Posted: Apr 09, 2007 17:19 Post subject: A Progressive Passover
This past week was Passover, Pesach in Hebrew. It was an interesting week throughout the world. An even more interesting time was had on progressive, liberal boards. This past week the Democratic Underground (DU) and the Daily KOS both were treated to heaping portions of bitter herbs, bitter for Jews.
The Daily KOS was hit with an anti-Semitic diatribe and two ‘darling’ pieces of artwork, one anti-Israeli, one just anti-Semitic. Of course, the diatribe was “cleaned up” quickly, but the artwork stayed. It was picked-up by right wing blogs as examples of anti-Semitism on the left. As if that weren’t bad enough, it was picked up by a “progressive” website as an example of how the “Jews attack legitimate criticism of Israel.” But, the rants of the Progressive Independent (PIgsty) are not unusual because they often mimic a Nazi website when it comes to issues about Israel and Jews. A trip to the StormFront or National Vanguard would easily demonstrate that fact.
What about DU? How did it fare over the Jewish holiday? Well, there were a few posts, here and there, which were questionable, as always. But this week, like Passover, somehow seemed different.
In a thread about British schools dropping (or possibly dropping) the teaching of the Holocaust from its lesson plans, we were treated to rman’s saying that the Holocaust was “Not entirely without cause though” because Jews were the money lenders, which he later called “loan sharks.” Not long after this, he was banned and immediately posted to the PIgsty the reason he was banned was “Probably because of some things i said, relating to a certain small country on the coast in the Near East.” Interesting. Considering he was peddling anti-Semitic tripe, never mentioned any “small country on the coast in the Near East”, and was in a thread about the Holocaust, but it must have been because he was “bad-mouthing” Israel.
Then came the real “stinkbomb!” A certain Dutch video was posted by “reprehensor,” then three more times by “helderheid”, with all but the last thread being “disappeared.” The fourth time garnered an admonishment from a DU moderator which read:
Quote:
Usually when something gets deleted 3 times as posted under Other thread titles, it's pretty obvious that the thread is not just removing itself.
This thread will be Removed also. We just wanted to make sure that it doesn't reappear again for another viewing...
The video, while having some legitimate criticism of AIPAC and its influence in US government, crossed the line into anti-Semitism on more than one occasion. Not being satisfied with three deletions and one locked thread, helderheid went on to post a thread with the background from the site where the video originated. That thread was “disappeared.” Not content, or not getting the message that anti-Semitism is not welcomed at DU, she went on to post a thread lamenting, “Question - are there any governments that can do no wrong and are off limits for discussion?” Predictably, that post was also locked, this time by Skinner, himself, who had this to say:
Quote:
You are welcome to criticize any government you please. But if your criticism relies on highly inflammatory stereotypes about secret control of our government or our media, or highly inflammatory stereotypes of divided loyalty or disloyalty to the United States then at a very minimum you're going to get your threads deleted.
Unable to abide by those rules, helderheid goes on to post a farewell post, all the while under the delusion that Israel and AIPAC are not allowed to be discussed on DU. Many people beg for her not to leave; of course, many don’t realize she not only posted anti-Semitic crap, but violated the terms of DU by reposting a “disappeared” topic three times, challenging the moderators decisions, then lying about the rules of DU. The “drama queen” post “Poof!” did garner some interesting responses. It was easy to see from a few posts that some DU’ers do not understand what anti-Semitism is because they couldn’t comprehend the simple fact that calling AIPAC the “Jewish Lobby” is equating it to speaking for the American Jewish community and since AIPAC is often accused of running the US government, calling it the Jewish lobby is akin to saying the Jews run the US government, which is an ancient anti-Semitic conspiracy theory. It also demonstrated some posters ignorance about AIPAC. It is not a lobby of Israelis, as one poster thinks. However, the most telling sign were those that commented about the anti-Semitic nature of the video but didn’t watch the video and those who did watch it but couldn’t understand why it was anti-Semitic, despite examples. Of course, one poster who didn’t find it anti-Semitic and did watch it was the one who had posted it once before.
So, one would think the “drama” over the “helderheid incident” was over. No! Another poster took it upon himself to rehash the drama with “ “We have seen the effects that hatred has had on DU this week, it is time we have a discussion”; again, making it look like the reason for helderheid’s leaving was about Israel and the inability to discuss it at DU. This thread produced all sorts of responses ranging from sacred cows to paid operatives. A thread intended to discuss a serious issue devolved into conspiracies and further division.
