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Revision as of 08:39, 31 January 2010 by Epeefleche (talk | contribs) (edits)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)| Rita Katz | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1963 (age 61–62) Basra, Iraq |
| Alma mater | Tel Aviv University |
| Occupation | Terrorism analyst |
| Employer | SITE Institute |
Rita Katz (born 1963, Basra, Iraq) is a terrorism analyst and the co-founder of the SITE Institute, a private intelligence firm based in Washington, DC, which focuses on tracking global terrorist networks, and intercepting and distributing secret messages, videos, and advance warnings of suicide bombings from the terrorist group's communications networks.
Early life
Katz, a fluent Arabic speaker, was born in Basra in 1963 to a well-to-do Iraqi Jewish family. After the Six Day War, in 1968 her father was arrested on charges of spying for Israel, and the rest of the family put under house arrest. The following year, after having been tortured, Katz's father was convicted and executed in a public hanging in the central square of Baghdad to the roaring applause of more than half a million Iraqis. Katz's mother managed to escape on foot with her three small children to Iran, and from there made their way to Israel.
While in Israel, Katz served in the Israeli Defense Forces and studied politics and history at Tel Aviv University. She later married a medical student and in 1997 came to the United States with her husband, who received a National Institutes of Health fellowship.
Career
In October 2007, it was revealed that Katz had discovered, and issued to the Bush Administration, a copy of an Osama bin Laden video which had yet to be released by Al-Qaeda. Katz issued the video via a private link to a SITE web page to White House counsel Fred F. Fielding, and Joel Bagnal, deputy assistant to the president for homeland security. Within minutes, computers registered to various parts of the Executive Branch began downloading the video, and within hours a transcript referencing SITE had appeared on Fox News. Katz had requested the web page remain confidential, and has reported that dissemination of this information tipped off her Al-Qaeda supporters who had since eliminated the ability of SITE to gather such information.
Works
Book
- Terrorist Hunter: The Extraordinary Story of a Woman Who Went Undercover to Infiltrate the Radical Islamic Groups Operating in America, (as Anonymous). Ecco, May 6, 2003. ISBN 0060528192
Select articles
- "American servers of terror", San Francisco Chronicle, with Josh Devon, August 11, 2002
- "Getting at the Whole Network; A lawsuit helps expose more of al Qaeda", National Review, with Josh Devon, August 20, 2002
- "The Weakness of the West; Stopping al Qaeda", National Review, with Josh Devon, September 17, 2002
- "Ending Al Qaeda; War’s many fronts", National Review, with Josh Devon, March 20, 2003
- "A Global Network; What’s really happening on some U.S. paintball courses", National Review, with Josh Devon, March 20, 2003
- "Perilous Power Play; FBI vs. Homeland Security", National Review, with Josh Devon, May 27, 2003
- "WWW.JIHAD.COM; E-Groups abused by jihadists", National Review, with Josh Devon, July 14, 2003
Sources
References
- "Keeping an Eye on Al Qaeda". Newsweek. Sept. 11, 2007.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - Joby Warrick (Sept. 12, 2007). "Bin Laden, Brought to You by ..." The Washington Post. pp. A01.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - Glick, Caroline B., "A personal jihad", Jerusalem Post, July 25, 2003, accessed January 31, 2010
- Wallace-Wells, Benjamin (May 29, 2006). "Private Jihad: How Rita Katz got into the spying business". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2007-10-09.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - "Leak Severed a Link to Al-Qaeda's Secrets". The Washington Post. Oct. 9, 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-09.
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