You can say what you will about Richard Silverstein, author of the grotesquely misnamed Tikun Olam Blog, but one thing is beyond denial: Richard Silverstein is a grossly unreliable source of information. Silverstein has recently achieved a small measure of notoriety thanks to his willingness to publish names and information that are under a publication ban in Israel. Fed information by Israeli sources, he has managed to bring to light stories that would not have otherwise been immediately published. Such instances are the only times that Silverstein receives any mainstream visibility, and like a $5 crack whore, he has become addicted to the rush. So addicted that he is willing to throw all caution to the wind in the hopes of scoring yet another “scoop” or “exclusive.”
This week revealed the inner workings of Silverstein’s typically shoddy “journalistic” methodology, as well as his amoral nastiness. It all begins with a clumsy attempt at a prank by one of Silverstein’s many detractors, the formerly anonymous “Aussie Dave” over at Israellycool. One of Dave’s posts contained a screen cap of Silverstein’s Facebook page. Over in the corner one could read the name “David Loeb” and a photo of said Loeb. Silverstein was contacted with the wonderful news that his nemesis, Aussie Dave may have inadvertently revealed his heretofore secret identity! In the past, Silverstein has asked his twitter followers to help him reveal Aussie Dave’s identity. Given the news that said identity had finally been revealed, Silverstein exclaimed to his source “Bless you. I’m forever indebted.” So excited was Silverstein at the prospect of revealing Dave’s identity, he totally neglected to use common sense or to even do the most basic research. David Loeb’s Facebook profile had only one friend. “Loeb’s” alleged address in Beit Shemesh doesn’t exist. Silverstein had never corresponded with his source “Yossi Nachas” before. But no matter. Silverstein ran with it, posted the false information and became the laughing stock of the blogosphere when Aussie Dave revealed his subterfuge.
Dave also revealed others who had been taken in – namely Jillian C. York, Director for International Freedom of Expression at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an organization otherwise dedicated to protecting free speech online and protecting the rights of bloggers to remain anonymous. I don’t know how her attitude jibes with her employer’s statement that “the free exchange of ideas on the Internet is driven in large part by the ability of Internet users to communicate anonymously…†but whatever… I am looking forward to any clarification from the EFF on this matter and the embarrassing statements of one of its directors. Also taken in was Max Blumenthal who really, really should have known better. Read about it all in Richard Silverstein Exposed and Exposing Richard Silverstein: The Day After.
Once again, allow me to reiterate, this is important because it demonstrates Silverstein’s shoddy methodology. He will believe practically anything that casts Israel in a negative light. For instance, and this is but one example, he declared that famed Jewish philosopher Martin Bubber lived in a house owned by Edward Said’s family, abandoned after they left Jerusalem in 1948. The picture painted was of a vengeful and spiteful Buber. The source? Jewish Palestine National Council member and convert to Islam Uri Davis. Just a little research would have shown this story to be bunk, but Silverstein ran it anyway and only retracted it and admitted his error three days later after repeated comments demonstrating that his information was completely fabricated. There was also the amazing story of the booby trapped Israeli drone purposely crashed in Lebanon and then used to explode a Hizbollah arms cache, or the stories citing the Mossad’s involvement, along with the MEK, in any number of explosions in Iran, all of these attributed to a retired Israeli politician and military officer, who remarkably still had access to top secret operational information.
It’s clear that anyone that lends credence to any of Silverstein’s stories is doing so at great risk to their credibility and reputation. There’s no need to even discuss his nonsensical political opinions, his lack of knowledge regarding life in Israel, his general ineptitude, his hypocrisy, deception and moral decrepitude, except to mention these in passing. The only other thing of note is that after being made a laughingstock, Silverstein seems to have gone nuts. With the help of his supporters, he did eventually find out who Aussie Dave really is and then wasted no time in revealing this information. Granted it wasn’t really hard to do – domain whois information is archived and it seems when israellycool.com was first registered, Dave did not do so anonymously. All you need to get to the archives is a credit card and five minutes. Brilliant journalistic research which Silverstein uses to justify schnorring laughably low amounts of money from his idiot supporters.
So I need to reiterate Dave’s question, written in a post in response to his unveiling: “I’d also be curious to hear what Jillian York, director for the Electronic Frontier Foundation (an organization dedicated to protecting free speech online and protecting the rights of bloggers to remain anonymous) and Silverstein supporter, has to say about this.” Is there some kind of ideological litmus test one has to pass in order to enjoy the support of the EFF?
