Rita Katz
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Rita Katz (; born 1963) is a terrorism analyst and the co-founder of the Search International Terrorist Entities (SITE) Intelligence Group, a private intelligence firm based in
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
The Institute tracks global terrorist networks, and intercepts and distributes messages, videos, and advance warnings of suicide bombings from terrorist groups' communications networks.


Early life

Katz was born in
Basra Basra () is a port city in Iraq, southern Iraq. It is the capital of the eponymous Basra Governorate, as well as the List of largest cities of Iraq, third largest city in Iraq overall, behind Baghdad and Mosul. Located near the Iran–Iraq bor ...
in southern Iraq in 1963 to a wealthy Iraqi Jewish family. After the
Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...
and shortly after
Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...
's
Ba'ath Party The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party ( ' ), also known simply as Bath Party (), was a political party founded in Syria by Michel Aflaq, Salah al-Din al-Bitar, and associates of Zaki al-Arsuzi. The party espoused Ba'athism, which is an ideology ...
seized power in Iraq in 1968, her father was arrested on charges of spying for Israel. The family's property was confiscated by the state, and the rest of the family put under
house arrest House arrest (also called home confinement, or nowadays electronic monitoring) is a legal measure where a person is required to remain at their residence under supervision, typically as an alternative to imprisonment. The person is confined b ...
in a stone hut. The following year, after having been tortured, Katz's father was convicted and executed in a public hanging in the central square of
Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...
, witnessed by more than half a million Iraqis. Katz's mother managed to escape with her three children to Iran, from where they made their way to Israel. The family settled in the seaside town of
Bat Yam Bat Yam ( ) is a city on Israel's Mediterranean Sea coast, on the Central Coastal Plain just south of Tel Aviv. It is part of the Gush Dan metropolitan area and the Tel Aviv District. In , it had a population of . History British Mandate Bat Y ...
. While in Israel, Katz served in the
Israeli Defense Forces Israeli may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel * Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel * Modern Hebrew, a language * ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008 * Guni Israeli (b ...
and studied politics, history, and Middle Eastern studies at
Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) is a Public university, public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Located in northwest Tel Aviv, the university is the center of teaching and ...
. In 1997, Katz' husband was offered a research fellowship in endocrinology at the
National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...
and they moved to Washington with their three children. Katz acknowledged that at the time she worked in violation of the provisions of her visa.


Career

In 1998, Katz began working for a research institute called the Investigative Project, run by journalist Steven Emerson. She worked there on counterterrorism investigations. During her first research project, she suspected that the Holy Land Foundation, a charity organization dedicated to supporting humanitarian programs primarily in the West Bank and Gaza, was a
front group A front organization is any entity set up by and controlled by another organization, such as intelligence agencies, organized crime groups, terrorist organizations, secret societies, banned organizations, religious or political groups, advocacy ...
for
Hamas The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...
. Wanting to examine it more closely, she attended a
fundraiser Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...
of theirs dressed as a Muslim woman. Soon thereafter, again disguised as a Muslim woman, wearing a ''
burqa A burqa or burka (; ) is an enveloping outer garment worn by some Muslim women which fully covers the body and the face. Also known as a chadaree (; ) or chaadar (Dari: چادر) in Afghanistan, or a ''paranja'' (; ; ) in Central Asia, the Ara ...
'' and wearing recording equipment, Katz began attending Islamic conferences and fundraisers, visiting mosques, and participating in pro-Palestinian rallies in the U.S. as an undercover investigator in order to expose links of American Islamic groups to foreign terrorist groups. Katz's SITE Institute, co-founded with Josh Devon in July 2002, was funded by various federal agencies and private groups. It analyzes "corporate records, tax forms, credit reports, video tapes, internet news group postings and owned websites, among other resources, for indicators of illicit activity". It provided information on radical Muslim groups operating in the United States, and led to closures of organizations, deportations, and ongoing investigations. With the SITE Institute, which she co-founded to monitor Islamic extremist websites and to expose terrorist front groups, Katz worked with federal investigators in terrorism cases. She was cited in Richard Clarke's book, ''
Against All Enemies ''Against All Enemies: Inside America's War on Terror'' () is a 2004 award-winning2005,(Index to lists of winners through 2006). Retrieved July 7, 2012. book by former U.S. chief counter-terrorism advisor Richard A. Clarke, criticizing past and ...
'', as having helped to provide information to the government on the Al Qaeda network. Clarke wrote that she and Steven Emerson, for whom she formerly worked, regularly provided the White House with a stream of information about possible Al Qaeda activity inside the U.S. that was apparently largely unknown to the FBI before the 9/11 attacks. They gave Clarke and his staff the names of Islamic radical Web sites, the identities of possible terrorist front groups, and the phone numbers and addresses of possible terror suspects—data Clarke was unable to get from elsewhere in the government. In May 2003, Katz published an anonymous semi-autobiography entitled ''Terrorist Hunter: The Extraordinary Story of a Woman Who Went Undercover to Infiltrate the Radical Islamic Groups Operating in America'' (Harper Collins, 2003; ). She appeared in disguise on the CBS newsmagazine, ''
60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who distinguished it from other news programs by using a unique style o ...
'', to promote her book using the pseudonym "Sarah", and wearing a wig and a fake nose, to protect herself and her family from retaliation from groups that she said were linked to
al-Qaeda , image = Flag of Jihad.svg , caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions , founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden , leaders = {{Plainlist, * Osama bin Lad ...
,
Hamas The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...
, Islamic Jihad, and
Hezbollah Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...
. In the book she tries to reveal what she sees as the gravity and extent of the presence of Islamic fundamentalism in America, and that government agencies still do not work together as one to fight terrorism, instead concealing information from each other, attempting to take over investigations, and even deliberately slowing down terrorism investigations. Katz in ''Terrorist Hunter'' was from the time period that she was employed by Steven Emerson at the Investigative Project on Terrorism. SITE's work was cited in ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' and the ''
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'' about twice a month as of 2006. In January 2007, ''
Al Jazeera Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English, which pro ...
'' reported that the National Association of Muslim American Women filed a formal complaint with the
U.S. Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of federal laws and the administration of justice. It is equi ...
Civil Rights Division, Criminal Section, and with the Executive Office for the
United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...
s at the U.S. Department of Justice, alleging that, as a result of misleading and false information provided to U.S. law enforcement agencies, the media, and various governmental bodies, various Jewish organizations and individuals including Katz had sought to create an environment in the U.S. that is hostile towards U.S. Muslims, resulting in the deprivation and violation of Muslim civil liberties and
civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...
. In October 2007, it was revealed that Katz had discovered and issued to the Bush administration a copy of an
Osama bin Laden Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and support ...
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 20 minutes, computers registered to various parts of the
Executive Branch The executive branch is the part of government which executes or enforces the law. Function The scope of executive power varies greatly depending on the political context in which it emerges, and it can change over time in a given country. In ...
began downloading the video, and within hours a transcript referencing SITE had appeared on
Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...
. Katz had requested that the web page remain confidential. She said the premature disclosure tipped al-Qaeda to a security breach and destroyed a surveillance operation to intercept and pass along secret messages, videos and advance warnings of suicide bombings from the terrorist group's communications network. The U.S. government didn't refute her claims.


