Khaled Abu Toameh, Veteran Israeli Arab Journalist, Wins Victory in Israeli Courts (Judean Rose)

Khaled Abu Toameh won a victory in a small Jerusalem courtroom this week when Ted Belman at last agreed that his defamatory articles, social media posts, and newsletters were factually baseless. Belman is now required to make public apology to Abu Toameh within 14 days. If Belman again defames the award-winning Israeli Arab journalist and distinguished senior Gatestone fellow, he will have to pay 5000 shekels per defamatory item published, in compensation to Khaled.

By way of disclaimer, there was a personal victory here as well, as Belman’s countersuit against Abu Toameh, this author and Bat-Zion Susskind-Sacks was rejected out of hand by the court. The interesting thing about this is that I was approached by the 86-year-old Belman in court on Monday. “Who are you?” Ted asked me. “Are you the enemy?”

He was suing me, but didn’t even know me.

Here we must go back and explain why Ted was suing me. Ted Belman, you see, asserted that Khaled was running a spy ring in Israel for the Jordanian king, and that I was one of his operatives, the other being Bat-Zion Susskind Sacks. Well goodness I’m relieved. An Israeli court has rejected a lawsuit accusing me of working on behalf of His Majesty, King Abdullah of Jordan. Not guilty! Acquitted.

But I digress. The main thing is that all three of us—me, Batzi, and of course, Khaled—are victorious.

So ends this courtroom saga that began in late 2017, when Abu Toameh had finally had enough of the defamatory campaign of words and memes waged against him since at least 2013. Readers of this column will recall my exposé of self-proclaimed “putative prime minister of Jordan” Mudar Zahran (see for instance, HERE, HERE, and HERE). Zahran, banned from entering Israel as a security risk, tried to enlist me in his smear campaign against Khaled Abu Toameh. I refused, but Ted Belman apparently did not.

What followed was an endless campaign of baseless defamation, an ongoing attack that lasted seven full years. Articles were published in numerous publications, all smearing Khaled. The defamation of Khaled was an ongoing theme in newsletters, Belman's personal website, and on Facebook, too. The worst part of this defamation, of course, is that Khaled Abu Toameh is a fine person: the only Israeli Arab journalist I know of who writes the honest truth about Israel and the Middle East.

Khaled is one of the good guys. And everyone on our side knows this. Which is why Khaled Abu Toameh has won plaudits and numerous awards by distinguished bodies. From Wikipedia:

Recognition and awards

·         Abu Toameh received the 2014 Daniel Pearl Award. Abu Toameh shared Israel Media Watch's 2010 award for media criticism with the satirical Israeli website Latma.

·         On 10 May 2011, Khaled Abu Toameh won the Hudson Institute Award for Courage in Journalism.

·         Canada's Toronto Sun columnist Salim Mansur praised Abu Toameh for his courage and knowledge of the politics of the Arab world.

·         Abu Toameh is the 2013 recipient of the Emet award given by the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA).

·         He was chosen on the Algemeiner Journal's 2013 list of The Top 100 People Positively Influencing Jewish Life.

All during this trying time, while Khaled was being smeared, important people came to the fore to defend the embattled journalist. People like Caroline Glick, Lori Lowenthal Marcus, Ruthie Blum, and Harold Rhode, couldn’t offer enough praise for Khaled. And still, this creep Zahran spread horrible lies about Khaled to all and sundry through anyone he could rope into his web.

Well, all’s well that ends well, and in that small Jerusalem courtroom on October 26, 2020, justice won out with victory on many counts:

1. Ted Belman finally admitted that he has no evidence to support the libelous publications.

2. Ted Belman agreed to publish an apology and retraction, admitting that what he published was factually baseless.

3. Ted's main witness, the Jordanian fraudster Mudar Zahran, who is banned from Israel for security reasons, never got a chance to testify before the court, not even by video.

