4,000 Israelis did not show up for work on the day of the WTC attacks-Fiction!

Four Thousand Israelis Who Worked in The World Trade Center Did Not Show up for Work on the Day of the Terrorist Attacks-Fiction!

Summary of eRumor:
This eRumor says that when the attacks took place on September 11, there was immediate mourning of 4,000 Israelis who worked in the towers and who were killed. Then, according to the eRumor, there was suddenly no mention of the Israeli losses. That was because it has been discovered that none of them showed up for work that day. The clear suggestion of the is that they were tipped-off about the planned attacks. Presumably because of the pending attacks, a decision was made to cancel a planned appearance by Premier Ariel Sharon. The report closes by saying that the FBI arrested five Israelis after the attack who were filming it and rejoicing over it. The implication is that Israelis may have been responsible for the attacks.

The Truth:
Nothing in this report fits with any of the facts that are known about the terrorist attacks.

This report came from Al-Manar Television in Beirut Lebanon, a pro-Palestinian channel.

In his book Against All Enemies, former White House counterterrorism advisor Richard Clark states that the story was false.
He says, "With almost every terrorist incident or similar event, an urban legend develops that challenges the official story. After the events of 9/11, one widespread legend had it that Israel had attacked the World Trade Center and had warned Jews not to go to work that day."

last updated 4/8/04

A real example of the story as it has been circulated:

4000 Israeli Employees in WTC Absent the Day of the Attack

With the announcement of the attacks at the World Trade Center in New York, the international media, particularly the Israeli one, hurried to take advantage of the incident and started mourning 4000 Israelis who work at the two towers.

Then suddenly, no one ever mentioned anything about those Israelis and later it became clear that they remarkably did not show up in their jobs the day the incident took place. No one talked about any Israeli being killed or wounded in the attacks.

Arab diplomatic sources revealed to the Jordanian al-Watan newspaper that those Israelis remained absent that day based on hints from the Israeli General Security Apparatus, the Shabak, the fact which evoked unannounced suspicions on American officials who wanted to know how the Israeli government learned about the incident before it occurred, and the reasons why it refrained from informing the U.S authorities of the information it had.

Suspicions had increased further after Israeli new! ! spaper Yadiot Ahranot revealed that the Shabak prevented Israeli premier Ariel Sharon from traveling to New York and particularly to the city's eastern coast to participate in a festival organized by the Zionist organizations in support of the "Israel". Aharon Bernie, the commentator at the newspaper, brought up the issue and came up with a negative conclusion, saying "no answer". He then asked about the clue behind the Shabak's position in preventing Sharon's participation, and again without giving an answer. Bernie added that Sharon, who was delighted for having his speech on top of the festival agenda, asked the head of the organization to mediate and convince the Shabak to change its position, but his attempts were in vein. The next day after Sharon's secretary officially announced that Sharon would not participate the incident took place. For its part, the Israeli Ha'aretz newspaper revealed that the FBI arrested five Israelis four hours after the attack on the Twin Tower! ! s while filming the smoking skyline from the roof of their company's building.

The FBI had arrested the five for "puzzling behavior". They are said to have been caught videotaping the disaster in what was interpreted as cries of joy and mockery.