Controversies

In July 2003, two of the groups she discussed in her book and on television (the Heritage Education Trust and the Safa Trust) sued her and revealed her name and identity. In two of the suits, targets of the investigation said they were defamed in the ''60 Minutes'' television broadcast. Katz said she has been the victim of a smear campaign and of attempts to intimidate her, adding:
"As they were never able to challenge the accuracy of my research, and as they were upset by the ramifications of it in terms of arrests, indictments, and raids, a few Muslim activist organizations have on occasion tried to portray me as a Muslim-basher. I have no quarrel with Islam or Muslims, and I only target terrorists and their supporters."
In one case, in 2005, federal Judge Leonie Brinkema dismissed Katz from the lawsuit by a leader of the
International Institute of Islamic Thought The International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) is a privately held non-profit organization in the United States founded by Ismail al-Faruqi and Anwar Ibrahim. It was established as a non-profit 501(c)(3) non-denominational organization in ...
, Iqbal Unus. Katz's dismissal was upheld on appeal unanimously by a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2009. The court also ordered Unus to pay Katz $41,000 in legal fees. In 2015, Katz described an apparent Australian online supporter of ISIS who used the online handle "Australi Witness" as holding a "prestige" position in online jihadi circles and as being "part of the hard core of a group of individuals who constantly look for targets for other people to attack". It later transpired that "Australi Witness" was an American ( Joshua Ryne Goldberg), who was arrested by the FBI.


Works


Books

* ''Terrorist Hunter: The Extraordinary Story of a Woman Who Went Undercover to Infiltrate the Radical Islamic Groups Operating in America'', (as Anonymous). (Harper Collins, May 6, 2003; ) * ''Saints and Soldiers: Inside Internet-Age Terrorism, From Syria to the Capitol Siege'' (Columbia University Press, 2022); )


Testimony


"The Online Jihadist Threat"
Testimony Before the
House Armed Services Committee The U.S. House Committee on Armed Services, commonly known as the House Armed Services Committee or HASC, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is responsible for funding and oversight of the Department of ...
; Terrorism, and Unconventional Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee,
U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...
, with Josh Devon, February 14, 2007
"The Online Jihadist Threat"
Testimony Before The Homeland Security Committee; Subcommittee on Intelligence, Information Sharing and Terrorism Risk Assessment, U.S. House of Representatives, with Josh Devon, November 6, 2007


Popular culture

Katz is the subject of director Ann Shin's documentary, ''The Terrorist Hunter''.


See also

* Jarret Brachman * Steven Emerson * Evan Kohlmann


References


External links


"Tracking the Terrorists Online"
Yassin Musharbash, ''
Der Spiegel (, , stylized in all caps) is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of about 724,000 copies in 2022, it is one of the largest such publications in Europe. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...
'', August 29, 2008 * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Katz, Rita 1963 births American people of Iraqi-Jewish descent American Zionists Iraqi Jews Iraqi emigrants to Israel Israeli Jews Israeli emigrants to the United States Living people People from Basra People from Bat Yam Tel Aviv University alumni Scholars of terrorism Date of birth missing (living people) Iraqi emigrants to the United States