Sunday, June 6, 2010
Here the New Israel Fund demonstrates that in the mad rush to find friends on a left that feels itself increasingly beleaguered, there are literally no depths some groups won't plumb. In this case, we have a major pro-Israel "Civil Society" charity, the NIF, recommending a Twitter account that appears to have been established by an editor at the premier 'dismantle Israel' site on the web: Electronic Intifada.
This might seem a little inscrutable, but Twitter users will see the significance right away.
Yesterday was Friday, that means "Follow Friday" -- #FF. That's the day you send out tweets composed of nothing but the names of accounts that you follow. It's a way of giving a shout-out to some of the people you like, as well as a way of recommending accounts that you think other people should be following.
And what did @NewIsraelFund tweet yesterday?
#FF @jnewsreader @prasnis @talkoholic @ngo_monitor @Amy2Israel @24kgoldsher @TheOdalisque @askdebra @MitchellPlit @calaris @rebmoti
@ngo_monitor? Is that the account of the excellent NGO Monitor? No, that's @NGOMonitor (and that is an account well worth following).
@ngo_monitor is a fake/satire account hostile to the real NGO Monitor and hostile to the Jewish State that NIF claims to love so much. The tweets characterize Israel and its supporters as the worst racist monsters, scorn the work of the real NGO Monitor, and amplify (re-tweet) the tweets of Israel's worst critics.
Its first follower is an editor at the viciously anti-Israel Electronic Intifada, Maureen Murphy which gives you a pretty good hint as to who started the account in the first place, or at least who their very good friend was. By the way, the second follower is the execrable Richard Silverstein. Nuff said.
This is not a mistake. They didn't mean to cite NGO Monitor and accidentally put in an extra _, thus inadvertently sending their readers to a site whose nastiness they would never, in a thousand years, want to encourage and spread. There's too much hostility from NIF towards NGO Monitor for it to encourage readers there. Indeed, they've never recommended the real NGO Monitor in the past, nor referred to them in any complimentary manner before. Why would they do so now? In recognition of their latest effort critical of NIF? I doubt it.
It's one thing not to encourage your own readers to read what your Israeli critics say. Not admirable, but understandable...
But to send them (out of anger at being criticized) to sites created by sworn, open, and uncompromising enemies of Israel? That seems hard to believe.
And yet, the folks in charge of social networking at NIF had to know exactly what they were doing when they "#FF'd" this brand new fake account. The most charitable explanation would be a temporary lapse wherein someone at NIF allowed their petty hatred to momentarily cloud their judgment. More likely though, they're simply plumbing the depths for friends and don't care who they ally with to combat their enemies. In this case, they identified their enemies not as the forces arrayed against Israel's very survival, but their own personal demons, their Israeli critics.
How sad that a Jewish/Israeli group, allegedly embracing self-criticism (of Israel), has become so incapable of self-criticism of themselves, that they join hands with anti-Zionists of the most virulent and hate-mongering kind.
In the end, I can't know just how much this particular incident reveals about the culture of anti-Israel discourse at NIF (Are they seriously more comfortable with "Electronic Intifada" than NGO Monitor? Indeed, are they willing to throw NGO Monitor under the bus even at the expense of giving fuel to virulent anti-Israel organizations?), or was this the work of just a lone individual? We can't know, but we should have an explanation.
Absolutely shameful.
Update: Richard Landes comments on the social network aspect: Evidence of Sickness in the World of Social Networking. I dare you to try to watch all 6+minutes of the CNN clip he has embedded. I couldn't. I'm afraid that woman still hasn't shut up.
OT: Today, June 6th, is the 66th anniversary of D-Day. I believe this anniversary is worthy of a mention.
Indeed. I'm glad you mentioned it because I didn't have time to do it justice today.
Dear mr. Solomon,
Is it so wrong to be anti-Zionist and still desire a state of Israel where people of various backgrounds are welcome to stay, and I mean STAY since they have lived on the soil for many centuries? A fine example are the Bedouins in the Negev desert, one of their villages has been brutally razed on July 27 by Iraeli police.
I am glad you talk about anti-Zionist and not anti-semitism. That would also be weird, right, since Richard Silverstein is Jewish.
Do you honestly believe that the state of Israel, or more precisely, its government, is doing justice to the ideal of Israel as a state, a country?
Don't you think there might be a little bit of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder involved because there is so much emphasis always on fear and terror and self-defense? Everything is based upon having to fight or survive in a hostile environment, surrounded by hostile neighbors etc etc.
