It all went down on Twitter after Silverstein saw that Mackey posted the Israeli Iran-themed HOT ad, something Silverstein himself had posted here:

http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam/2012/01/17/popular-culture-exposes-racism-that-enables-israeli-war-fever/

Notice the sheer arrogance of Silverstein. He expects that a NY Times reporter should 1) know of Silverstein 2) read his blog and 3) have noticed Silverstein’s post. The thought that this was not the case sends him in to a tailspin.

Ironically, the NY Times were the ones who published the infamous article on the lack of civility in the blogosphere, citing Silverstein as a victim!

But using his line of reasoning, Silverstein himself should have cited me when he originally posted the video, since I posted it the day before. And since I know for a fact Silverstein reads my blog on a regular basis, there is actually a strong chance he did pilfer it from Israellycool!

Meanwhile, Silverstein really should consider that chip on his shoulder. Because chances are, the Mossad implanted it there.

(hat tip: Brian of London)

Today he tweeted the following:

The link takes us to the following report:

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) – Officials say cyber attacks have shut down the websites of the two main Palestinian news agencies, the official Wafa and the privately run Maan.

Wafa’s chief editor, Ali Hussein, and Maan’s technology supervisor, Haitham Moussa, said they don’t know who is behind Tuesday’s attacks. Hussein says the website of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement was also targeted.

The attacks came several days after hackers disrupted the websites of an Israeli hospital, a leading newspaper and Israel’s official cultural festival.

Those attacks were seen as part of a politically motivated cyber attacks against Israeli sites. The Israeli Haaretz daily said at the time that its site was hacked by a group calling itself Anonymous Palestine

Notice how the report does not accuse Israel or her supporters of being behind the attacks. In fact, the report explicitly states that Wafa and Ma’an representative don’t know who is behind the attacks. At best, there is an insinuation that those in the pro-Israel camp would have the motivation to do such a thing in light of the attacks against Israeli websites. Yet Silverstein takes this report to definitely state that “Hasbaritas” (i.e. pro-Israel people) brought down Ma’an!

As our very own Challah reported, Mahmoud Abbas himself is suspected of ordering the hacking of sites critical of him. So there is clearly motivation for his opponents to hack the Fatah site in retaliation. As for the Ma’an site, an organization like Hamas would certainly have the motivation, given Ma’an’s criticism of them.

So there is no proof that Israel or her supporters hacked the Ma’an site, and certainly others have the motivation and means to do so.

In short, Silverstein’s one sloppy dick.

At the end of the post, I included a comment from Dickie Sliverstein, Israellycool‘s parody version of anti-Israel blogger Richard Silverstein.

Dickie Sliverstein adds: Drama queens, the lot of you!

Well, once again, this wasn’t far off the mark. Here’s Silverstein’s actual reaction to the video:

http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam/2012/01/31/israeli-film-depicts-iranian-first-strike-nuke-attack-on-israel/

The Israeli power of delusion is evident in this short film called, The Last Day, which purports to film the last moments of an Israeli family before Iran drops a nuclear bomb on Israel and obliterates it. The film, created by Ronen Barany, is shot in faux-documentary style with lots of shots of Israelis in extremis including suitably shaky, off kilter camera angles proclaiming it a product of ersatz cinema verite.

While the computer enhanced graphics showing massive explosions in the Israeli hillside may shock Israelis used to viewing a relatively tranquil landscape, the boom-boom screams out “computer enhancement.” If this were still photography critics would call it a photoshopped reality. We’ll have to come up with another name for an altered reality via video.

It should go without saying (but I’ll say it nevertheless), that the film is even more interesting for what it leaves out than what it includes. It presumes a backstory which the viewer fills in (hence the power of effective propaganda) of a hegemonic power-mad Iran hell-bent on getting nukes and using them on its bitterest foe, Israel. The poor Israeli shlumps in this movie are of course the collateral damage of Iranian megalomania. They’re innocent victims. No reference to any role Israel itself may’ve played in this conflict. Israel is doing nothing but defending itself from pure evil.

This film is a perfect example of how an entire people can be anesthetized and transported into an altered state of reality that shows them to be innocent lambs led to the slaughter; when in fact they are just as much agents of their own destiny as their enemies are.