In conclusion, I think it’s important to have a diversity of credible voices, especially when discussing an issue as complex and fraught with emotion as the Israel-Palestine conflict. If you want to visit a web site with a more critical perspective on Israel, please don’t waste your time at Richard Silverstein’s pathetic blog. Might I suggest you visit the 972Mag instead. There you will find stories written by actual journalists who actually have real knowledge of Israel. I don’t agree with their editorial stance but they are professionals who care about their reputations and their site is mostly free of the sort of vitriol that one typically finds on Tikun Olam. Now they seem to have banned [one of our writers] from posting there but their “censorship” is nothing close to what one finds on Silverstein’s blog where nary a critical opinion is voiced that doesn’t conclude with a threat to ban as well as a nasty insult or two. Silverstein also does not see fit to link to them so that’s as good a seal of approval as one can ask for – one wonders if this is a result of jealousy/envy (many commenters have moved on from Silverstein’s blog to 972) or anger that they didn’t invite the laughably self styled eminence grise of the Jewish “progressive” blog world to join them or that Larry Derfner, who tried to co-author a blog with Silverstein before finding out how insufferable he is, writes for them – but you get my point. Richard Silverstein is a joke.
Shavuah Tov Aussie Dave, send my best to your wife and kids.
UPDATE: Richard Silverstein is also a liar and a hypocrite!
Yeah. I know. Shocking right? Check out this comment thread on richardsilverstein.com:
Richard Silverstein says:
December 31, 2011 at 5:08 PM
No actually there is no picture of David Lange’s children on this site. In fact I cropped them from his photo because I didn’t want to invade their privacy. It was Lange in actuality who displayed the uncropped picture of himself and his children. So I presume you’ll take yr righteous indignation & spew it on him for displaying his own children online.
And while you’re at it you can add David Abitbol who displayed a picture of my children at his blog. When you’ve expended all that indignation in the proper places would you report back here on what you did & how they responded to you?
And as for making you sick. Sorry for yr indigestion, but imagine how sick I must feel when I have to read misdirected poison like yours.
Now watch what happens when he is confronted with the falseness of his accusation against me:
Steve says:
January 1, 2012 at 12:50 AM
I remember that incident. The photo Abitbol used had your children completely cropped out. You did to Lange exactly what Abitbol did to you. Or, did you completely forget that fact? All the photo had was a little green football bouncing off your head. Does that help refresh your memory?Richard Silverstein says:
January 1, 2012 at 1:14 AM
Perhaps you missed the photo another blogging pal of Lange and Abitbol featuring my son & myself claiming our cookie making was preparing terror bombs for Israel. Did you miss that one?Steve says:
January 1, 2012 at 1:25 AM
So, are you admitting that what you did to Lange is exactly what Abitbol did to you, namely use a picture of you and your children, with your children cropped out?Richard Silverstein says:
January 1, 2012 at 1:37 AM
No, it’s not the same. Abitbol used my picture with the logo of Little Green Footballs, a green football bouncing off my head. I have never doctored any pictures I displayed of either of them to gloat or insult them.Steve says:
January 1, 2012 at 1:29 AM
Sorry, I hit submit too early.
As a follow up to my first question, why is it OK for you to do that to Lange but not OK for Abitbol to do that to you?
As for the cookie making photo, didn’t you admit that Abitbol had nothing to do with it and that it did not appear on his site?Richard Silverstein says:
January 1, 2012 at 1:38 AM
We’re done with this line of questioning. MOve on to another subject or you’ll be moved on yourself.
Confronted with the lie, and his own patent hypocrisy, Silverstein simply threatens to ban the commenter. Par for the course for Richard Silverstein!
Once on the Web site, I read his latest post condemning Haredim for dressing their children up as Jewish concentration camp inmates in a recent protest. In that post Silverstein reveals his patent ignorance by conflating Haredim with Dati Leumi (National Religious) Jews with Kahanists. In his understanding, these three very different streams of Orthodox Judaism are one and the same. Anyone that knows even the smallest bit about the Israeli religious map knows that such an assertion is ridiculous and does not at all reflect reality. But what can one expect from a person driven by malice who hasn’t been to Israel in over a decade? One can expect ignorance and venom and Silverstein delivers in spades!
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Actually little Dickie is a Neo-Nazi. For details go to www dot kapodickie dot blogspot dot com
Silverstein is over. His site is now populated by a few hardcore malcontents – to such an extent that he’s had to allow pro-Israel commenters. Everyone reasonable has moved on to +972 and Beinart’s new blog. No sense kicking the douchebag when he’s down.
