The Victim
';Nasty blogger Richard Silverstein has been mentioned in the New York Times, in an article on nasty behavior in the blogosphere….as a victim.
Women are not the only targets of nastiness. For the last four years, Richard Silverstein has advocated for Israeli-Palestinian peace on a blog (richardsilverstein.com) that he maintains from Seattle.People who disagree with his politics frequently leave harassing comments on his site. But the situation reached a new low last month, when an anonymous opponent started a blog in Mr. Silverstein’s name that included photos of Mr. Silverstein in a pornographic context.
“I’ve been assaulted and harassed online for four years,” he said. “Most of it I can take in stride. But you just never get used to that level of hatred.”
The joke here is that Silverstein is an example of someone guilty of a similar kind of behavior. In the past, he has accused me of racism and impropriety, and has also tried to start fights with many other blogs. His complaints about having “harassing comments” left on his site ring hollow when you consider the comment he once left on my site:
Here Dave provides further ammunition that the purpose of JIBA is to promote a “pro-Israel” ideological goal. Not to mention that he’s finally cottoned on to the fact that LGF is going to win whatever category he’s in because mediocrity with mass readership is gonna win JIBA every time.All of your readers including Dave himself are welcome to come visit (link to his site removed- ed.) & raise a ruckus as you did last time.
Not really what you would expect from someone sick to death of people “who disagree with his politics frequently leaving harassing comments on his site.”
Silverstein recently complained to Blogger.com about what he refers to as the “Pornographic, Defaming Site.” He is referring to the blog Little Dickie’s Diaper Droppings. While I certainly don’t think any good is achieved with this site, I don’t see how it is “pornographic,” and certainly do not see the “photos of Mr. Silverstein in a pornographic context” mentioned in the NYT article. Unless you count the picture of the child with his head in the toilet. As for “defaming”, Silverstein’s own site has been more guilty of defamation than that one. At any rate, I do not think the blog in question is much worse than the blog that recently referred to me as “is-really-a-tool”, and also accused me of impropriety. But I don’t see my blog mentioned in the NY Times!
By the way, one of Silverstein’s complaints to Blogger.com is this:
Initially, the site also displayed images of me in violation of my copyright rights. Though Blogger has removed those images, the site is deeply invasive of my privacy
Again, very rich coming from someone who posted a photo of me on his blog without permission, using it to poke fun.
Update: Ck says pretty much the same thing. But worth reading for the accompanying picture alone.
Update: Lisa Goldman raises some good points in the comments to the Jewlicious post.
I’m glad you mentioned the article, but I think you skipped over some salient points about the Silverstein mention.1. It is not true that Silverstein advocates for Israeli-Palestinian peace on his blog. Actually, what he does is highlight and link to MSM articles that further his All Evil Israel, All the Time agenda. He has no clue about the real dialogue that’s going on in Israeli society (because he doesn’t live here, perhaps?) and his writing is utterly lacking in balance.
2. It is supremely ironic that he complains of being harassed, given that he has not hesitated to harass me over being excluded from my Global Voices roundups (me: but I write about the Israeli blogosphere and you are not Israeli; RS: I don’t care! I wanna be in the GV roundups! And the fact that you’re excluding me means you’re a right-wing fanatic!).
3. He was never excluded from anything due to his opinions. If he wanted to participate in the JIBs, then he could’ve nominated himself - no-one was stopping him.
4. He is not an important blogger! I mean, putting him in the same article with Blogher, Dooce and Richard Scoble makes me think of that old Sesame Street song about one of these things not belonging. Who reads the guy’s blog besides a few like-minded people? He has never expressed an original idea, nor has he influenced other bloggers.
5. As you point out, he has *never* been civil to anyone who disagreed with him. So who is he to join the clamour for online civility?
For those who don’t know, Lisa is someone who does advocate for Israeli-Palestinian peace.
Sphere: Related Content
An Australian immigrant to Israel, Aussie Dave has been blogging since early 2003.
April 9th, 2007 at 5:57 pm
Damn, I thought your identity was a secret, like Batman….