4. Ted's counterclaim against Khaled Abu Toameh, Varda Meyers Epstein, and Bat-Zion Susskind-Sacks, was rejected.

5. The court ruled that if Ted republishes the same material against Khaled Abu Toameh, he will pay 5000 shekels in compensation per piece.

After three years of refusing to do so, Ted will finally apologize and admit that what he published about Khaled Abu Toameh was factually baseless. Assuming Ted fulfills his promise to the court, he now has 14 days to issue the apology and retraction. This is good because Ted’s own lawyer admitted in court that Belman had no proof to back up any of the nasty things he published about Khaled. It’s icing on the cake that Belman’s counterclaim was rejected. And if he tries to republish the defamatory items, he’s going to get slapped with a fine of 5000 shekels per article. Pretty nifty.

Judge Moriah Cherka, addressing Belman, said that what he did was unethical and against journalistic standards, because Ted never sought Khaled's response before publication. Judge Cherka also noted that Khaled Abu Toameh is a renowned and respected journalist, therefore it is inconceivable that his credibility should be questioned or harmed.

Nadav Haetzni, representative for the plaintiff, Khaled, said, "At long last, this grievous smear campaign against one of Israel's leading journalists is over. This was a campaign aimed at destroying this man's reputation; it caused him great damage and suffering, but in the end, this was a victory and we hope others will learn from it."

“For me,” said Khaled Abu Toameh, “The lawsuit was never about money, but about getting Belman to publicly admit that every bit of what he published about me was factually baseless. I initiated the lawsuit as a matter of principle, to defend ethical standards in journalism, and to serve as a deterrent to others,” said Khaled.

The judge made a point of rebuking Ted Belman in court, for behaving in an unethical manner. Which is as it should be. Journalists, and bloggers like Ted Belman, need to check the facts before they publish, to ascertain the truth, and to seek a response from the person in question, when preparing to publish something that might be defamatory.

Let us hope that this lawsuit will underscore this point for anyone who takes to the blogosphere to randomly and without proof, trash-talk and damage others. This is wrong and should not be countenanced in a country ruled by law. And on Monday, in that small Jerusalem courtroom, a judge did in fact, determine that such baseless defamation would not be countenanced in Israel.

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Who is Michael Ross? Troubling Questions for the Organizers of the Jordan is Palestine Conference (update)

Michael Ross has been somewhat of an enigma to those of us with an interest in the Jordanian Option. Referred to as "Chief of Staff/Secretary of State for Peace" in the Jordanian Opposition Cabinet's shadow government, and a prominent speaker at the recent Jerusalem Jordan is Palestine conference, we actually know very little about him. Two key players in the Jordanian Option, Mudar Zahran and Rachel Avraham, have vaguely referred to Ross as a "Republican lobbyist."

In a recent article relating to the Jordanian Option, I asked a question about Ross: "What is his area of interest as a lobbyist? Corn?"

It seems I was close. Not corn, but rather, something that rhymes with corn.

As it turns out, there's something called the Lobbying Disclosure Act, which calls for lobbyists to register significant lobbying activities with the Clerk of the United States House of Representatives. This is by way of bringing accountability to federal lobbying practices. The Lobbying Disclosure Act means that the public can access details of significant lobbying by way of a government database.

When the name Michael Ross is entered into the Lobbying Disclosure Act Database, two entries come up, both from 1999, for a lobbyist named Michael C. Ross. The first entry is Ross' client, the "Adult Entertainment Education Fund." The second entry is for the Michael Ross client called the "National Cabaret Association."

Is this Michael Ross the same Michael Ross who addressed hundreds of people at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center last month? The same Ross who shared a stage with Temple Mount activist and Member of Knesset Yehudah Glick? Is he the Michael Ross who is executive director (and sole board member) of the International Jewish Muslim Dialogue Center?

Let's take a look.

Here is the Michael C. Ross who spoke at the Jordan is Palestine conference (guy on the left).

Here is his Facebook profile.

Here is a photo of Michael C. Ross from the California Lobbying Directory of 2011-2012 (when he last appears, it seems.)