Sorry, most reasonable people have left 972 and they will eventually also leave Beinart’s new blog. The reason is simple: by design or by accident they are siding with those who wish to see Israel destroyed.
“No sense kicking the douchebag when he’s down.”
On the contrary. If you were familiar with the St. Trinian’s books, you would know that the BEST time to kick him is when he’s down;-)
Funny. I think Lisa Goldman is one of the worst there. She is dishonest, childish, apologetic (regarding the Arabs) and inconsequential. Her summer trip to Lebanon shows that she is more interested in making a name for herself than anything else. If she was caught, imagine how many soldiers’ lives it would have cost – or how many “militants” (as 972 puts it) would be freed because of her.
Prof. Richard Landes – in a very classy way – demoralized her in a very brief and eloquent text.
http://www.theaugeanstables.com/2011/10/17/railing-against-reality-lisa-goldman-tries-to-defend-journalists-who-use-pallywood/#more-3478
That’s the difference between a militant (not a Hamas “militant”) like Lisa and an intelectual as Landes.
Of all the hilarious twists and turns this story has taken, I still think the most amusing is Richard Silverstein’s never having heard of Bet Shemesh (evidence of which appears in the email screen capture from Aussie Dave’s blog post: http://www.israellycool.com/2011/12/29/richard-silverstein-exposed/)
Imagine a supposed Washington insider saying he’s never heard of Bethesda or Arlington.
MSM outlets who rely on this guy should be ashamed of themselves.
Silverstein’s greatest fan:
http://kapodickie dot blogspot dot com/2012/01/dickie-silversteins-leading-groupie-is.html
There’s nothing really secret if they do minimal footwork. Even middle’s identity and mufti’s are out there somewhere…..
I could swear that Aussie Dave appeared at a conference of right-of-center bloggers held in Israel. I remember seeing a brief video of it, but, alas, I cannot locate it now. But clearly Aussie Dave’s identity wasn’t a total secret.
Learn the WHOLE TRUTH ABOUT LITTLE DICKIE SILVERSTEIN HERE:
WWW DOT KAPODICKIE DOT BLOGSPOT DOT COM
Fine, but why on earth should they get any publicity?
“Know thine enemy”. Every strategist will tell you this. In order to know what the enemy is thinking and planning, one needs to read what the enemy is saying and writing. That is the reason my sister reads “Ha’aretz” .That is the only reason to read 972 and that is the only reason for wallowing in Despicable Dicky’s cesspool (a.k.a.. “Tikun Olam”). How else can one present intelligent counter-arguments?
I don’t consider anyone on 972 my enemy. I often disagree with them but I don’t hate them or anything. Richard Silverstein however, well, let’s just say that he has taken himself out of Klal Yisrael. There really is no reason to visit Silverstein’s site as he is so consumed with hatred that it clouds both his judgment and analysis and makes anything he writes pretty much worthless.
“I don’t consider anyone on 972 my enemy”
How about Yossi Gurvitz? He reminds me of Gilad Atzmon. I am sure you don’t approve of what Gilad writes, right?
And Noam Sheizaf? They like him over at Mondoweiss. That should make him suspicious, no :)?
I agree that some writers are really good on +972 but I find Mya Guarneri to be a mendacious propagandist. I don’t understand what happened to Lisa Goldman but I don’t think she is a liar. So it is a mixed bag, but I do visit the blog on a daily basis to get a balanced picture of the situation. A bit of Haaretz, a bit of Jewlicious, a dose of Mondo, a helping of the Jerualem Post, Silversein once in while, even the Electronic Intifada! Et voila, I am an instant expert 🙂
Let’s face it, for those of us who don’t live in Israel, it is hard to get a balanced picture untainted by ideological bias and propaganda. Who to believe? You guys need to write more often! I trust you!
If we, as Israelis, want Jews throughout the world to feel that they have a stake in this country, we have to be prepared to support diaspora Jews’ right to comment on the country. (speaking as a 28 year resident of Israel and mother of several kids who served/are serving in the IDF).
In the end, we israelis vote, not non-residents. But Israel is the homeland of all Jews and the commentators here have every right to express an opinion about their country.
Even Richard Silverstein, even though, yes, he is a DOLT. (never thought that ANYONE could give a bad name to Tikkun Olam)
Silverstein has every right to express his opinions, regardless of the fact that they are fueled by malice and often wrong. I’m just suggesting that if one is interested in a different perspective on the Israel/Palestine conflict, little of any value will be found on his site.
