Reader Post: The BS of the Anti-Israel Activists, Groupies And Plebs

atzmon abunimahFor a number of years I have been engaging in debates over the internet, and in the last few years, many of these debates have taken place on Facebook. I spend most of my time showing up fake images and misinformation but I also take note of the many discussions which take place.

Facebook is indeed a strange world! Logically it is understood that discussions are taking place on “just Facebook” but it is also true that opinions are forged by articles and information shared on this social network.

The Middle East has been a location for military battles for centuries and now by turning on computers and updating via smart phones, individuals from around the globe become fervently involved in an area most of these keyboard warriors have never even visited.

The war of words become particularly heated when history and politics surrounding Israel are discussed and people who have never met become fierce opponents. These adversaries fight bravely and tirelessly, that is until they put their phones on silent, or turn off the computers and retire into a cosy bed,  far away from those they have battled.

The pro-Israel and anti-Israel groups have some similarities but many differences. The pro-Israel group contains people from various political and cultural groups, but apart from a small group of Looney Toons, the majority are pro-peace and long to see  an end to wars between the Jews and Arabs/the Israelis and Palestinians. The anti-Israel side are rarely pro-peace and their main goal is in demonizing Israel and excusing Arab hatred and violence. They want to perpetuate the issues and not resolve them and the majority prescribe to the “River to the Sea” mantra and ignorantly conclude that Israel’s very existence is the problem.

The anti-Israel crowd are active in a variety of “discussion” groups and pages and it is possible to come to certain conclusions about their behaviour and tactics.

The three main groups are the AGP, the activists, groupies and plebs:

  1. The “activists” who are part of networks actively seeking to “enlighten” others.  This group consists of people who have connections with political parties, news agencies, BDS and other organisations around the world.
  2. The “groupies” who think they are part of the “inner sanctum” and spend hours passing on the information from their gurus.
  3. The “plebs” who simply repeat slogans, over and over again.

It is becoming increasingly easy to predict what kind of engagement and response one will receive from these groups. The plebs are the ones who post ridiculous conspiracy theories and repeat words like “Isra-hell” and become personal and abusive when provided with facts and historical information. They will often become very angry or nasty and accuse opponents of being “hasbara agents,” using a “hasbara manual” and sometimes even being paid and working for Mossad.

The plebs are giggle worthy and should never be taken seriously. They are usually uneducated and illiterate and often have personal and psychiatric issues.

What is interesting is that when pushed, the activists and groupies morph into plebs. Once questions cause them duress, they cease pretending to be peaceful intellects and start hurling personal attacks and accusations.

The following two “activists”  Moe Diab and  Siraj Davis, are examples of this curious phenomenon.

Moe Diab is “a Palestinian-American human rights activist, writer, and Middle East analyst” who writes for alternative press sources such as:  Ifyouonlynews.com and Addictinginfo.org.

In a Facebook group, Champions of Peace in the Middle East (one of the better groups where the Admins actually attempt dialogue and finding solutions), Mr Moe Diab likes to post his own articles and use the forum to demonize Israel.

On the 13th November 2014, Moe presented one of his articles in an attempt to show Israel in the worst possible light.

moe001

He then climbs high on his soapbox and claims that Israelis are taught intolerance from childhood, that the security barrier had nothing to do with security but about the discriminatory nature of Israel. He states that the fault of the conflict is squarely on Israel, as they “began the conflict by stealing land,” and the Palestinians have been victims who have an ongoing “Nakba” where Israel is killing and raping on a daily basis.

After his assertions were questioned Moe then provided memes containing truncated quotes from Ben Gurion, and could not provide the sources  for these quotes.  On these memes alone, he built his argument that the Jews had a master plan and then carried out this plan through stealing land.   He was then asked about the land that the Jews purchased in the 1880s.

After much side-tracking he eventually states the following:

moe002

So on one hand Moe assets that “a small proportion” was legally purchased, but “all of Palestine is illegally occupied!” It is simply incredible that someone supposedly educated like Moe doesn’t understand how racist his accusations are. If an Arab purchased land at this time, in his eyes this would be reasonable, but if a Jew purchased land it was “illegal” “expropriated” and “land-theft.” The land was under control during this period by the Ottomans who allowed Jews, Arabs and others to purchase stretches of land. The Jews purchased land legally and built farms and cities and Arabs did the same. Many of the vendors during this time were Arab wealthy families who did not live locally, and villages who were very willing to sell land which they did not require. If the purchase of land by Arabs to Arabs is considered legal, then the purchase of land by Jews should be logically considered the same. The same standard should be afforded to the Jews.