The address listed in the above California lobbying directory mirrors the one listed in the "Jordanian Constitution," drafted by Ross in February 2016.

This same document has Ross down with the middle initial "C."  Michael C. Ross.

Here's his LinkedIn profile. Can't really tell if it's the same dude, because no beard. But he's Michael Ross from San Mateo, a lobbyist.

The LinkedIn profile URL: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ssorleahcim/ uses the same backwards name as per his email address as listed in his draft of the Jordanian "constitution" (third screenshot above)

What do we know so far? We know that the Michael Ross who spoke at the Jordan is Palestine conference is a California lobbyist. We can't say with 100% certainty that there are two men in San Mateo named Michael C. Ross who were lobbyists from the 1990's through 2000 and on.

But we do know that a Michael C Ross from Sacramento (different home address) attempted to form a national PAC for topless clubs, the National Cabaret Association, in 1999.

A simple online background check confirms Michael C Ross from San Mateo once lived at the  Sacramento address in the above screenshot (blacked out), which Ross used in his capacity as a lobbyist for the National Cabaret Association.

We know that the very same Michael Ross invested in Tail Feathers, a Sacramento strip club believed to have been owned, in part, by a convicted rapist. Here's part of an article from April, 1997:

Michael Ross, a Tail Feathers investor and a lobbyist for the adult entertainment industry, last week filed protests with Sacramento County for approving the name change. He wants the Board of Supervisors to rescind the change in Dove's business license.

He's making that request, he said, to protect both his ownership rights and the community.

Unfortunately for that particular Michael Ross, "lobbyist for the adult entertainment industry," Tail Feathers filed for bankruptcy 18 months later:

Michael Ross, a disgruntled Tail Feathers investor and a lobbyist for the adult entertainment industry, plans to watch the bankruptcy process very carefully. "I think this is all a smokescreen," he said of Dove's bankruptcy filing. He and other parties who had disputes with Dove had been trying to resolve matters through arbitration, he said. Ross contends Dove owes him $125,000, although he said Dove believes that amount to be about $30,000.

Is this Michael Ross, "lobbyist for the adult entertainment industry," the same Michael Ross as the Republican lobbyist from California who would serve to negotiate peace between Israel and Jordan, if the Jordanian Option were to be implemented? Is this the same guy who would serve as Mudar Zahran's chief of staff? The same man who wrote an article smearing award-winning Israeli Arab journalist Khaled Abu Toameh under the pen names Michael Ben Avraham and Michael Ben Abraham?

If so, what is the connection between the adult entertainment industry and the Jordanian Option? And what is the connection between Michael C. Ross and Mudar Zahran? How did they stumble upon each other?

Because, if they're the same guy, you have to wonder why a lobbyist for the adult entertainment industry would take so keen an interest in an Israeli Arab journalist that he would up and write an article smearing the guy, just out of the blue. And then subsequently send it to Mudar Zahran. Who would subsequently send it to Rachel Avraham, to be printed under a pseudonym.

Screenshot from Rachel Avraham's Facebook page, since deleted.

How do we know Michael Ben Abraham is Michael Ross? Well, Rachel Avraham told us so. HERE, for instance. An excerpt from the linked article:

How did these unlikely characters, Ross, Zahran, and Avraham, happen to meet, to know one another?

And why would Ross print an article about Abu Toameh under a pen name? Why not send the article directly to Avraham, rather than through a third party?

Ross' only other writing experience, up to that time, was a single op-ed, penned under his real byline and posted by Jerusalem Online, by then editor Rachel Avraham. Why would Ross not send the second piece as a direct submission then, since Avraham had already printed his earlier work?

Troubling questions, to say the least.

One has to wonder if any of the speakers or their guests at the Jordan is Palestine conference bothered to check the identity of Ross, a man who suddenly shows up to take part in a controversial conference, someone whom no one has ever heard of before?