On another note- Am I the only person who has ever wanted to trick out my car like the batmobile? I figure why have a larger, noisier muffler and a poncy rear spoiler when I can have a jet engine and fins.
April 9th, 2007 at 8:22 pm
Thanks, Dave for once again sending so much traffic to my site.
Anyway, so much error & distortion to correct & so little time:
Hmm, must’ve missed this Dave: “‚ÄúWhen I get “religious” then I just stroke my penis to see what comes out.”
If you’d visited the Masada2000 site under my entry there you’d have seen a copyrighted image of me juxtaposed next to a man’s hairy naked ass. The reporter mixed up the “Diaper Dropping’s” site & the Masada2000 site.
You do seem to have a problem confusing harassment & legitimate argument. Arguing about whether JIBA was hopelessly partisan & ideological is not “harassment.” Most other folks would call that legitimate debate. And I don’t see any quotation from me above accusing you of “racism” though I’d venture to say that your feelings about Arabs are probably pretty nasty.
Oh, I see. So I’ve accused you of stroking your penis at my site, or said that your favorite book is Mein Kampf or that your “interests” including “destroying Israel,” or have established a fake Blogger site in your name, or stolen an image of you and yr 3 yr old child fr. your site & posted it my own? What’s that you say? I haven’t done any of those things?
BTW, has anyone ever wished cancer of the rectum on you so you “wouldn’t be able to enjoy sex anymore?” No? Yeah, that’s another nice piece of invective I’ve received fr. these Kahanist jackasses. I’ve got more too. But I couldn’t expect someone like you to ever feel any fellow human feeling for that.
And as for publishing yr image. Bub, that image wasn’t even fr. yr site. It was the Pajamas Media site. How in heaven’s name can you complain when someone takes yr image fr. a popular & widely disseminated site like that? You never even asked me to remove it. If it bugged you so much why didn’t you do that?
Pls. let’s keep this argument going as long as possible so you’ll draw even more traffic to my site.
BTW, glad you took the wise step of giving JIBA to a committee of folks rather than keeping it yr own hands. This was something I recommended that you do 2 yrs ago though heaven forfend that you’d admit I ever had anything worthwhile to do w. it.
April 10th, 2007 at 2:03 am
Sorry Dave, as Richard sensibly points out, criticism isn’t harrassment.
April 10th, 2007 at 2:16 pm
Let’s see…
1. You brought this as an example that the parody site is “pornographic”:
Lame and obscene, but I doubt this one statement would render the entire site pornographic.
2. You claim:
I already linked to your exact accusation of racism, but since you are obviously having trouble reading, I’ll provide it again, with the text:
3. Your response to my comment that your site has been more guilty of defamation than the parody site was this:
Hardly relevant. Defamation is the communication of a statement that makes a false claim, expressly stated or implied to be factual, that may harm the reputation of an individual, business, product, group, government or nation. You have done this on your site. Here’s an example:
4. Regarding my point that you are a hypocrite for complaining about the parody site displaying images of you in violation of your copyright rights, you responded:
Read the Legal section of this blog, which has clearly stated for the past one and half years:
You shouldn’t wait for me to complain. If you are against harassment and stealing other people’s images as you claim you are, you would never have stolen this copyright image, to use in a mocking fashion no less. Now say after me kiddies: HYPOCRITE!
5. You said:
My reasons for giving up on these awards are well documented, and you are given credit for your role.
April 10th, 2007 at 2:20 pm
I can hardly think of any better refutation of Silverstein than having you supporting his arguments.
April 11th, 2007 at 4:03 am
As factual as ever Dave.
April 11th, 2007 at 8:53 am
If you want factual, why not read my point-by-point refutation of Silverstein’s response above? Or are you incapable of anything beyond one line, empty statements (or being objective, G-d forbid)?
April 11th, 2007 at 10:18 am
When i read your words, Mr. Silverstein, it’s easier for me to understand how it was possible that my family burned in the Holocaust, while American Jews like yourself didn’t do squat in order to save them. Just another ghetto Jew, willing to sacrifise other Jews for his own principles.