Interestingly, after more historical information was provided and his logic was again questioned, Moe, rather than debate on legal and historical points changed tactics.

1. Big-noting:

moe003

2. Personal attacks:

moe004

3. Accusations of “stalking and harassment.”

moe005

Moe starts with the personal attacks and then makes accusations of “stocking (sic) and harassment.” It is interesting that he posts his articles in groups, presumably for review and then gets angry if anyone “jumps in and responds.”

Moe then ceases any dialogue and begins spamming, posting numerous articles, one after the other.

moe006

Twelve Addicting Info posts within a few seconds and then the Pièce de résistance, Moe blocks his opponent.

Another “journalist,” Siraj Davis who is an occasional reporter for Press TV, carried on in a similar manner in the same group.  On 9 December 2014, he likewise big-noted himself and then when questioned, proceeded with posting vile comments.

Here is Mr Davis plugging his appearance and praise of the Iranian Press TV:

Siraj001

Here is the same “professional” journalist after being questioned about Press TV.  (Language warning. And these are the least offensive comments):

Siraj002

Finally, following post after post of abusive and bizarre comments, Siraj leaves the group.

It is obvious that the journalists, the authors, the “human rights” professionals, do not like to be questioned. They have their rehearsed answers, but scratch beneath the surface and as noted perfectly about Mr Davis:

Bruce001

It is unfortunate that facts and truth do not seem important to the activists, groupies or plebs. They seem to just be content to paint Jews as colonialists who have no rights to be in their ancestral land. They will ignore history and often rely on a handful of out of context quotes “after the fact.” If you provide historical proof that Jews purchased land legally, they will then shift the argument to conspiracies, ie the Jews from Europe are Khazars and not “real Jews!” It seems funny however, that the Neturei Karta and other extreme anti-Israel Jewish groups, who have the same genetic make up, suddenly are accepted as being true Jews and having an ancient connection due to their politics.

Not important to the activists, groupies or plebs are the legalities behind the Partition Plan, the many attempts at peace by the Jews and the many wars by the Arabs. What is crucial to them is collecting a dossier of slogans, canards, a collection of dead images, (which incidentally are mostly from Syria) and memes which provide explanations without proof and without sources. They rely on conspiracy sites, sensational reports and information from the Palestinian press, which generally consists of what someone “said” without evidence and investigation.

You can ask them why to them it is legitimate for Arabs and non-Arab muslims to buy land in the Holy Land, but not Jews. Why an Arab homeland was acceptable to Arabs but a Jewish homeland was not and is not, and all you will receive are vague answers. They insist it is all “Palestinian” land and repeat that “all of Palestine is illegally occupied,” that is, when Jews are involved. Clearly when individuals like Mr Diab refer to “occupiers,” he is not referring to the Druze, or the Armenians, or the Bosnians, or the Turks, or the Samaritans, or the Arabs. The anti-Israel crowd cries racism, but they are clearly the group who is discriminatory towards one group of people – the Jews!

What is also laughable is that many of the activists and groupies go under the human rights banner, but in reality don’t care about real human rights issues of the Palestinians. Of no concern to them is the bullying and harassment of Palestinians by Palestinians, both Hamas and the PA. Diminishing women’s rights, particularly honor killings are pushed under the carpet and they justify using children in wars and demonstrations, have nothing to say about child labor used for building tunnels, and are equally as silent about the deaths of scores of Palestinians in Syria. One can logically conclude that the AGP are not really concerned about human rights but are merely obsessed about perceived Israel “wrongs.”

If the AGP were really concerned about peace, the potential for open discussions would be endless, but alas, their only concern is to demonize Israel. Their arguments and assertions are historically and politically baseless but what is worse, what is unforgivable, is that many from the top of the pecking order, down to the hapless plebs, under the false banner of “Palestinian human rights” knowingly spread misinformation and blatant lies and are to blame for perpetuating enmity and hatred.

20 thoughts on “Reader Post: The BS of the Anti-Israel Activists, Groupies And Plebs”

  1. There’s a whole big world out there of people with an opinion on Israel. And you’ve only begun to scratch the surface on what it means to be in the “pro-Israel” and “anti-Israel” camp and who decides such things and for what reasons. I’ve been labeled by some others on this site as being in the anti-Israel camp because I am a non-Israeli who supports the two-state solution. I wonder whether those settlers who openly advocate for the destruction of the secular state of Israel, plan terrorist attacks on the Temple Mount or of an Arab school for girls, or advocate the mass kiling/forced removal of all Arabs on both sides of the green line are considered pro-Israel or anti-Israel. I wouldn’t know what Israellycool readers think about this because it is never discussed here.