And what is behind Ross' involvement in the Jordanian Option? How did someone in the adult entertainment industry come to ally with Mudar Zahran, a man apparently running away from prosecution for avoiding repaying a sizable loan from a Jordanian bank, while pretending to be a political refugee?

How did hundreds of people pay money to hear either of these men speak?

Why did men of such high caliber, members of Knesset and important writers, share a stage with Ross, and debate him?

Why did Jews on the right so easily fall into step with plotting to overthrow the king of another country, without seeing how this would look to the world? How did we just accept people like Ross and Zahran, without knowing what kind of people they are, without knowing their history, their deeds?

To be fair, the Jordan is Palestine idea is a valid one, one to be explored and pursued, but perhaps through different means, by persuasion.

Because it is not our place to direct a coup or overthrow a king. This is not a good place for Jews to be.

The fact that Mudar Zahran and Ross managed to grab this much fealty among the Jews is rather pathetic actually. You want to know why they did this, you want to know more.

If you're a thinking person.

It leaves you feeling dirty. Used. Zahran is using the Jews to position himself as a political refugee, apparently to avoid prosecution for  refusal to repay a loan.. But we are so desperate we bought into him completely. Him and his henchman, Ross.

How did these two men meet? What is their plot? Is Mudar Zahran duping the Jews to save himself? What is Ross' role in all this?

I don't know.

But we have a right to learn the truth.

Which is why I sent some questions to Michael Ross and also to Ted Belman, organizer of the Jordan is Palestine Conference.

Belman refused to answer my questions.

But I will be certain to let you know, should Michael C. Ross respond.

UPDATE: And here is Michael Ross' response. As published on his friend's page. (It's a good thing Ross knows how to Start Your Own Country. He's going to need one.)

  

UPDATE (from EoZ): Mudar Zahran objects to the characterization of why he left Jordan. In an email exchange where he (again)  threatened legal action against me, he wrote:

 I did NOT flee any loans in Jordan. I left because there was a substantial threat to my life by the Jordanian government and the UK government has granted me asylum after fully-verifying my claim for asylum and seeing it to be valid and beyond reasonable doubts.

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Mudar Zahran the Confidence Man (Judean Rose)

You would think the Mudar Zahran sycophants would crawl under a rock after the revelations of last week's column: Mudar Zahran and the Right Wing Jewish Conspiracy. But no. In spite of overwhelming substantiated evidence that Zahran is running a massive operation to deceive and mislead the Jews, they have doubled down.

This makes me sad. I don't want anyone hurt as I was hurt. I don't want my people to be a laughing stock, or be fingered by the Arab world as conspiring to overthrow the King. This is bad for us, for our people.

But our people read that blog—the links, all the proofs cited there—and looked the other way. They saw how Zahran claims to be a political refugee, but in reality, owed a large debt to a Jordan bank. They saw how his own father disowned him. How he uses photos of dead people and pretends they are his cabinet members. 

Mudar Zahran: His entire archive deleted from Gatestone

They saw how the Arab people take umbrage at Zahran's claims and ridicule him. And they saw how Zahran approached me to slander award-winning journalist Khaled Abu Toameh, because of his obsession with the man, and how Gatestone Institute deleted Zahran's entire archive.

They saw how he threatened ME, one of their own.

Our people read that blog, blinked, blew their noses, and kept on promoting their false god.

They asked me: "Okay, so you think Zahran is bad news. Is that any reason to hurt the conference, or to destroy the Jordan is Palestine option?" 

It's only about Mudar Zahran

To which I must reiterate: this is not about the conference or the Jordan is Palestine option. This is about a scam of major proportions, one that is really hurting our people.

Think about it: if Zahran really wanted regime change in Jordan, no one would say boo. But why appeal only to conservative, mostly Israeli Jews? Where are his Arab supporters (and no, they are not hiding in Arabic on Google as Zahran claims)? Why hold a conference, furthermore, in Jerusalem when Zahran lives in London? Why not lobby the UK, the US, and other western nations for assistance in reaching this goal?

Here is the answer: it's all a scam.

