The Jawa Report

The Jawa Report
Web address mypetjawa.mu.nu
Created by "Dr. Rusty Shackleford" (alias)[1]

The Jawa Report (also, MyPetJawa) is a blog and forum about terrorism committed by Islamists.[2]

The Boston Globe describes it as a "popular" website "that monitors terrorism investigations."[3] The Guardian describes the blog as right wing.[4] The New York Times reports that its volunteers "research Web sites they believe are tied to Al-Qaeda or other militant groups, and pressure Internet service providers to stop hosting the sites."[5]

Background

It began in 2004, in response to the killing by Islamists of hostage American journalist Nick Berg, by a blogger who goes by the alias of Dr. Rusty Shackleford, a reference to the fake name used by King of the Hill character Dale Gribble.[1] Shackelford said: "When I saw the Nick Berg beheading, ... it drove me to start blogging about the plight of hostages held in Iraq."[1] Shackleford was an untenured professor when he began the blog.[1] He maintains his anonymity because of death threats he has received.[5]

Notable coverage

Roy Hallums

Contractor Roy Hallums, who was kidnapped in Iraq on November 1, 2004, held for 311 days, and freed on September 7, 2005, recounted in Buried Alive: The True Story of Kidnapping, Captivity, and a Dramatic Rescue that the Jawa Report was where his wife Susan first saw his name mentioned in public.[1] It had been kept under wraps until then by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).[1] The Jawa Report had learned his identity from a Filipino government report.[1]

Reuters photographs controversy

In 2006, Shackleford discovered and revealed the second doctored photo taken by a Reuters freelance photographer, Adnan Hajj during the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict.[6] Its caption falsely said: "An Israeli F-16 warplane fires missiles during an air strike on Nabatiyeh in southern Lebanon."[6][7]

The truth was that the F-16 was dropping defensive flares, and the photo had been doctored to increase the number of flares falling from the F-16 from one to three.[6] Reuters deleted all of the photographer's photos from its database.[6] Its global pictures editor said: "Manipulating photographs in this way is entirely unacceptable and contrary to all the principles consistently held by Reuters throughout its long and distinguished history."[6]

JihadJane plot

In the Colleen LaRose (JihadJane) plot, Jawa Report members who had been tracking her comments and movements, including her raising funds for Pakistani militants through Twitter, alerted U.S. authorities in July 2009.[2][5][8] The FBI interviewed her on July 17, 2009, and arrested her on October 16, 2009, at Philadelphia International Airport as she returned from London, whereupon she confessed her role in an Islamist plot to kill a Swedish artist to FBI agents, according to two people close to the investigation.[9]

"Death to all Juice"

The Jawa Report was the first to note that Carlos "Omar" Eduardo Almonte, a Muslim man from New Jersey who was arrested in June 2010 while bound for Somalia, and was charged with conspiring to kill, maim, and kidnap people outside the U.S., had posted a photo of himself demonstrating with a large placard, bearing the inscription "DEATH TO ALL JUICE" (sic), at the 2008 Israel Day Parade in New York City, on his Facebook page.[10][11]

Homeland Security official firing

An investigation by the Jawa Report sparked the July 2010 firing of a high-ranking Jordanian-born Ohio Homeland Security official.[12][13] Omar Alomari, the agency's community engagement officer, had been assigned to connect with local groups, offer advice, collect information, and provide a first line of defense against domestic terrorism.[12] He was fired for failing to disclose previous employers on his employment application to the agency.[12][13]

As a source

Postings on Jawa Report have either been quoted or reported by many mainstream news providers, including The New York Times,[5] New York Daily News,[11] Fox News,[14] The Philadelphia Inquirer,[2] The Boston Globe,[3] The Washington Times,[15] The Sunday Times,[16] The Guardian,[4] The Sunday Telegraph,[17] Toronto Star,[18] Salon,[19] The Weekly Standard,[20][21][22] The New York Sun,[6] The Free Lance–Star,[7] the Lodi News-Sentinel,[23] the Columbia Journalism Review,[24] Australian Broadcasting Company,[25] and CBS.[26]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Buried Alive: The True Story of Kidnapping, Captivity, and a Dramatic Rescue. Thomas Nelson. January 12, 2010. p. 162. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Polaneczky, Ronnie. ""JihadJane" said to have confessed". Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Valencia, Milton J. (March 8, 2009). "Muslim leaders and FBI prepare case for, against Sudbury man". The Boston Globe. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Tim Dowling (August 12, 2007). "Tim Dowling: Bloggers of the world unite". London: The Guardian. Retrieved June 16, 2010.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Urbina, Ian (March 10, 2010). "Views of ‘JihadJane’ Were Unknown to Neighbors". The New York Times. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 "Reuters Pulls 920 Pictures by Discredited Photographer". The New York Sun. August 8, 2006. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 The Free Lance-Star, Aug 11, 2006
  8. ↑
  9. ↑ Nunally, Derrick; Shiffman, Johan, and Shea, Kathleen Brady (March 18, 2010). ""JihadJane" said to have confessed". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
  10. ↑ "Jawa Exclusive: NJ Jihadist Carlos Almonte hated Jews too, was "Death to all Juice" guy". The Jawa Report. Retrieved June 10, 2010.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Gendar, Alison; Schapiro, Rich (June 11, 2010). "Jersey jihadist Carlos Almonte is terror at spelling, too; proud of sign, 'Death to all Juice'". New York Daily News. Retrieved June 16, 2010.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 "Ohio Homeland Security Official Fired Over Resume Discrepancy". Fox News Channel. April 7, 2010. Retrieved July 26, 2010.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Ludlow, Randy (July 2, 2010). "Homeland Security official fired". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved July 26, 2010.
  14. ↑ "Terrorism Plot Targets Malls Feds Day". Fox News Channel. October 21, 2009. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
  15. ↑ "Blogs target jihadis online". The Washington Times. October 10, 2007. Retrieved April 21, 2010.
  16. ↑
  17. ↑ August 24, 2008 3:43PM (August 24, 2008). "Abducted Aussie journalist named". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved June 16, 2010.
  18. ↑ "And now it's 'Reutersgate'; News agency sacks photographer". The Toronto Star. Retrieved June 16, 2010.
  19. ↑ "Politics | Racism on the trail". Salon. May 13, 2008. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
  20. ↑ "Daily Blog Buzz: Leak or Lies?". The Weekly Standard. October 9, 2007. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
  21. ↑ September 19, 2007 (September 19, 2007). "Aiding the Enemy". The Weekly Standard. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
  22. ↑ "Daily Blog Buzz: HAPPY HALLOWEEN!". The Weekly Standard. October 31, 2007. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
  23. ↑ "Reactions from the 'Blogosphere'", Lodi News-Sentinel, June 9, 2005
  24. ↑ "Story Based on Leaks Stirs Up Debate About Leakers and Leakees". Columbia Journalism Review. March 8, 2006. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
  25. ↑ "Mediawatch: Video and Propaganda". ABC. May 22, 2006. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
  26. ↑ "Public Eye". CBS News. Retrieved March 18, 2010.

External links