Sunday arrived and posts about Lieberman started to appear. It was in regards to his debate with Arlen Specter about Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s recent trip to the Middle East. As expected, Lieberman was overly critical and inarticulate. His points just furthered his position as a “war-hawk” for the administration. Like the rising of the sun, accusations of Lieberman being more loyal to Israel began. This appeared in a few different threads. I am sure some were surprised to find their posts deleted. One person was even so brazen as to start a thread ( American politicians who put Israel's interests ahead of the US should be systematically removed to that effect only to be shut down by Skinner (kudos!) within minutes of posting. The worst thread ( Guess Which One Was Defending Pelosi’s Trip?: Hint: It wasn’t Lieberman), however, was not locked and accusations of dual loyalty were allowed to stand. In that thread, one poster said:
Quote:
Lieberman is concerned about the future of his country.
Specter is concerned about the future of our country. Two different countries, two different concerns. Don't ask me why Lieberman continues to live in the USA. More money to be made here, I guess.
Not only does this person make accusations of “dual loyalty,” but asserts the reason Lieberman doesn’t go to Israel is because of the money. This poster hits two anti-Semitic memes: Jews are more loyal to Israel and “greedy Jews”, it’s all about the money. When the poster is confronted on the anti-Semitic nature of her posts, she clarifies:
Quote:
I think you misunderstood my comment, or perhaps I worded it wrong
if it sounded racist. Let me try again: I firmly believe that Joe Lieberman's priority is the country of Israel over the country of the United States of America. He may have been born here, but Israel is the country of his heritage, and apparently he has made a choice as to which country he chooses to defend. Our being in Iraq may be of benefit to Israel, but it is a devastating situation for America.
She removes all doubt that her original post was anti-Semitic! Because Lieberman is a Jew, he is obviously more loyal to Israel. She doesn’t even see this as odd, even though she is Latvian. To make the thread even more troubling, others come to her defense. Their defenses amount to nothing more than repeating assertions and lack any substantial proof that Lieberman is more loyal to Israel than the US. They fail to see that Lieberman, nor his parents, nor his grandparents are Israeli, nor does he retain citizenship with Israel. The only thing they can point to as proof of his being more loyal to Israel than the US is his being Jewish and his support for the Iraq War.
The final blow was a post about fascism using posters from various places ( A FEW NOTES ON AMERICAN FASCISM WITH PICTURES- *BONUS QUOTE INCLUDED). While containing very interesting points/pictures, one was anti-American Nazi propaganda. From the thread, it became obvious the poster was Nazi propaganda, but the original poster felt that it would be a legitimate poster to be used in today’s anti-war marches; never mind the fact it contained racist and anti-Semitic overtones. It was locked.
It was an interesting Passover on the progressive sites. It seems anti-Semitism is alive and well and can go undetected because of people’s lack of knowledge. DU is making an honest attempt to rid itself of anti-Semitism, and on a lesser level, anti-Israeli bigotry. However, it is very apparent more work needs to be done. For those posters who do not feel comfortable with DU’s rules about not allowing bigotry against Jews, there is a site where one can claim to be progressive and still “get your hate on for Jews,” it is called the PIgsty, where Nazis can feel right at home!
Let me add on a personal note:
Anyone surprised or schocked? I've said before on many an occassion, when I was a mod, fellow mods (all nice people) believed anti-Semitism began and ended with pushing a Jew into an oven. While they are trying, the lesson refuses to sink in and when it does the shelf life is but a few short days. But the theme of Passover is alive at DU. They "LET MY PEOPLE GO" with alarming frequency. Mr. Welch said this in another context but it's just as relevant today.
"Skinner have you no shame?"
on edit: This is a compilation from the founders of PSU. _________________ We Stand as One
Posted: May 19, 2007 12:34 Post subject: Re: A Progressive Passover
GabysPoppy wrote:
Unable to abide by those rules, helderheid goes on to post a farewell post, all the while under the delusion that Israel and AIPAC are not allowed to be discussed on DU. Many people beg for her not to leave; of course, many don’t realize she not only posted anti-Semitic crap, but violated the terms of DU by reposting a “disappeared” topic three times, challenging the moderators decisions, then lying about the rules of DU. The “drama queen” post “Poof!” did garner some interesting responses.
Posted: May 19, 2007 15:07 Post subject: Re: A Progressive Passover
Behind the Aegis wrote:
GabysPoppy wrote:
Unable to abide by those rules, helderheid goes on to post a farewell post, all the while under the delusion that Israel and AIPAC are not allowed to be discussed on DU. Many people beg for her not to leave; of course, many don’t realize she not only posted anti-Semitic crap, but violated the terms of DU by reposting a “disappeared” topic three times, challenging the moderators decisions, then lying about the rules of DU. The “drama queen” post “Poof!” did garner some interesting responses.
Ha Ha hah ah ah aha ha ha ha ROFL LOL ...what a jerk...lets have another dramatic goodbye shall we? _________________ ..........................................................................
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