David Abrahams may sue paper over alleged 'non-interview'

Abrahams denies making comments to the Jewish weekly that claimed he had made his donations secretly to avoid accusations of "Jewish conspiracy."

By JONNY PAUL, LONDON
jp.services1 (photo credit: )
jp.services1
(photo credit: )
A British businessman at the center of a row last year row over hidden donations to the Labor Party has initiated proceedings against the UK's Jewish Chronicle for allegedly defamatory remarks published in the paper in December. David Abrahams denied making comments to the UK's national Jewish weekly that claimed he had made his donations secretly so as to avoid accusations of his being part of a "Jewish conspiracy." Abrahams reportedly donated some £650,000 anonymously to the Labor Party through four other people. Abrahams denies giving the interview. At the time, his spokesman, Martin Minns, said that the comments were "misrepresented" and that Abrahams had wanted to remain anonymous solely to protect his privacy. "All week, he has refused to give the Jewish Chronicle an interview and this report warrants no further comment," Minns added. Speaking to the BBC's Newsnight program, Jewish Chronicle editor David Rowan said his paper had spoken to Abrahams "by phone at the beginning of this week's news cycle, and [they had] notes backing everything... He didn't grant a full one-to-one interview, but we stand by everything," Rowan added. A spokesman for Abrahams told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday that at the time, a journalist from the Jewish Chronicle had been "badgering" Abrahams for an interview, but Abrahams had said he did not want to speak at that "difficult time." He denied that Abrahams used the words attributed to him in the Jewish Chronicle article. "David feels he has been defamed, what the Jewish Chronicle put was inaccurate and he feels that there should be at the very least an apology," his spokesman told the Post. Rowan told the Post on Thursday that the Chronicle's "lawyers have received a letter from David Abraham's lawyers" and were "responding robustly."