The scam targets the Jews of Israel.

Alone. 

Mudar Zahran and his Zionist conspiracy

This scam is generating resentment toward us in the Arab world and especially in Jordan. It has us rubbing our hands with glee, plotting against King Abdullah with our (likely imagined by the Jordanians) hooked noses and hands dripping with the blood of non-Jews.

Is that really how you want to be seen?

And it is Zahran who is getting you to incriminate yourselves.

Zahran is, moreover, setting Jew against Jew through his mouthpieces. An article entitled King Abdullah of Jordan Needs to Abdicate  appeared in the Times of Israel, Israel National News, and the American Thinker. The author is listed as Ted Belman. The piece (among many ridiculous claims) makes the accusation that Khaled Abu Toameh, Caroline Glick, and I (referred to as "X, Y, and Z") are working as operatives for King Abdullah of Jordan. Why would Ted Belman write such silly and libelous statements about his co-religionists? And the title of this piece, coming from a Jerusalem Jew! Cringe-worthy.

The Times of Israel removed the piece. It still appears on Israel National News and The American Thinker, though the former deleted this libelous excerpt:

The King’s Jerusalem Operatives Are Smearing the Conference. The regime has also undertaken a smear and confusion campaign in Jerusalem through Arab Israeli Journalist Mr X. Several Israeli sources have confirmed to the JOC that Mr. X has been calling his contacts, telling them that “The event is fake” and that “Mudar Zahran is a fraud”. Furthermore, Mr. X utilized two women who are very close to him to spread the same rumors; Ms Y, and Ms Z. Both women have been launching a terrorist type campaign on social media smearing the conference, the speakers and anyone who will be attending. Mr. X has sent several email messages to those involved in the conference telling them that the conference is “a sham” and that “it would hurt their reputation to be associated with Mudar Zahran”.

Another example of lies that Mr X, Ms Y and Ms Z are spreading is that some of the confirmed speakers were not attending at all. A journalistic source close to Jordan’s king’s royal media desk has confirmed that Mr X has been asked to undertake this under-cover operation by the king’s office. The source then added that Mr X “would not be putting all this effort for free or just because he enjoys it”.

I know Ted to be a generally good guy who works hard for Israel. Is it possible he was duped into doing this thing for Mudar Zahran? Did he put his name on Mudar's article in not one, but three publications? Can it be that under the name Ted Belman, this article appeared in three publications accusing me, a fellow Jew, of being an agent of the King of Jordan?

And before all the Arab nations of the world!

It beggars belief. 

Mudar Zahran: Disowned son

But why then, would my fellow Jews refrain from slandering me for this man's sake when they completely ignore what Mudar's own father said about him, continuing their seemingly unconditional support. I linked to Adnan Zahran's denunciation of his son Mudar in my last column. Here is a rough translation for so you can get a feel for it:

"Myself and the entire family and clan distance ourselves from you and your false and unjust statements and interviews. You are far from the truth and the right. Especially after your numerous and recurring promises to stop attacking our Royal Hashemite family."

Mudar's own father is calling him a liar, someone who breaks promises. Mudar's Jewish supporters, meanwhile, think they know Mudar better than Mudar's own father and clan! They support Mudar on the basis of words issued from his mouth and not on the basis of anything he has done or achieved. Because he has done and achieved nothing. 

Which brings us to Michael Ross.

Michael Ross is a real person. Mudar claims him as his chief of staff. Rachel Avraham claims he is the Michael Ben Abraham and Michael Ben Avraham who wrote the slanderous pieces about Khaled Abu Toameh that got her fired.

But why should this "Republican conservative lobbyist" California Jew Michael Ross suddenly take an ardent interest in writing about an Israeli Arab journalist?

And what is his area of interest as a lobbyist?

CORN??

via GIPHY

In last week's piece, I mentioned that Abu Toameh had won the Daniel Pearl Award. He also won the Hudson Award and CAMERA's Emet Award. But more importantly, he won the approval of the Israeli media with the Israel Media Critical Award. I have yet to meet the journalist, or anyone at all who has a bad thing to say about Khaled Abu Toameh.