Might a different approach not be better, so it will create less angst-driven individuals who now have to spend significant time of their adolescent lives as a soldier, time that can and does change their personality and outlook on life forever, and not necessarily in the most positive way possible.
Are you familiar with the documentary To See If I Am Smiling? One girl was looking real pretty and alive in an old picture. She is now scarred for life after her IDF service. How can a state do this to her own? What about the kids who seek shelter in drugs abuse? Alcohol abuse? Adults who cry like babies (a friend of a friend did) because he was called in again, but he didn't want to leave his wife and children. He didn't want to treat other people as his enemies. Because they are not. Enemies.
http://www.linktv.org/programs/to-see-if-i-am-smiling
I am NOT anti-Israel. But the way I see things, your beloved Israel is hurting itself in so many ways.
Maybe the tone of voice of those who are critical of Israel's actions does not really strike a chord if you're thinking of wanting to sit down for an intelligent dialogue. But it is tough. People are bound to get emotional when they experience or witness emotional events. Seeing family and friends killed, or humiliated or otherwise maltreated does not bring out the voice of reason.
That's what I sadly enough have to assess for 'both' sides in this conflict.
Anyway, I kind of lost the thread of what I wanted to say initially. I don't really expect a friendly response, for people are so habitual that if they read something contrary to their own belief, or way of thinking... some chemical in the mind just bursts out of its little cubical (that's how I imagine things) and BOOM, whatever bridge to pave for genuine understanding is kaputt.
But thank you for your hospitality and offering the chance to disagree, with all due respect of course!
Bodhi Bloom
Is it so wrong to be anti-Zionist and still desire a state of Israel where people of various backgrounds are welcome to stay, and I mean STAY since they have lived on the soil for many centuries? A fine example are the Bedouins in the Negev desert, one of their villages has been brutally razed on July 27 by Iraeli police.
Yes, yes it is wrong to desire the destruction of a state which has been built by such effort and contributed so much to the world. It is wrong to desire the destruction of the one Jewish state.
You also repeat the myth that somehow because someone calls themselves an Arab, they must have been living there for centuries, when in fact many of the Arabs now in the region are relatively recent immigrants.
The Bedouins couldn't have been in that particular place very long, since they just built those houses. No country allows people to simply start building houses wherever they please. Welcome to the modern world.
I am glad you talk about anti-Zionist and not anti-semitism. That would also be weird, right, since Richard Silverstein is Jewish.
I do tend to be cautious when using the term "anti-semite", though being Jewish is not exactly a bar on the label. What do you call a Jew who hates other Jews for what they are and what they believe? An anti-Semite.
Do you honestly believe that the state of Israel, or more precisely, its government, is doing justice to the ideal of Israel as a state, a country?
Yes! Miraculously so. No state achieves an "ideal," but Israel, given what it has faced, has done an amazing job in striving toward one.
Don't you think there might be a little bit of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder involved because there is so much emphasis always on fear and terror and self-defense? Everything is based upon having to fight or survive in a hostile environment, surrounded by hostile neighbors etc etc.
An emphasis on fear and terror? Have you read the Hamas charter? Watched Hassan Nasrallah make a speech? Listened to Ahmadinejad? Seen video of Arab television programming for children or their Friday night mosque sermons? Studied the history of Jews from Arab countries?
I would say an emphasis on self defense is warranted.
Might a different approach not be better, so it will create less angst-driven individuals who now have to spend significant time of their adolescent lives as a soldier, time that can and does change their personality and outlook on life forever, and not necessarily in the most positive way possible.
You should give this advice to some of the Arabs (and Persians) responsible for what I wrote above. Until then, no, I think the Israelis are wise to maintain a strong national defense.
Are you familiar with the documentary To See If I Am Smiling? One girl was looking real pretty and alive in an old picture. She is now scarred for life after her IDF service. How can a state do this to her own? What about the kids who seek shelter in drugs abuse? Alcohol abuse? Adults who cry like babies (a friend of a friend did) because he was called in again, but he didn't want to leave his wife and children. He didn't want to treat other people as his enemies. Because they are not. Enemies.
I have not seen that film and am not really interested. There will always be outlying personalities who have difficulties of various sorts, and others who will use them to make movies to suit a particular political agenda.
As to whether there are really enemies or not, this statement of yours is almost too bizarre and divorced from reality to merit a response.
I am NOT anti-Israel. But the way I see things, your beloved Israel is hurting itself in so many ways.
I will take what you say about yourself at face value and urge you to throw off your ideological blinders and face reality. If you don't you will never be able to convince anyone that your ideas are worth considering.