    1. Jim: I think that the central difference is in the reaction by the respective civil societies. In Israel, as to the situations you list, the overwhelming majority of the public denounces those actions as do most of the politicians. The police and judiciary do not sit by either, as you can see by the price tag arrests and prosecutions.
      Of course, the actual number of “settlers who openly advocate” the things you list is vanishingly small. Contrast this with the reaction in Palestinian Arab society to actual (forget about simply advocating) terrorist attacks. You will never see Israelis handing out candy, celebrating in the street or naming anything in “honor” of such people.
      I think in part, the issue comes down to open versus closed societies, with Israel being completely opened to the international press. In the search for the “if it bleeds, it leads” story, a distorted picture inevitably emerges. It would be as if, in the US, the focus was relentlessly on adherents to the Westboro Baptist Church, violent anti-abortion factions and neo-Nazi militias. Context remains important, and while no society is perfect, some are much farther along toward that goal than others.
      An interesting experiment is being conducted on a site called (something like) Bad News from the Netherlands which only posts true stories but that put the Dutch society in an unflattering light. It seems that after being exposed to that site over time, most people come away with a diminished view of Holland. It’s an interesting lesson about the power and effects of negative, unbalanced reporting.
      So, to answer your question, I think the “advocates” you mention would be viewed as “pro-Israel” by a very small group of likeminded adherents and rejected as “anti-Israel” nut cases and troublemakers by the overwhelming majority.

      1. Thanks for your thoughts, Charlie. I think we can agree that you can be critical of Israel and still be pro-Israel. I also think you’d agree that those who support the dismantling of Israel as a secular, democratic state dedicated to the principles set out in Israel’s declaration of independence can only be viewed as anti-Israel.

        1. ahad_ha_amoratsim

          Jim, how am I to view someone who considers himself pro-Israel, and who is, in many ways, but who ignornantly spreads false conspiracy fantasies of the type one can find on any anti-Israel web site?

        2. Jim: It goes without saying that one can be critical of Israel and still be pro-Israel, because the Israelis themselves do it all the time and often very publicly. There seems to me to be two relevant conditions that allow you to distinguish between pro- and anti-. First, the criticism should be constructive and based on fact. Second, the criticism should be of a type that is asked of other similar Western-styled democracies – in other words, there should be no double standards.
          As to those whose goal, however sugar-coated with human rights language to appeal to our Western, Enlightenment preferences and sensibilities, is to dismantle or destroy Israel, they are not only anti-Israel but spill into the cesspool of antisemitism. For them, only the Jewish People have no right to self-determination in their historic homeland – and to support their prejudice, no conspiracy or lie is too unbelievable that it isn’t pressed into service. Ironically, the more they yell “BDS” and carry on about “genocide,” “ethnic cleansing,” “land theft” and whatever else they conjure, the more self-evident it becomes why Israel needs to exist. Imagine how these anti-Israel (read anti-Jew) partisans would then deal with Jews as a small minority in their midst. Sadly, no one needs to imagine that scenario; one need only consider the history of the past two millenia.

    2. I think this post is really more about the tactics used by the anti-Israel social media activists, not their actual opinions. The examples above illustrate the use of fake stories, fake photos, personal insults, switching topics, etc. That doesn’t mean there can’t be legitimate, thoughtful criticism of Israel, but these trolls are not doing their cause any good. Nobody, neither pro- nor anti-Israel should resort to these dirty tricks, but the point of this post is that these tactics are used frequently by the anti-Israel camp.

    3. ahad_ha_amoratsim

      ” wonder whether those settlers who openly advocate for the destruction of the secular state of Israel, plan terrorist attacks on the Temple Mount or of an Arab school for girls, or advocate the mass kiling/forced removal of all Arabs on both sides of the green line are considered pro-Israel or anti-Israel.”
      You mean all 12 of them? You seem to have the same paranoid fantasies about evil religious settlers in Israel as you do about the GOP and the Tea Party in the US. Pretending that such a faction exists in any significant numbers does not advance the discussion.

      1. I’m not interested in visiting anti-Israel sites. You can find any number of reports of extremist settler activities in the West Bank online or through mainstream broadcast media such as PBS’ Frontline series or the BBC. This is not a conspiratorial personal fantasy I have. And we do disagree about how significant a problem for Israel these people represent.