The fact that this film is pimped by a RP rep for 5W PR, Ronn Torossian’s agency (who also pimps the Clarion Fund anti-Muslim films along with porn stars and has been charged with extorting millions of dollars from the followers of an Israeli Sephardic wonder rabbi) tells you reams about the film’s subtext.

So the main message Silverstein takes from this disturbing video is how Israel villifies Iran, yet is just as much to blame for any nuclear threat on our country as Iran is. There is no compassion or empathy towards Israelis who may fear the worst, and who – G-d forbid – might even face such an awful scenario.

Besides illustrating Silverstein’s predictability, it also shows just how much he hates Israel, despite his absurd claims of being a Zionist.

One gets the feeling that Silverstein might even like the idea of Israel being blown to smithereens, if not for the fact that he would really struggle for blog material if this were the case.

Update: In this tweet, Silverstein characterizes the video as “delusional paranoia.”

http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam/2012/01/30/israels-drone-crash-and-the-perils-of-reporting-on-a-national-security-state/

Above is my latest appearance on Tzinor Layla (starting at around 2:30) in which I discuss the crash of the drone inside Israel two days ago.

I’ve spent the past day or so trying to make sense of the duelling stories of the crash. My Israeli source said that the unmanned aircraft was foreign, likely flown by Hezbollah with Iranian technical assistance from southern Lebanon. Shortly after I posted, the IAF released its version saying its own drone crashed while testing advanced sensors installed on its wing. Supposedly, the wing separated from the drone, and images of a severed wing were displayed in the media. Eyewitnesses were interviewed who claim to have seen the drone on fire before it crashed, though it’s not clear where they were physically located. Though the body of the drone was not pictured, it reportedly crashed into an air base (though the name wasn’t specified). My source claimed the booby trapped drone crashed and exploded at the top secret Sdot Micha missile base. The IAF claimed the drone crashed while making an approach to the Tel Nof base.

I have approached journalists in Lebanon and Iran to confirm or rebut the report. In Lebanon, a source close to Hezbollah poured cold water on the story. I am still attempting to find out if Iranian officials wish to comment it.

For those who reject my story, let’s examine the IAF story. They claim that Israel’s most advanced drone, testing highly sophisticated new sensor systems simply lost its wing due to equipment and human error. Either this is a colossal episode of incompetence or the story doesn’t hold water. They showed a wing in an orange orchard and nothing else. I could not see any damage to the wing indicating it had dropped off a drone in flight and crashed. They offered no military or drone experts to verify what was shown in the footage. I would wonder why military and police personnel at the site would allow photography and video filming of some of Israel’s most advanced new technology. Even if they couldn’t prevent such filming they could easily impose military censorship on reporting the story. They didn’t. This is contrary to the absolute secrecy Israel imposes on its military technology.

So continuing with this line of thought, if Israel did lose one of its most advanced drones it is a major setback in this program. As news reports make clear, this drone is one that can reach Iran and would be used for multiple critical aerial tasks during an Israeli air assault on Iran. The fact that it crashed on a test flight only a few miles from its base, when Israel is known to be preparing for a possible strike against Iran, is a major failure. So again, even if you discount my version of events, the IAF has not presented a credible version either. Anyone who seeks to discredit the Hezbollah angle of this story should present a credible alternative. I have heard none from the other side.

The usual suspects on the right and left have criticized the story I reported. None of them very carefully read, understood or reported what I actually wrote. Dimi Reider, who prides himself on being a careful, sober journalist argued erroneously that I claimed the drone flew 1,000 miles from Iran to Israel, when in fact I argued just the opposite, saying it likely could not fly that far and originated in southern Lebanon. Reider also believed I was being “played” by Israeli sources seeking war against Iran. In fact, my source opposes war against Iran. All of which proves that someone who prides himself on precision can be guilty of the same errors of which he accuses me.

Dapha Baram, writing at the world news agency GRN, pointed with pride to the reasons why her news agency could not publish my reports because they fall below its standards of “journalist ethics.” She failed to understand that my decision to report or not report a story has nothing to do with ethics and everything to do with other factors including my physical distance from the story and sources I’m reporting, the vagaries of the Israeli national security state which intimidate the free flow of military information to journalists, and my role as an anti-war activist coinciding with my role as a blogger. In fact, the very reason why Israeli security issues are so thinly reported inside and outside Israel is that the system prevents mainstream journalists from doing this.

