Atlantic Reporter Caitlin Flanagan Investigated Intactivists On Behalf Of Jewish Opposition

Reporter cancels article after discovering attacks on the intactivist movement were false.

Reporter Caitlin Flanagan investigated claims made by Eliyahu Ungar-Sargon that the intactivist leadership was full of “alt right” antisemites for The Atlantic. However, She opted not to publish the piece after speaking with intactivist leader Brendon Marotta.

This month, it emerged that Bruchim founder Eliyahu Ungar-Sargon has led a clandestine campaign against American Circumcision director Brendon Marotta. Ungar-Sargon had been accusing Marotta, a social justice activist in a mixed-race marriage, of being an antisemitic white nationalist.

The admission of this campaign was made by Ungar-Sargon himself to the hosts of the Blocked and Reported podcast, where he launched an attack on both his new ally Eric Clopper and Brendon Marotta. The Blocked and Reported hosts describe Eliyahu Ungar-Sargon as the “little brother” of “friend-of-the-show” Newsweek editor Bataya Ungar-Sargon and frame his campaign as common knowledge among journalists, depite being kept secret from the intactivist movement.

In a response to the Blocked and Reported podcast, Brendon Marotta revealed that he was interviewed by a reporter from The Atlantic. Emails obtained by Conte News indicate that the reporter in question was Caitlin Flanagan, who conducted interviews with both Eric Clopper and Brendon Marotta to investigate the claims made by Eliyahu Ungar-Sargon.

Marotta says that the Atlantic Reporter “grilled me for two hours around” with questions about his views on Jewish people. After Marotta repeatedly replied that this was not the focus of his work and “my work is about protecting children,” the Flanagan decided not to publish the story. Marotta attributes this choice to the reporter discovering Ungar-Sargon’s claims were false.

After the investigation, Flanagan published a hit piece targeting. Alice Walker, Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Color Purple and a prominent activist against female genital cutting. Flanagan attacked Walker, saying “her opinions are vile,” “she is loathsome,” and that Walker is “very, very anti-Semitic.”

Flanagan’s article was praised by Anti-Defamation League (ADL) CEO Jonathon Greenblatt. Greenblatt is also a personal friend of Newsweek editor Bataya Ungar-Sargon.