        But I don’t want to distract from the focus the intended discussion on the nature and tactics of the anti-Israel and pro-Israel advocates used online. There is a significant lack of civility and a discouraging level of unfair, hateful tactics used by both anti-Israel and pro-Israel groups. In fact, this problem exists no matter what issue you want to discuss online. Make the blandest of pro-Obama statements in the Comments Sections of a site like Breitbart and see what happens.

        1. ahad_ha_amoratsim

          Jim, I’m sorry to the the one to tell you, but neither BBC nor NPR is even close to objective or unbiased in their Israel reporting. If you have mistaken them for honest reporters, I understand now where your misinformation comes from.

          1. If I restrict myself to sources like PJ Media, Breitbart, Fox News, the Blaze Radio, Voice of Israel, Arutz Sheva, the Mark Levin radio show, etc. I would have limited myself to news sources with only one political point of view. We will never agree on what are reliable sources of information. I went down this road with a former Israellycool commenter, Shy Guy, and it goes nowhere.

    4. “…or advocate the mass kiling/forced removal of all Arabs on both sides of
      the green line are considered pro-Israel or anti-Israel.”

      Well, I would think that the vast majority of Israellycool readers would be strongly against such actions.

      1. However, islam could be declared illegal.
        islam is an ideology with the thinnest veneer of religion.
        Muzlims would be free to choose an actual religion, or none.

  2. Apartheidthynameispalestine

    Nice article but rather pointless

    EVERYONE who supports Israel knows this stuff like the back of their hands

    These JEWHATERS don’t give a Monkeys for truth and facts. In truth they are 21st C Brownshirts

    And as for the few Pals killed by Assad try TWO THOUSANDS!

    1. EVERYONE who supports Israel knows this stuff…..
      is spot on, a good case study and a decent teaching tool.

      (Sociology 101….)

  3. Apartheidthynameispalestine

    Here’s one I always ask a Jewhater :when the Islamic state of Jordan ruled over ” palestine’ between 1948. And 1967 why was no sovereign state of Palestine proclaimed with JERUSALEM as its capital. That has them flapping lol

  4. I’m afraid you’re mistaken about some of the history that you wrote about yourself. During most of the 1800’s, the Jews that lived in the Palestinian Territory under the Ottomans lived in the major cities like Jeruselum (the biggest center) and often made up a majority of the population. The total population of the Palestinian Territory (Turks, Jews, and Arabs) in the 19th century never even reached 100,000 because the barren and/or swampy, malarial land simply could not support more people until until the advent of modern political Zionism in 1895. During the latter half of the 19th century, small groups of Zionists who were sponsored by rich Jewish European patrons, began buying up small tracts of land from the Ottomans with the Zionist dream of restoring Eretz Yisroel to a “land flowing with milk and honey.” Against all odds and everyone’s expectations, they were successful, and more groups came and the original groups expanded. During this time, almost all the Arabs who lived on the land they did not own as serfs in small, poverty-striken villages. There was absolutely no concept whatsoever among these people of any sort of nationalism or sense of “homeland” to a country called “palestine” (which didn’t exist.) The status of the Arabs remained static until after WWI when the Palestine Mandate was created in order for the British to create a Jewish homeland for the Jews. One of the things that the British did, now that the Jews had made the Mandate land capable of supporting a far greater population than before, was bring in Arabs from all over the former Ottoman Empire WHICH WERE THE ARABS THAT WERE THE GRANDPARENTS AND GREAT-PARENTS OF MOST OF TODAYS’ “PALESTINIANS” Today, most people, including yourself, accept the term “palestinians” as if it actually meant something real, but it is a made-up name, specifically created to form a group (the PLO) to destroy Israel!!, in 1967 with people who have and had no nationalistic nor ancient (the Arabs conquered the Middle East when they came out of Arabia in the 7th century! Even their religion, Islam, with their evil god Allah who wants to be worshipped by killing others to force them to convert is foreign to both Judaism and Christianity!!!) ties to the land of Israel!!!! The PA is just another terrorist group (like Hamas) that is being given the status of an unofficial country, just like Abbas is just another terrorist (like Arafat) that is being called a president and a peacemaker EVEN BY ISRAEL’S PRIME MINISTER, NO MATTER HOW MANY ACTS OF TERROR ABBAS, FATAH, AND THE “PALISTINIANS” OPENLY DO!!!!

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