PR gone wrong

The IAF has been trying to give the impression that the relatives of the victims of the Amman terror attacks have forgiven it's (ex?) deputies for calling Zarqawi a “martyr”. Their web site features a story of an iftar banquet. The headline states “The relatives of the Amman bombing victims honor deputies Abu Faris and Abu Sukkar”. The story goes on to explain the businessman Thaher Amro held a banquet in honor of the (ex?) deputies, which was attended by “a number” of the victims’ families. The story is dated October 19.

The same day, Ammon news agency carried a similar story. Apparantly, Al Arab Al Yawm carried the same story yesterday, which prompted Thaher Amro to send the newspaper a letter explaining the invitation. According to Amro, there was only one relative of the victims who was invited because he is Amro’s cousin. The invitation was not made in the names of the victims’ families, and only the cousin happened to be one of them. Amro praised the Islamists charity and social work, but disavowed their political practices. He also pointed out that were it not for the king’s pardon, the invitation could not have taken place.

Ouch!