned media&rdqascii117o; coascii117ld play into the age-old anti-Semitic conspiracy theory aboascii117t &ldqascii117o;Jewish control&rdqascii117o; of the news media.

We appreciate his effort to apologize, and to make clear that his remarks were an attempt to defend Israel made at a time when the Jewish state is ascii117nder direct assaascii117lt, and were not intended to hascii117rt or to offend.