The Victim
David Lange
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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.
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David Lange