Except Mudar Zahran, his minions, and his fake accounts. The ones he used to threaten me. The ones he used to threaten Khaled. The one he used of a dead US pilot as stand in for his "Shadow Secretary of Homeland Security."

Three articles by, about, or referencing Mudar appeared in Jerusalem Online during Rachel Avraham's tenure there. There was one by Mudar, one by Avraham interviewing Mudar, and this one by Michael Ross from this same time period, urging Trump to speak to. . . MUDAR ZAHRAN!

Could Rachel be handling Zahran's PR? Could she be serving as Mudar's ghost writer? 

Mudar Zahran cons Jewish women 

Rachel is not a bad person. She is caught up in something and is unable to get loose. It's an old story. I shared my own embarrassing tale of near-ensnarement. Bat Zion Susskind said the same thing happened to her with Mudar. He charmed her with words. Made her think he was the answer to the all the bloodshed, all the war and terror.

At that time, Bat Zion was living in the UK. So enamored of him was she that she even spoke to her contacts at that time, at the Israeli embassy in London, and suggested they have Zahran appear before them to offer an overview of what he can do for the Middle East. He did, eventually, speak to them. Batzi's support for him was total.

Here is a photo of her holding a sign that says, "Jordan is Palestine."

Batzi really believed in Mudar and his plan. That is until she discovered that he is not the man he pretends to be.

Batzi is not the only tale of female Jewish woe in relation to this man. Mudar Zahran told "X" (who is too embarrassed to use her real name here) that his mother was forcibly converted to Islam. According to this tale, Mudar's mom was JEWISH. Which would arguably make Mudar Zahran a Jew! X's heart went out to him.

She was IN.

Until she figured out he was a fraud. That happened sometime around the time he tried to get X to smear Khaled Abu Toameh. 

Mudar Zahran uses flattery 

Mery Nickey's experience mirrored my own and Batzi's. He flattered her, and attempted to cajole her into slandering Khaled Abu Toameh.

Always, always, always, Zahran comes back to a single thought: "How can I hurt Khaled Abu Toameh?"

He can't let it rest. It's an illness. 

Mudar Zahran messed with the wrong woman

Lori Lowenthal Marcus, a Harvard law grad and former writer at the Jewish Press, was approached by Mudar Zahran. He wanted her to interview him for the Press. This, of course, was his way of worming his way into her confidence to get her to smear Khaled Abu Toameh. The minute she saw what he was up to, she ended things, right then and there. Lori described this in an email she sent to the organizer of the conference, Ted Belman:
Prior to that interview I was very interested in Zahran's agenda - there aren't too many lovers of Israel who wouldn't hope that Jordan could be the homeland for the Palestinian Arabs. After about an hour into our Skype interview, Zahran told me about an Israeli Arab journalist who was not what he appeared to be and was on the payroll of the Jordanian king, and he told me that journalist was Khaled. When I pushed back, Zahran insisted this was true. I never published the interview and I've never spoken with Zahran again. And I've been warning people about Zahran since then.

Khaled abu Toameh is one of, if not the single greatest source of truth about the Middle East conflict between the Palestinian Arabs and Israel. By attacking him both publicly and through friends and the use of [pseudonyms], Zahran has done and continues to do a grave disservice to Israel.

This bitter fight was begun by Zahran, not Khaled. And it has nothing to do with the conference, but everything to do with Zahran's reputation which he is solely responsible for destroying. 

Mudar Zahran is dangerous

Now I'd really like to stop here. I'd much rather write up adorable Only In Israel stories. But right now, we are in danger.

I feel I've got no choice at all, but to keep laying those cards out on the table. This is the real Mudar Zahran: everything connected to him is evil.

And bad for our people.

UPDATE: For the sake of transparency, this piece has been amended regarding Mudar Zahran's academic credentials. I am certainly willing to further research this matter.

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