Just coming back to once again point out that CK and Jewlicious did an excellent job of honestly and correctly pointing out that Richard Silverstein is biased trash.
So, CONGRATS and THANK YOU for this blog entry.
As for what CK said above, I agree that people should consider all angles of things, and LEGIT criticism certainly needs to be listened to.
The only point I’ll leave this at is, when it comes to 972 magazine, several of their writers DO want Israel to cease to exist as a Jewish state, and every article they write comes from that base point of reference. People who care about Israel should never recommend such people as worthy of reading.
Anyway, sorry for all the criticism on this page that I could have stated in a sentence or two instead of drawn-out paragraphs.
P.S. Richard Silverstein is a DOLT! Exactly as this blog entry says.
DISHONEST ISRAEL-HATING FREAKS:
Richard Silverstein
MJ Rosenberg
Max Blumenthal
Phil Weiss / Mondoweiss
Carlos Latuff the insane cartoonist
Code Pink, run by some crazed anti-Israel hate activist who occasionally also pretends she cares about gay rights (sane gay-rights activists PRAISE Israel, but Code Pink are lunatics)
And more that I can’t think of.
All of the above don’t merely “criticize” Israel. They twist everything, usually in irrational fashion, until it fits into their “hate Israel” goal.
Gideon Levy and Amira Hass are like this as well, though they do it as “professionals” as opposed to “insane activists.”
Anyway, have a good one
You see, Brad, you and I are pretty much in agreement about the parties you mention above. You may wish to conduct a search on our site for Amira Hass, for example, or Richard Silverstein, or Walt & Mearsheimer, or Juan Cole, or Tom Friedman, or Naomi Klein, or UC Irvine, or Queers Against Israeli Apartheid or others along those lines. We spend a great deal of time on this site writing about those folks precisely because of their rabid anti-Israel positions. This is exactly why, when you came in here and proclaimed that you want nothing to do with Jewlicious because ck suggested reading 972 over Silverstein if one is going to read leftist anti-Israel bashing, you were way off the mark. If you look around this site, you will find quite a few posts that converge with your positions. There will be some that don’t, however. There always will be some with which you’ll disagree. My guess is that you’ll learn something from both types of posts and the discussions they tend to engender.
That’s wild. I went back to the Jewlicious.com front page and there’s tons of Happy Hanukkah greetings.
“Hey all, when you finish celebrating Hanukkah, be sure to go check out 972 magazine and read people who want a “one-state solution” so Israel can be erased from existence as a Jewish homeland!” Eat your matzah, and then let’s discuss committing national suicide, YAY!”
No thanks
Brad, that’s not quite what I said, is it. I said ” If you want to visit a web site with a more critical perspective on Israel, please don’t waste your time at Richard Silverstein’s pathetic blog. Might I suggest you visit the 972Mag instead.” I also said that if others had a better suggestion, I’d entertain it. So for instance, Ben David suggested simply reading Ha’aretz instead. TM noted that the opinions expressed by the writers of 972Mag were, based on electoral results, those of a very small segment of the Israeli population. He also noted the outsize influence of 972Mag due to the fact that they publish in English and that they resonate with a large number of people outside of Israel who are perhaps a little too critical of Israel. I do a lot of work with students and young adults and its important for me to note the arguments and assertions made by this sector. Weiss, Blumenthal, MJ Rosenberg and Silverstein are beyond the pale, whereas folks like Beinart and 972 are still viewed as reasonable because they are less prone to the sorts of histrionics exhibited by Silverstein. Furthermore they sometimes make assertions that need to be addressed. Beinart spoke at the GA. 972Mag’s assertions that some of the recent legislation coming out of the Knesset was dangerously anti-Democratic was reflected in an opinion piece by none other than Abe Foxman at the ADL, among others. Of course I am opposed to an Israel that isn’t Jewish. Of course a one state solution is not going to work – but we’re not going to be able to make a that into a compelling case if we never stray beyond the echo chamber.
CK,
Thanks and all the best to you, but no, just like in real life I wouldn’t hang out with people who think destroying Israel is an accepable idea to discuss, I won’t read a site that entertains it as a reasonable idea either
I don’t think it’s “progressive” to entertain discussion with people who want to remove Israel from existence.
I’m also not impressed with people who “proudly” discuss their own destruction with people, as if that’s somehow noble. “OH, you want my country exterminated or undone? Fantastic, let’s chat about it!”