None of this means I can knowingly report stories that are false (nor would I ever do so). On the other hand, I am reporting stories that aren’t (and usually can’t be) corroborated by second or third independent sources. That in turn means that the mainstream media is too conservative and cautious to publish my original reporting. This may save them from reporting a story that turns out to be criticized or unsubstantiated; but it also causes them to lose out when I report major stories embarrassing to the Israeli military-intelligence community.  That’s why you’ll never see Reider or GRN breaking the story of Anat Kamm, Dirar Abusisi, Ameer Makhoul, the Eilat terror attacks, or Shamai Leibowitz.

My critics fundamentally misunderstand what I do. My primary job isn’t to be an oracular James Reston or Walter Cronkite and only report what is scientifically, verifiably true and be right 100% of the time. My primary job is to be right as often as I can while staying true to the reasons I write this blog in the first place: to promote transparency in Israeli military-intelligence matters, Israeli democracy, and to oppose military adventurism.  This is a tightrope act, one that is difficult to negotiate since there are so many unknowns, so much concealed information.

The goal of the national security state is to render its affairs as opaque as possible. It is to shut off information to journalists, bloggers and even its own citizens. That’s why it’s sometimes so damn hard to know if you got it right. But if anyone thinks I’m going to be deterred by the fact that every once in a while the I’s aren’t dotted or the T’s aren’t crossed or that even, God forbid, my source may get it wrong (which I do not concede in this instance), they’re sorely mistaken. I’ll accept the brickbats of Dimi Reider, Dapna Baram and others for the sake of the greater good of exposing the dangers a rampant Israel may pose to the region and the world.

A number of comments from my side:

• In the Israeli TV video above, the presenters are actually laughing at Silverstein! One states Silverstein has missed the mark many times, while the other remarks that his “imagination” is his greatness! The fact that Silverstein posted this video so unflattering to him is further proof his Hebrew is so poor.
• Even in this moment of defeat, Silverstein can’t bring himself to admit he was sorely wrong. In fact, he tries to place the onus of proof on those who believe the official story!
• Silverstein admits to spending “the past day or so trying to make sense of the duelling stories of the crash.” Why did he not undertake this exercise before he posted his “scoop”? Like in the case of the successful sting I orchestrated against him, he rushed to disseminate his story in pursuit of his own agenda (in this case damaging Israel and self-glorification)
• Silverstein states the IAF released its version of what happened after he posted, implying had he known this version up front, he may have been more discerning. Yet Silverstein always pays little attention to the IDF version of events, depicting them as habitual liars. In addition, the official version was already in the media before Silverstein’s post, to which his post itself testifies.
• In contrast, Silverstein sought confirmation from Hizbullah and Iranian sources, as if they are trustworthy.
• Despite claiming he is a journalist, Silverstein admits to no journalistic ethics
• Silverstein sees his job as not being right 100% of the time, but “right as often as I can.” Yet he has repeatedly shown that he does not care for the truth, especially when it conflicts with his anti-Israel agenda.
• He also claims to not posting anything he knows is false. This in itself is utterly false. I have many examples of him doing just the opposite.*
• Even if he did not knowingly post anything false (which is not the case), this would not excuse him for the gross negligence he exhibits with his lack of fact-checking and due diligence. Nor with posting speculation as fact.

While I am disappointed Israel TV’s Tzinor Layla is still in the business of giving him air time (and they do know of his lack of credibility since  a link to my post exposing him was sent to them), it is good to see more and more in the mainstream media seeming to be ignoring him.

Update: Delusions of grandeur. Some revealing comments from Silverstein which reveal just how desperate he is to be taken seriously. 

* One such example is when he went on record to claim Pajamas Media dumped me. Despite my insistence this did not happen (which it didn’t, a fact he would have learned had he simply asked them), he went ahead and posted the assertion to pursue his own, anti-Aussie Dave agenda.

http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam/2012/01/29/drone-explodes-inside-secret-israeli-airbase/

An exclusive report from a confidential highly-placed Israeli source says that a booby-trapped drone crashed and exploded at top-secret Israeli airbase…  is the home of the Israeli missile arsenal including its long-range Jerichos capable of striking Iran.  There were civilian and military eyewitnesses to the crash, which happened within the perimeter fence of the facility…

The eyewitnesses and Israel’s wish to avoid pressure to retaliate against the Iranians, necessitated the publication of a media cover story.  The story claims an advanced Israeli drone crashed near the Yesodot moshav..  Israel also claims the drone took off from Tel Nof airbase.  Eyewitnesses may be able to produce video documentation of the precise location of the crash unless it is impounded by the IDF.

