Been there, done thatI was at first willing to believe that the New York Times article on the wierdo Dutch football team, Ajax, which almost mirrored the piece we wrote back in January was a coincidence. But now the Jerusalem Post seems to have drawn similar inspiration. This time, a piece of spam purportedly written by Suha Arafat (Yassir Arafat’s widow) seeking help in securing $20 million in embezzled PA funds, which we posted about in February, is the subject of a Jerusalem Post article.

Sabri Zaidan, chairman of the Palestinian Internet Society, was unfazed by the e-mail. “This is the typical spam e-mail to get your bank details,” he said. “Palestinians are not really affected by this, nor will they be fooled by it if they receive it as an e-mail.”

Granted the Jerusalem Post article contains a few more details along with quotes like the one above and comments by an “Internet analyst,” I can’t help but feel just a tad, you know… put off.

And what the hell is an Internet analyst anyway? Does it pay well? Do you just surf on the Internet all day long? Where do I apply? How much analytical expertise does one need to come up with gems like this:

Hackers use programs that scour the Web for e-mail addresses to find the “one-in-a-million sucker who will forward their bank details,” said Internet analyst David Shamah. Often these hackers come from countries with little or no control over Internet content … “Sometimes the results and content of these e-mails are very funny, provided you’re not the victim. And there are victims, because this scam appears to continue to make money,” he said.

Funny? Holy crap. While TM, who may or may not be me, starts his shidduch service, I’ll move to Israel and provide Internet analysis services, where I too will provide patently obvious and insensitively rendered pieces of Internet related advice to a select group of well monied corporate and media clients. I am sure to be rolling in shekels! Rolling!

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About the author

ck

Founder and Publisher of Jewlicious, David Abitbol lives in Jerusalem with his wife, newborn daughter and toddler son. Blogging as "ck" he's been blocked on twitter by the right and the left, so he's doing something right.

16 Comments

  • ahem. I believe I was the first one to point out that in the NYTimes case, Jews run the media and Jews read Jewlicious. Worked for me. And in this case? Jews run JPost and Jews read Jewlicious.
    Is it just me or do those Jews running the media seem a bit slow as of recent?

  • If Jews run the media, why can’t I get the Times to return my calls? Self-hating, I tell you…

    And I believe that while there may be actual legitimate professionals using “Internet analyst” as their job title, in this case it may be a fancy, more credibility-lending way to say “blogger.”

  • I can’t believe A7 scooped you on an excuse to show Natalie Portman:

    Hadassah Hospital received a $50 million donation last week from a woman who was born there – famed actress Natalie Portman.

    Will Suha ever give 50million to name a hospital after Yasser. Imagine that, a hospital named after a mass murderer.

  • They didn’t. I saw that story last week. We’re not a Natalie Portman blog ya know … the story itself seemed to be more about her and less about the Hospital. It almost seemed as if NP herself donated the $50 million!

  • CK has Google Alerts for “Natalie Portman” and “Israel,” just so he doesn’t miss anything.

    And, I think Meryl Streep should play Suha in the “Arafat: Not Without My Homeland” biopic.

  • I must say I agree completly, it is nice to see people have blogs where they spread the same opinion you got.