No thanks
Take care, though, and again, at least you did a good job successfully bashing the disgusting scumbag Richard Silverstein
TheMiddle,
Uh, calm down. I’m not an ‘extreme right winger’ or a right-winger at all. I’m a liberal, and just as I don’t engage insane neo-nazis, I also don’t respect or engage extreme-left maniacs who want Israel to cease to even exist as a Jewish homeland, which is exactly what Mondoweiss and a bunch of looney 972 mag writers want
Brad, spare me the song and dance. I live here, although ck has moved to Israel, and I’m familiar with your ilk. You actually think that people should be shunned because they aren’t pro-Israeli enough. I see it all the the time around me. Grown men who have taken their politics so far to the right that when they see anybody who isn’t right-enough in their views, they start attacking them as if they’re Yasser Arafat’s right hand man. Typically, they’re American men, middle aged to elderly, and have no skin in the game. That is, they don’t live in Israel, they don’t have kids who have to fight in war, they might not even have family living in Israel. But they sure know what’s best for the people who do live there and who do fight or have to send their kids to fight.
In this case, on this site, you’re attacking a person that has made aliyah, unlike you, and has to live with people throughout the political spectrum and especially with the outcome of decisions that are made by governments. Unlike you, he has spent well over a decade defending Israel against its many attackers online and aside from that has established a website and an organization that brings Jewish life and Zionism to life in an extremely positive way.
In other words, seriously, don’t let that door hit you too hard as you leave. And do try to grow up.
Well, well over a decade. But I sense you’re still pissed at me TM 😉
Bye Brad, don’t let the door knock your ass on the way out.
You see, some of us can’t stand self-righteous extreme right-wingers any more than the extreme left-wingers. We tend to like reasonable people who are able to see different sides of the story.
I’m actually almost a little sad, because I’m looking at the front page right now and Jewlicious looks like a very nice website
But I hesitate happily discussing Jewish issues on a place where people who want to end Israel’s existence are welcomed and their oh-so-important “free speech” on trying to harm Israeli Jews and trying to damage or destroy Israel is considered an acceptable thing to entertain discussion of, as if it’s a valid viewpoint
Anyway, all the best, CK, take care, and I did LOVE this bashing of the evil scumbag Richard Silverstein
Sorry you feel that way Brad. But we don’t physically have the time to moderate comments. If someone comes here and expresses an opinion you disagree with or if one of our writers writes a post you disagree with then you are free to comment as you wish without fear of being banned or moderated or whatever. I myself am an Israeli Jew you know, I’m writing you from Jerusalem right now. I’m a proud Zionist and I don’t fear free speech or ideas, even those that I disagree with or find abhorrent. The decision to visit us is yours to make however, and should you ever change your mind, we’ll be here for ya!
CK said: ” The tone and editorial stance of 972Mag is reflective of a significant segment of the Israeli population. Namely those somewhat to the left of Ha’aretz and beyond.”
MY Reponse: Wow, this is disappointing. CK lives in some sort of far-left fantasy world. I was about to become a regular on Jewlicious but if this guy thinks that the likes of Gideon Levy, Amira Hass and Bradley Burston’s exxtreme-left ranting on Haaretz is actually TOO FAR RIGHT and not left enough, I want nothing to do with this place.
And, CK is wrong. Haaretz is very unpopular in Israel and has an extremely low circulation in Hebrew.
As for 927 mag writers, most of them DO NOT WANT ISRAEL TO EXIST as a Jewish state and want a “one-state solution” that removes Israel from existence. If CK thinks a massive amount of Jewish Israelis want that, he’s nuts.
Damn, this is disappointing. I thought I found a new blog to rss-subscribe to.
Well,at least he quite correctly bashed the disgusting Richard Silverstein
OK. So I’m getting flack for recommending 972Mag over Silverstein’s shitty blog. Allow me to explain. I don’t know where the rest of you live but I live in Israel. The tone and editorial stance of 972Mag is reflective of a significant segment of the Israeli population. Namely those somewhat to the left of Ha’aretz and beyond. That 972Mag is written by educated, articulate English writers makes it that much more relevant as their message is projected and read internationally. Reading 972Mag is enlightening in that regard, certainly a lot more than reading Silverstein’s Tikun Olam garbage. Silverstein lives in Seattle, hasn’t been to Israel in over a decade and doesn’t even know the most basic things about life here. His fact checking is non-existent as is his credibility. I cannot in all honesty say the same thing about the vast majority of writers for 972Mag. Yes, they may be a bit over zealous with their comment bans but nothing compared to Silverstein.