The cover story reminds me in crucial ways of a similar one put out by the U.S. when it lost control of its advanced drone inside Iran.  It did everything in its power to make the world believe that the drone crashed by accident and we vehemently denied it was brought down by Iranian electronic warfare capability.  The more we denied the more people believed we were protesting too much.

Though crashing a drone inside Israel would appear to have Iran’s fingerprints all over it (they would certainly have greatest motivation), it’s hard to believe that Iran could fly a drone 1,000 miles with such precision.  So blame will inevitably fall upon Hezbollah, a Syrian-Iranian ally, which often procures its most advanced weaponry from Iran.  Hezbollah would’ve launched the drone from southern Lebanon.  But I find it unlikely it could master the technological know-how to bring this off without Iranian engineering assistance.

There were no Israeli casualties and the drone explosion caused no significant damage at the base.  But the very fact that Iran or its allies have escalated the psychological war of nerves in such a fashion will raise the temperature inside Israel once the true story is known.  It will confirm among the hawks like Bibi, Barak and Bogie Yaalon the imperative to attack Iran.  And the average Israeli man in the street will be that much more accepting of war given this new level of threat.  But the “beauty” (if such a phrase is appropriate) of a drone attack is that, like the Mossad assassination of nuclear scientists, it’s hard to figure out precisely who is to blame for the attack.  In that sense, it raises the temperature, but does so in a carefully calibrated way.

The fact that Israel could not detect such a threat and stop it before it did its damage indicates also some gaps in Israel’s defensive systems.  Admittedly, drones are hard to defend against and Iran/Hezbollah may not have many at their disposal.  But they clearly can do significant damage as we’ve seen from U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan.  Imagine a drone equipped with a warhead (the current one appeared only to be booby-trapped, but not equipped with a warhead or missile) taking aim at the Kirya?  That, of course, would be the next stage of development and one Israel might expect in the not too distant future.  Certainly, a far more sophisticated step than merely crashing a drone into an airbase.  But by no means beyond the realm of possibility for Iranian engineers at some point.

I have always argued that there is a price to pay for Israel’s black ops campaign against Iran.  In this case, the price was very low.  But it will not always be so.  There’s always a price to pay.  The only question is when you’ll have to pay and how much.

So in short, Silverstein wants us to believe that Hizbullah flew a booby-trapped, Iranian-produced drone and exploded it at top-secret Israeli airbase, causing no damage, just for the “ooga booga” effect. And what does he base this on? The supposed word of an anonymous “highly-placed Israeli source” and his own “intuition” (he knows it “in his bones” remember).

Besides the scenario being highly implausible, I’ll remind readers that I have proven how Silverstein does no vetting of his sources, and will eagerly believe something to be true based on little or no fact-checking. In fact, even the ultra-leftist 972 rag rips Silverstein a new one over this latest “scoop”, albeit for different reasons to me.

There are several problems to this story.  According to current news reports, what crashed was Israel’s largest drone “Eitan”. The drone took off from the Tel Nof airbase and crashed between kibbutz Hafetz Haim and the town of Gedera, some ten miles away from the missile base in question, but only two miles from Tel Nof. Two miles and a malfunctioning Israeli drone seem more plausible than 1,000 miles and an ultra-sophisticated enemy aircraft to me, especially as Richard’s source provides no proof whatsoever the aircraft crashed in some location other than the one reported in the media. Ever since the Night of the Gliders Israel has been supremely paranoid about its airspace, with jets scrambling every time an unidentified aircraft comes within a few dozen miles of our borders (you can find several incidents from the past year alone).  A few days ago they nearly scrambled attack a particularly large flock of birds. The idea a foreign aircraft can go in and fly 1,000 miles in broad daylight without detection and crash into one of Israel’s most sensitive military bases is bizarre to say the least.

Richard also notes in his post that “the “beauty” (if such a phrase is appropriate) of a drone attack is that, like the Mossad assassination of nuclear scientists, it’s hard to figure out precisely who is to blame for the attack.  In that sense, it raises the temperature, but does so in a carefully calibrated way.” Wrong. Drones are such complex and still reasonably rare machines it would actually be extremely easy to identify where one comes from. It doesn’t seem likely Iran built a perfect imitation Israeli drone, gave it to Hezbollah to fly it into Israel, and then to have it crashed without causing any real damage.