April 11th, 2007 at 10:58 am
Sorry Dave, but it wasn’t especially riveting as “refutations” go.
And your response to the NYT article was little more than a lame whine. Richard gave real examples and you responded with little more than - ‘Richard criticised me, so I’m being harrassed too’.
Oh, and he used your photo - hang him, the cad.
April 11th, 2007 at 2:49 pm
Wow, Michael, well crafted response.
Thanks for showing all my readers why I don’t simply delete your comments - your inability to argue helps me illustrate how opponents of Israel like you have another agenda.
April 11th, 2007 at 8:03 pm
Michael and Silverstein together by Aussie Dave. It’s a small world after all.
April 12th, 2007 at 6:36 am
Dave,
You poor thing.
I’m sorry your whinge doesn’t deserve a “point by point refutation” or even a “well crafted response”, but if your post had some real connection to the point raised by Richard it might have been a different matter.
April 12th, 2007 at 11:27 am
You reap what you sow, Mikeyboy.
If you can’t put together a coherent argument, but can only object to valid arguments because they don’t conform to your biased worldview, then people aren’t that likely to pay much attention to you.
This is why my site has good traffic and yours has..well..
April 12th, 2007 at 11:31 am
It’s a shidduch made in hell.
April 17th, 2007 at 3:43 pm
Just look where Silverstein is looking for sympathy now!
Radical Muslim
I am surprised given how much hate is directed yr way by some of yr commenters that you wouldn’t understand & sympathize with the need to encourage civil debate in the blogging community.
I blog on the Israeli Palestinian conflict like you & get vulgar, disgusting abuse. I’m very sympathetic to the code of conduct for that purpose.
Do you believe that people should be allowed to create a site in yr name saying your favorite book is Mein Kampf & your favorite interest is destroying Palestine? How about talking about yr sex habits? I’ve got someone who’s done that to me because they’re against Israeli-Palestinian peace.
That’s why I see this differently than you.
Comment by Richard Silverstein — April 14, 2007 @ 9:05 pm
May 24th, 2007 at 4:54 pm
I agree Richard Silverstein wants to have his cake and eat it….again and again. He does not allow other bloggers to present opinions that are in striking opposition to his own. The most recent targets on his website appear to be other Jews, of course, with the recent and rather surprising addition of gay men. Since Richard was so aghast at the alleged homophobic invective directed againt him by Masada 2000, I would have thought that he would be more sensitive to the concerns of gay and lesbian people, particularly his brethren here in the USA. Not true! When some of his Islamofascist bloggers said that the murder of “Homosexuals” in Iran and Saudi Arabia was “legal” and totally justified, he remained silent. One blogger on his site was forbidden to post there when he repeatedly demanded to know why Richard would not criticize these reprehensible opinions.
The sad truth is that Richard chooses to go with Islamofascism over free speech when he removes posts condemning these three nice Islamic fascists and AND simultaneous failed to put up one of his own. He has even allowed these three bloggers to berate the one writer on his blog who stood up in defense of gay and lesbian rights.
You ask: “wait, but where is Richard Silverstein’s outrage against the pseudoscholarly rationale that murdering gay men is a perfectly legitimate extension of Islam?” “Where is his outrage against that? ” The answer: no where. Richard plays it safe with radical Islam, even if it means that he will look like the total hypocrit he is. In their OWN words, these people rationalize the murder of a group of people. Earth to Richard… I don’t think Masada2000 got even close to that kind of hyperbole.
Finally, Most of us, having read Richard, know he is the personification of hypocrisy, but I confess that I was surprised at his behavior here. It’s extraordinary that he gets huffy over vibrator jokes, but his feathers don’t get even slightly ruffled when these folks want to hang a few more fags for defiling their Koran. Alas, the open condemnation of frank murder from the mouth of Muslims is not something he feels he needs to address. He is too busy getting his shorts all stretched out of shape because Masada2000 has allegedly used a few bad words against Richard and his SHIT list friends. Check it out for yourself at (go to the last entries): http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam/2007/03/09/masada2000-webhost-takes-site-down/#postcomment
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