Furthermore, I am willing to go on record stating that I too am appalled by some of the passed and proposed legislation in the Knesset, most of which originated with Israel Beiteinu.
My Israel isn’t a scared little wuss. My Israel can handle open discussion regarding BDS. My Israel can handle foreign funded NGOs that are critical of Israel working in Israel. These and other laws are anti-democratic and I find them abhorrent. I pray they don’t pass judicial review and I will fight against any party that supports these embarrassments. I understand why Israel Beiteinu proposed these sick pieces of legislation – they grew up in the Soviet Union. They don’t have an intrinsic understanding of the meaning of freedom and democracy. But Israel isn’t the Soviet Union. My Israel isn’t a little wuss.
There. Hope that clarifies things. t least a little!
Untrue. Unless you mean it’s significant because it wields outsize influence. It’s a small segment of the overall population and all you need to do is look at election results to assess this. I would venture that all Jewish Israeli 972 writers are at the Meretz or left of Meretz constituency. You might be lucky to find 5 or 6 mandates (out of 120) from Jewish Israelis in today’s voting map that are Meretz and left of it.
Yes. Outsize influence is what I meant. I thought that was pretty clear.
re: hi: “What’s with these crazy people who care about free speech more than they care about the LIVES and SAFETY of Jewish people?”
Yeah exactly.
The unseen irony in this article is that the religious right wing are the worst offenders at breaching fellow (rightwing!) Jews’ privacy but no one is calling them out on it. Head of a program at a major international Israeli org? No prob. You can publicly throw around confidential names of Jewish families and Jews who address it will be publicly vilified by right wing Jews. Employee at a similar org? No worries, publicly breach the privacy of Jewish families at your leisure with no criticism from the mishpuchah. Tweet pro-Israel stuff? Great! No one will condemn you for regularly breaching the privacy and safety of Jews! Israeli activist? Awesome, you too can spread the private details of Jewish families and anyone who addresses you on that will have their Jewish identity and even their sanity publicly questioned.
This article is a slap in the face for many Jews. Maybe we’re not kissing the right ass? What does it take for Jews to have a uniform ethical stand on the right to safety for Jewish families? Right now the stand taken is that only the safety of families of popular Jews in the right cliques matter.
Because of this fraudulence within Jewish circles I’m thinking less and less of right wing Jews everyday. Far from feeling anger at Silverstein I’m feeling anger at Jewlicious and friends for not giving a damn when the privacy of other Jewish families is publicly breached.
Pardon?
I read fraudulence as flatulence. Lol. Same diff.
Aharon, I’m pretty certain that I have never breached anyone’s confidentiality, let alone Richard Silverstein’s. Keep in mind, he named his blog after himself, he has links to photos of his family, he has posted his personal information, including his address and phone number online. These are not the actions of some guy who wishes to scrupulously guard his privacy. Aussie Dave on the other hand sought to remain anonymous and never posted pics of himself or his family in his blog. Silverstein, stung by Aussie Dave’s revelation of his shoddy (non-existent) research of his sources and the “information” they provide, lashed out like a drunken sailor. So, allow me to reiterate, we do indeed give a damn about people’s desire for privacy, regardless of their political leanings or ideologies. We would never wish ill upon anyone, let alone the innocent family members of some of the more outspoken elements of the blogosphere. You need to kind of re-assess your condemnation – from my end it seems a bit unreasonable. But that’s your call. Godspeed to you!
Allow me to clarify.
I view Silverstein as a crusty blight of festering smegma regrettably foist upon our community by dint of his Judaism. I am neither a fan of him, his politics or his work.
I was not referring specifically to you, rather to the overarching situation of a Jew attempting to score popularity points by breaching the privacy of another Jew and thus endangering a Jewish family.
I do not disbelieve you when you assure me that you have never breached anyone’s confidentiality. However a quick scroll through your public timeline on Twitter shows that you are friends with people who have and continue to breach the privacy of Jews. That you remain unaware of it in spite of this activity happening in the public sphere does make me wonder if you, and many of us, are unaware by intention or accident.
Are Jews (on either end of the political spectrum) closing our eyes to situations we do not want to deal with? That would be the best case scenario. The worst would be that we see and we ignore, because the Jewish families in question are not our direct friends, or perhaps are unknown to us, or even that we do not agree with their politics.
