Dear Mr. Clancy:

We were disturbed by the remark of an audience member during your roundtable discussion with members of the Iraqi press corps on the transfer of power in Iraq, which you recently moderated in Dubai Media City ("Countdown to Handover: The Arab Pulse," June 21).

In a question directed to the panelists about press freedoms, an audience member who identified himself as a journalist with the Gulf News stated that, "Many people in the region believe that the U.S. media is – rightly or wrongly – Jewish controlled."  Unfortunately, this statement went totally unchallenged by you and the panelists.

The myth of "Jewish controlled" media has long been a staple of anti-Semites.  This anti-Semitic canard is now widely accepted in the Arab world and pervasive in the Muslim and Arab Media, along with the myth of "Jewish control" of the U.S. government.

We hope that, in future, when confronted with such outlandish and stereotypical statements by one of your peers, you would immediately challenge the statement and make clear to your audience that this is anti-Semitism.