NO STONE UNTURNED

As the journalist who broke the story, I can tell you that the much-publicized rocks, actually aimed at Israeli police, fell into an empty plaza, not injuring a single Jewish worshiper.

MICHAEL EMERY

Northridge Daniel Williams responds: Emery’s contention that there was no one present in the Western Wall plaza is untrue and is countered by an independent probe carried out by Judge Kama, whom Bustany incorrectly identifies as a government-appointed investigator. Testimony gathered by Judge Kama affirmed that stones were thrown into the Western Wall plaza, that there were hundreds of worshipers below and that a handful, perhaps 10, were slightly injured. These findings did not in any way deter Judge Kama from pinpointing the immediate cause of the outburst as carelessly handled tear gas nor from criticizing the uncontrolled shooting by police. The theory that the incident was hatched in Baghdad by Saddam Hussein, a report that was the product of Israeli propaganda, is without credibility.