For the facts remain that in spite of the right wing blogosphere’s joy in pointing the finger at Silverstein, many on the right are doing exactly what Silverstein have done yet the lack of op-eds about them is jarring.
I was prompted to reply when I saw Yoni’s comment. I am a relative nobody in the online world but I do watch and take note of the mishegas in the rightwing online Israel sphere that is plain for all to see. Were I not already blessed to live in Israel and I were I to judge Israel by the actions of the right wing online Israeli players, I doubt I would want to live here, amongst people who seemingly ignore Jewish families being endangered, either.
I can not condone or ignore, for instance, a very prominent religious right wing Israeli activist overtly and regularly breaching the privacy of a (right wing) Jewish family. Yet I lack the ability to deal with it as it should be dealt with. Those like yourself and Aussie Dave (amongst others) who have the ability to amplify voices of condemnation against these despicable acts, are silent. (I won’t touch upon why, whether the silence is accidental ignorance or intent. That would be an op-ed within itself.) That is but one example.
Your piece here has good intentions, I acknowledge that. But hearing the deafening silence when similar acts are committed on a daily basis in the public domain by right wing Jews, I can be nothing but outraged by the, perhaps unintentional, hypocrisy.
Yoni, I hope my words can give you and your family some reassurance. Those Jews in the public eye who ignore, or even go so far as to incite, the endangerment of Jewish families surely do not represent the whole of the Israeli community. I am powerless to help the situation but I can tell you that I see it and am angered by it too.
Aharon, I have no specific idea of what you are talking about but by all means feel free to use our contact us form to send me information regarding any such behavior that endangers Jewish families. I will not hesitate to condemn it. It’s the least I can do for the man that described Silverstein as “a crusty blight of festering smegma regrettably foist upon our community by dint of his Judaism.” My God man, you’re a poet! Lets hear it for not endangering Jewish families!
I think we need to invite Aharon to write for us.
One last comment from me: GOOD JOB with the Richard Silverstein article. Every peace/Israel blog around should review that this scumbag is not to be trusted and certainly not a peace activist. He’s just an anti-Israel hate activist and a dirtbag
972 Mag still publishes the disgusting MYA GUARNIERI, who supports the “one-state solution.” She’s a rabid anti-Israel nut who sits in Israel promoting the idea that Israel has no right to exist as a Jewish state.
She used to this very thing on her blog, until it was referred to a bunch of times, and then she removed it.
She’s a nut. Don’t promote these 972 people, ever
Hell, promoting Haaretz is crazy too. Gideon Levy and Amira Hass are nutcases. Bradley Burston is getting there. Some of their other writers are OK, but that’s as far left as any sane Jewish person who doesn’t want Israel to be blown up or “undone” from existence should ever go
Why, why the hell are you recommending the rabidly anti-Israel 972 Magazine?
Man, that the guy who runs jewlicious is plugging 927 makes me think a LOT less of jewlicious
I don’t get it. Richard Silverstein is rabid Israel-hating scum, but 972 is almost as bad.
I agree with Middle (gasp!) – Ha’aretz is really all you need to get a take on that end of the spectrum – and they make a pretty decent effort at nailing the facts in their news reportage… with the exception of a few writers, the slant is mostly in story selection and opinion pieces.
Hey ck, Joseph wants you to censor somebody.
Nice to see that anti-Homosexual references are freely used and exchanged on your blog David. Sad that these references are allowed to stand and even responded to. I would have banned lunatics spreading lies and anti-homosexual references like Walt Kovacs long ago. I guess he has found a home commenting on Jewlicious.
Come on Joseph. This isn’t Silverstein’s blog. The only thing we moderate is spam. It’s pretty clear that I chastised kovacs for his use of offensive language, but in case it wasn’t clear enough, using the term “butt buddy” is offensive. But we leave pretty much all comments up as is. If someone wants to use offensive language that’s a reflection on them not us. We allow nazi and anti-semitic posts to remain as is. In fact, unlike, 972, anyone can comment in support of BDS and I will leave it up. I would look forward to any lawsuit in Israel against me in that respect. That’s how enamored of free speech I am. We only systematically ban spammers.
Um, ck, why are you on the defensive? Dana just insulted you and your site. And you know him personally!
Ask Joseph whether the issue is “butt buddy” or something else. If Kovacs had written, for example, “fuck-buddy” when describing Dana and Blumenthal, would Dana be asking you to censor him since fuck-buddy is not considered a negative comment? My guess is yes. I don’t think the issue is that Kovacs made a comment that some would find insulting, it’s that he attacked Dana.
