Comments on: Israeli liberal democracy trashed as fake as Guardian campaign descends into farce

By: PetraMB

PetraMB — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 01:26:28 +0000

Ah, but the best is: now Carlo Strenger, a flamboyant Tel Aviv prof for psychology and definitely a Tel Aviv celeb, has written a Cif-piece taking down Gal/TrueLeft a notch — but also, in the comments, inviting him for coffee!!! Well, good old Gal must be wondering to himself if these are the dreadful consequences he feared for airing his views!!!

By: Michael London

Michael London — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 18:19:16 +0000

To be honest, the Guardian is partially correct. If you look at the past 15 years of public discourse in Israel, you’ll find that free speech is only tolerated if the speech is left-leaning. All of the major issues regarding free speech have been when the speech in question is of a right wing nature. While there are some truly bizarre laws on the books limiting free speech in Israel such as defaming public officers or defaming religion, the selective application of those laws have been targeted at right wing opinions.

By: peterthehungarian

peterthehungarian — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 11:34:03 +0000

Robin Shepherd says: They were probably in an editorial meeting working out how to get Noam Chomsky to write for them. 42 minutes is extraordinary. May I recommend others to try putting up a link to my blog and report back on how quickly it gets deleted.

My post survived 42 minutes. Comment is Free!

By: Jubilation1

Jubilation1 — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 11:26:42 +0000

Gal went a great deal too far in his implications that Israel is a censoring society and the reaction from the AntiIsrael brigade was the proof of the thesis. He is young and as he will grow out of that we can hope that he grows out of his infatuation with parties that neglect his own best interests.

Israel is a great deal freer than the Guardian unsurprisingly. I find myself hypocritically censoring my entries or attempting to stay beneath the wire so that I can go on giving honest information in return for propaganda - by which I don’t mean Gal.

By: MITNAGED

MITNAGED — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 11:12:03 +0000

Good article.

I don’t think that they had to drag this unreconstructed and immature idiot out from under a stone [my sense of al-Grauniad is that probably as a result of canvassing, there is a queue of them which probably stretches around the block, all waiting to put the boot in, all secure in the knowledge that no matter how outlandish their claims, or full of lies, or lacking in background research or context (hello, Seth Freedman!)] no-one will be allowed to argue with them on Comment is (not at all) Free.

Given that the Editor in Chief of Comment is (not) Free is divorced from reality enough to believe that she is performing a useful service, none of the above should be surprising.

Gal Wettstein’s attempt actually cheered me up. It proved that Comment is (not) Free is really scraping the bottom of the barrel.

Long may that continue.

And Clap Hammer, you have hit the nail on the head. As with any obsession, the more divorced from reality the claims, the more they are believed.

By: Jerold Stone

Jerold Stone — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 11:03:11 +0000

What do you expect from a Hadash voter,BTW another notorious Israeli who writes for them,is also Hadash voter.

It takes a certain type of person that is capable of turning on his own people.

By: Dora

Dora — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 10:59:29 +0000

The Guardian and Comment is Free revel in publishing pieces by Jews that are willing to demonize the Jewish state, especially homegrown ones from their own Comment is Free site that get elevated from BTL (below the line) status.

By: peterthehungarian

peterthehungarian — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 10:47:59 +0000

Robin Shepherd says in response to this comment: Another contact told me he had put up a link to my piece on the CIF website. It was deleted by the moderators in about 45 seconds. I suspect the same thing happened to yours!

A great debunking of the Guardian’s obsession with delegimitizing Israel.I posted a link to this article on CIF. Let’s see its life span before its deletion by those champions of free speech.

By: Anne Klausner

Anne Klausner — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 10:47:56 +0000

Well said Mr. Shepherd. To be honest, I only read the Guardian for its entertainment value. I make little bets with myself every day as to how many anti-Israel articles will feature that day, and will they be written by far left Israelis or by their own editorial team. I am rarely disappointed (if that is the right word).

I once registered a complaint with Honest Reporting about the Comment is Free page, and they answered that CiF is so extreme that they have given up even mentioning it. They treat it as a lost cause.

Perhaps we shouldn’t be paying them so much attention and they will fade away.

By: Clap Hammer

Clap Hammer — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 09:20:45 +0000

Great rebuttal Robin.

Thank you for your efforts.

I too describe the Guardian as obsessively anti Israel. They are conducting a crusade against Israel - the only true democracy in the whole Middle East.

It provides a platform for rank anti Semites to post their hate of Jews and the Jewish state under the camouflage of anti Zionism.