From censor@eesrv.ee.bgu.ac.il Tue Jan 9 07:59:20 2001 Date: Mon, 25 Dec 2000 10:14:30 +0200 From: dani censor To: ACADEMIA@TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL Subject: THE HISTORIAN WILL APOLOGIZE: THERE WAS NO MASSACRE IN TANTURA =======> Posted to "Academia" =======> An unedited free subscription list =======> Caveat lector I THINK THE FOLLOWING HAS A VERY DEEP MEANING TO US AS ACADEMICS IN ISRAEL. I WILL NOT ADD MY OPINION, ALTHOUGH I HAVE ONE, PENDING RESPONSES FROM OTHER PEOPLE. IN PARTICULAR, RESPONSES FROM HAIFA UNIVERSITY ARE INVITED, AND MY QUESTION IS IF IN VIEW OF STATEMENTS MADE BY MR. KATZ HIMSELF, THAT HE HAS BASED HIS THESIS ON GROUNDLESS AND FALSE CLAIMS, HE IS STILL ELLIGIBLE FOR HIS DEGREE FROM HAIFA UNIVERSITY. dani ... free unauthorized translation of the article in friday dec. 22 haaretz by dan censor. THE HISTORIAN WILL APOLOGIZE: THERE WAS NO MASSACRE IN TANTURA BY ASAF BERGERFREUND tel aviv district court judge drora pilpel has refused yesterday the request of theodor katz to renege on the settlement agreement he signed with the alexandroni brigade veterans, in the matter of a 1.1 million shekel libel suit they have initiated against him. the claim has been presented following statements made in his master's thesis, where he accused the soldiers of the brigade in butchering 200 men, residents of the arab village tantura after its occupation in the night between 22 and 23 of may 48. his allegations have been published at the beginning of the year in the "maariv" newspaper, under the title "the massacre in tantura". in the settlement agreement katz has admitted that there was no foundation to his claims. the libel suit was submitted in april against katz and haifa university. the trial began with katz's himself on the witness stand, and was interrogated at length by the representative for the prosecution, lawyer giora ehrendienst. ehrendienst claimed that in his research thesis (which was graded as 97%) katz has quoted evidence by the residents of the tantura village, in a false and intentional manner, to support the massacre theory. during the witnessing of katz the court heard the records of the conversations katz had with the witnesses on whom he based his thesis, and according to lawyer ehrendienst falsify the quotes of the same witnesses as they are given in his thesis. lawyer ehrendienst also pointed to the fact that katz has not bothered to ask for the response of the operations officer of the alexandroni brigade, who occupied the village. in the settlement agreement which was submitted to the court day before yesterday, katz reneged from his accusations against the alexandroni brigade soldiers and clarified that after re-examining the matter, it is clear to him beyond any doubt that there is no foundation to the claim that alexandroni brigade soldiers killed people in the village after its capitulation. katz also apologized to the soldiers for making such accusations. as part of the settlement he is supposed to publish his apology on half a page in 2 daily newspapers. yesterday, at the start of the court session, judge pilpel announced she accepts the settlement and warrants the status of a verdict to it. at this stage the representative of katz, lawyer avigdor feldmann, asked for a 10 min recess because katz wants to deliver a statement. after the recess katz asked the court to allow him to renege on the settlement. according to him, he signed the settlement under duress, being pressured by his family to end the litigation which damages his health. katz added that he is not content with the settlement, and signed it in a moment of mental weakness. but judge pilpel decided to reject katz's request. in her decision, judge pilpel indicates that two adult litigants who reach a settlement and ask the court to give it the status of verdict, are supposed to be aware of the outcome of what they do. judge pilpel emphasized that the court is not a theatrical stage, but that the court treats the statements of the claimants in full seriousness. the judge added that katz probably did not internalized the ramification of his signing the settlement, and because contracts must be kept-- she finds she has to reject his request. =======> You are kindly requested to comply with "Academia" =======> guidelines: READ THIS *CAREFULLY* BEFORE POSTING =======> AVOID LONG QUOTES AND RAW FORWARDS =======> NO VIRUS ALERTS AND CHAIN LETTERS =======> NO SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE REQUESTS =======> REQUESTS? QUESTIONS? DOUBTS? =======> please e-mail everything to censor@ee.bgu.ac.il