COMPLETE STATIC READING EDITION
“4,000 Jews stayed home”
How a Jerusalem Post headcount became a rumor
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Where the number came from
A list of Israelis to check on.
The State Department found that Syria’s Al Thawra may have been the first paper to publish the claim, on 15 September 2001, that “four thousand Jews were absent from their work on the day of the explosions.” The figure seems to have come from a Jerusalem Post story saying Israel’s foreign ministry “has so far received the names of 4,000 Israelis believed to have been in the areas of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.” [1]
What we can’t tell you. Nobody knows who first changed the number.
The sources
- U.S. State Department, January 2005: The 4,000 Jews rumor (Internet Archive copy) ↗
Traces the figure to a Jerusalem Post count of Israelis believed to be near the sites, and compares the Jewish share of victims with New York’s population.
Who actually died
Hundreds of Jewish victims.
The State Department cites a Wall Street Journal estimate that about 10% of victims who listed a religion were Jewish, and a Jewish Week count of at least 400 Jewish victims, about 15% of those who died at the World Trade Center. A partial list of Cantor Fitzgerald’s dead included 49 Jewish memorial services out of 390. [1] It calls the claim “totally false.” [1]
What we can’t tell you. Victims’ religion was not formally recorded, so these are estimates.
The sources
- U.S. State Department, January 2005: The 4,000 Jews rumor (Internet Archive copy) ↗
Traces the figure to a Jerusalem Post count of Israelis believed to be near the sites, and compares the Jewish share of victims with New York’s population.
WHAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT THIS FILE
The claims, rated.
1 claim people make about this file, each rated documented, partly true, disputed, unproven or false. Think a rating is wrong? Use Dispute or Support, or join the Discussion.
FALSE Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan & Israel
“4,000 Jews stayed home from the World Trade Center.”
The number came from Israelis believed near the sites. Hundreds of Jewish people died.
Who says it: Al Thawra, then online.
The evidence in this file ↗ · On the full claims board ↗
All 162 rated claims ↗
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