Finally, eyewitnesses described seeing a typically dual-tailed drone clearly in distress with one wing bursting into flame shortly before impact – not exactly the behaviour of a kamikaze aircraft, manned or unmanned.

But the real question is who would have us believe this highly improbable hypothesis is true. Iran is mostly trying to avoid escalation. Why it would to give Israel a perfect casus belli by launching such a blatant military attack, that causes no significant damage, is beyond me; but I can well imagine plenty of people within the IDF who would dearly like a casus belli to bolster their case for an attack on Iran. If I was Richard, I would be extremely suspicious of any information – especially uncorroborated information – that helps the pro-war camp in Israel; not to mention the source might be acting in good faith, but is being hoodwinked by his own sources within the system..But  it doesn’t seem far fetched someone in the military establishment would be tempted to see Richard’s blog as the perfect channel for a bit of psy-ops.

So there you have it, folks. Yet another old wives tale from the “old wife” blogger (or should that be “Thank you, wife” blogger).

Update: And once again we have proof that despite his claim, Silverstein does not understand Hebrew. From the comments section to the above post:

This is certainly not the first time he’s shown he doesn’t understand the language.

That sound was Alanis Morissette shooting herself in the head.

Update: Here is more on this “opponent of antisemitism.”

I say this by way of introduction to this statement by Silverstein in a post attacking Newt Gingrich for antisemitism!

http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam/2012/01/22/gingrichs-implicit-anti-semitism-in-primary-victory-remarks/

I’ve always thought it was a shame Gingrich’s name was Newt.  I think it’s far more appropriate to think of him as reptilian, than amphibian.

Using Silverstein’s own logic, comparing Gingrich – a political leader – to a reptile (hardly a flattering connotation) could be construed as racism!

Update: There’s more comedy gold at the bottom of Silverstein’s original post, where Israellycool’s own Brian of London gets some lovin’. Repeatedly.

Granted, the captions are clumsy, but you get the drift.

But guess who thinks this is not only not funny, but actually racist.

http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam/2012/01/17/popular-culture-exposes-racism-that-enables-israeli-war-fever/

There’s always a fine line between political parody and racism.  It’s often hard to say where one bleeds into another.  But the humor of this commercial exposes the moral anaesthesia Israelis undergo, which allows them to be isolated from the impact of the acts of their military and intelligence forces in the region.  Instead of a conscious act of sabotage, a bumbling Israeli intelligence agent clicks a button on a tablet application and–Oops!–there goes another Iranian nuclear facility.  More Keystone Cops than Mossad cloak and dagger.

At the conclusion, another Israeli swats and kills an insect pest called a Khomeini.  The irony of the term and racial hostility inherent in it is self-evident.  Yet another marker for the anti-Muslim hate afflicting contemporary Israel.  Yes, a nation has to laugh at itself especially in times of tension.  But laughter of the sort in this commercial doesn’t encourage thought or introspection.  It doesn’t probe reality.  It allows Israelis to sink back in their economic largess, to luxuriate in the consumer options (like HOT cable service) available to them, while the harmless bumblers of the Mossad go around blowing up Iranian nuclear plants almost by accident.

It all ends with a nudge-nudge, wink-wink that would be fitting for a Monty Python routine, except the Pythons would’ve been savaging cultural norms instead of laughing about them.  Israelis, unfortunately, don’t have that distance from the crimes done in their name.

Silverstein’s claims of racism are ridiculous, as the majority of the commenters to his post point out. I won’t republish the entire thread here, but suffice to say, Silverstein is ripped a new one.

If you read the comments, you’ll notice:

1. Silverstein displays his utter ignorance of Israeli culture

2. Silverstein cannot respond to any dissent without hurling insults

3. Silverstein cannot hide is utter contempt for Israelis

And if you are wondering when I’ll stop posting about this nasty piece of work, the answer is when the Israeli and international media stop citing him as a credible source for anything.

[source]

Here’s a reminder of Silverstein’s brand of “due diligence.”

I hear vile antisemite David Duke is also a fan (http://www.davidduke.com/general/mccain-panders-to-jewish-voters_4980.html).

It’s good to see all those days sitting at home demonizing Israel is really paying off!