15th January 2011

The Editor
The Jewish Chronicle
25 Furnival Street
London
EC4A 1JT

Dear Mr Pollard

You have published an article on The Jewish Chronicle website “Jewish leader threatened at LSE Israel debate” which contains serious, derogatory and untrue allegations about me.

I was leaving the meeting on Thursday evening (13.01.11) engaged in conversation with a student of the LSE about her dissertation when I suddenly found myself being accosted by an unknown man who had evidently pushed his way towards me followed by a number of friends in support, at least two of whom went on to hold up their mobile phone cameras to film me. I felt considerably harassed by what I perceived as organised male aggression. This man who refused to identify himself brought up what LSE and other people who have conscientiously investigated the events have determined to be totally unfounded allegations about my chairing of the Atwan meeting, by stating with a smirk on his face that the chairing of the Thursday debate was fairer than my chairing of the lecture by Atwan on December 6th.

I responded to this ambush by telling the man, as any mother might to an unruly child, that I could slap him, repeating that the comparison represented professional defamation, and asking him to identify himself. He has turned this reaction to his aggression into an allegation of a threat by me.

You did not do me the courtesy of contacting me for my comment before printing this fabricated account. I note moreover that in all your press coverage following the Atwan lecture, you also did not contact me, the LSE or the LSE Student Union leadership.

I expect you to print a prominent retraction and apology on your website and in your next print edition (if this report has also been printed). If you fail to do this I will have to consider what further steps to take.

Yours sincerely

Martha Mundy