Uh, why would you leave up pro-BDS stuff?
What’s with these crazy people who care about free speech more than they care about the LIVES and SAFETY of Jewish people?
Fight against BDS. Leave valid discussions up, not hateful garbage
Oy TM. I was just explaining that I am all about free speech is all. I categorically refuse to accept responsibility for comments left on this site. We’re all stretched pretty thin as it is and having to police comments is something we simply cannot do. In fact if we moderate any comment at all then that would make Jewlicious liable for any comment deemed by a court of law to be libelous. Besides that, I believe in free speech and a free marketplace of ideas. Using the comment by Kovacs for example, any reasonable person reading it would be put off by his use of the homophobic term “butt-buddy” – using that term does a disservice to whatever point he was trying to make. I don’t need to moderate his comment, it is prima facie offensive.
Hey Joseph Dana, shouldn’t you be worshiping your Arafat posters or something?
First of all, why do I need to see “progressive” views? Don’t we know them well at this point? What’s new, exactly? And if you really want to know so-called progressives, just read Ha’aretz. Aside from the fact that some 972ers are published at Ha’aretz anyway, that paper and site gives you the real scoop.
Second, do you see any of their writers visiting us? I’m sure they do at times, but do you see any participation or a blanket silence? The last time one of their came over to visit was Noam Sheizaf in our West Bank debate. So why show them any respect? They don’t respect us, as should be clear to you.
Third, we agree about Silverstein, but how are the folks at 972 different exactly? The one difference they bring to the table is that they actually live in Israel and therefore know it far better than he does. However, their views are on par with his, with JVP’s, with Weiss and his wackos. What are those folks adding to the debate that’s new?
Fourth, about the censorship, it most certainly still exists and people are banned all the time. Sometimes they are banned without warning or any public announcement. Many of the strongest debaters who visited their site are long gone, which is great if you want to publish all the propaganda that’s fit to print, as they do, but it’s bad for, um, the truth.
I’m a little pissed off at you, ck. What are you doing providing a recommendation or even any publicity to 972? How are they better than Silverstein? Like him, they also post a great deal of anti-Israel propaganda, and without a doubt their extensive “reporting” has often taken the extreme Israeli left to new lows. When challenged, they simply censor. They will claim that they are censoring because of whatever rules they’ve invented, but, pathetically, they actually censor with great frequency and almost always the censorship applies to those people who debate their claims.
Really, they do not merit any recommendation, even as an alternative to Silverstein. Just like Silverstein and Jewish Voices for Peace, 972 is simply another leftist, anti-Israel propaganda mill that ensures only a particular type of perspective on Israel will be heard.
What is funny about them, however, is that even as they engage in all-out propaganda and always manage to find the most negative reading of any situation that involves Israel, the Israeli government, the Israeli population and Israel’s defenders, they often use the term “hasbara” to detract others who have a different point of view.
Really. Please remove my name from this post.
Done.
Now, if one wanted to get a sense of where “progressives” were at, where would you suggest one go? I’m all ears. I’ll even modify the post – especially since that 972 bit was extremely peripheral to the post’s main thrust – namely that Richard Silverstein is a member in excellent standing of the doucheoisie.
972 may have evolved since you were banned because I do seem to see many comments that criticize their perspective. I don’t know man, you tell me, I’m all ears.
Keep in mind, I’m not even disagreeing with you per se. The good folks at 972 seem to be almost always reflexively critical of Israel no matter what. But again, see my question…
actual journalists at 972? like maxxie’s butt buddy, who has the effrontery to use the tag ibnezra for his twitter account? a guy who never took a single journalism course in his entire life and lied to gain citizenship in israel?
Who would that be?
Joseph Dana no longer writes at 972mag. I have no idea regarding any of your other allegations. Also Dana is unequivocally heterosexual, not that it matters.
dont take the term butt buddy literally…just seems those two are joined at the hip
and dana’s degrees are in jewish history…no journalism background
the fact is, he did work for 972…and to me, that shows a lack of journalistic integrity
So one Jews family is more important than another Jews family….No frikkin wonder my girl doesn’t wanna make aliyah any more. If we haven’t met up then schmucks like D*ckcheese Silverstein can hassle us no worries…but if you’re Israeli then huddle up the wagons are circled.
You guys depress the sh*t outta me.
You were way too kind in describing Silverstein, He is an enemy of the Jewish people, a KAPO and a fraud.