Following DannyAyalon’s sharing of my follow-up post on the women behind the Palestinian propaganda video, I have been subjected to some rather nasty abuse on Twitter. But rather than crying about it, I am actually heartened, since the ad hominem attacks, along with the absence of any attempt to rebut my actual points, are indicative of the strength of my arguments. The anti-Israel crowd simply do not know how to answer them effectively.
I thought I would post parts of an exchange from today because I think it shows quite clearly some of the tactics employed by the haters on the other side.
It starts with this tweet by some woman with a Jewish name.
Oh fuck. What a misogynistic self-righteous douchebag. http://t.co/eT7G8TspQC
— Anna Stein (@HannahStein_) November 20, 2013
Ad hominem attack, pure and simple. No attempt to counter my arguments.
She is soon followed by another person, who adds his own commentary (the word “pathetic”)
“@HannahStein_: Oh fuck. What a misogynistic self-righteous douchebag. http://t.co/as4mS3y0yq” (pathetic )
— Jew4palestine (@Jew4palestine) November 20, 2013
At this stage, I point out the obvious.
@Jew4palestine @hannahStein_ you guys can only resort to ad hominems since u clearly do not have facts or logic to turn to
— Aussie Dave (@Israellycool) November 20, 2013
@AdamovichC And they clearly don’t know meaning of word “misogynist” @Jew4palestine @HannahStein_
— Aussie Dave (@Israellycool) November 20, 2013
About that:
misogynist
Pronunciation: /m??s?d?(?)n?st/noun
a person who dislikes, despises, or is strongly prejudiced against women
I challenge anyone to find anything misogynistic in my post. But the Israel-hating woman knows better.
@Israellycool @Jew4palestine An then in an attempt to not sound sexist you “point out” you are not criticizing her because of her job.
— Anna Stein (@HannahStein_) November 20, 2013
Notice how this woman is attributing intentions to me that don’t exist, and are in no way borne out by my words. In fact, I expressly explained in my post:
My point here is not to criticize the women’s choice of profession (although their politics leaves a lot to be desired). It is to show that the organization that put together the video hired a couple of attractive actresses – neither of whom are actually “Palestinian” according to the definition of someone born here – in order to increase the appeal of the video. They even had one of them put on a fake accent, presumably to make her more appealing (in my opinion, it worked!)
Again, because she cannot address my actual points, she chooses to attack me personally.
But apparently I have committed another crime. I have contravened the by-law that states a man is not allowed to point out to a woman the correct definition of “misogynist”
@Israellycool So yeah, preach to a woman what those terms really are. As I haven’t been living in this silly world as guess what, a woman.
— Anna Stein (@HannahStein_) November 20, 2013
After I explain I am married to a woman and have 4 daughters (hence do not hate women), her response is very curious.
@Israellycool I guess that give you a free pass. Funny that you mention Hamas in your piece and I’m know why. Many of their members
— Anna Stein (@HannahStein_) November 20, 2013
@Israellycool have wives and daughters too. And?
— Anna Stein (@HannahStein_) November 20, 2013
@Israellycool Come on, who are talking about terrorism? You said you can’t be sexist because you have 4 daughters. And I pointed out — Anna Stein (@HannahStein_) November 20, 2013
@Israellycool in your piece you wanted to show off hamas as misogynistics. They hating women or not, I bet many of them are married and — Anna Stein (@HannahStein_) November 20, 2013
@Israellycool raising baby girls. So according to you, they can’t be misogynists. See what a stupid argument ? — Anna Stein (@HannahStein_) November 20, 2013
Notice what she did there. Besides confusing sexism with misogyny, she compared my post to Hamas enforcing modesty laws in the Gaza Strip, in terms of hatred of women. Not only that, but she said I “wanted” to show off Hamas as misogynistics (sic.). As if they aren’t. After pointing out her issue with me is she did not like my arguments because of her anti-Israel agenda, her response was straight from the Israel hater’s handbook.
@Israellycool Yep, I am a self-hating. Or as your fellows say #fauxjew. @Jew4palestine — Anna Stein (@HannahStein_) November 20, 2013
Notice I never said that anywhere. Once again, she was misrepresenting my words. At this point, her brother-in-arms chimes in.
@HannahStein_ @Israellycool (what did i miss? Oh self hating Jew ,Yawn , how insipid — Jew4palestine (@Jew4palestine) November 20, 2013
Oops!
After I pointed this out to her, her response could be filed under the Digging A Bigger Hole category.
@Israellycool @Jew4palestine Indeed you didn’t call me that. I thought it was just a step to it since I’m anti-israel and hamas-lover :-). — Anna Stein (@HannahStein_) November 20, 2013
@HannahStein_ I called u Hamas lover as well? Wow, u really have trouble reading @Jew4palestine — Aussie Dave (@Israellycool) November 20, 2013
At this stage, the conversation has almost run its course.
@HannahStein_ thanks. And try to brush up on your civility and comprehension skills while u r at it
— Aussie Dave (@Israellycool) November 20, 2013
@Israellycool Thank you my white savior. I shall not behave as the savage I am.
— Anna Stein (@HannahStein_) November 20, 2013
I am willing to bet her use of the words “white” and “savage” are not accidental. The whole premise such people entertain is that Zionists are the “white” occupiers, who look at the palestinians as “savages.”
I think you’ll agree this little exchange was rather enlightening in how it showed some of the tactics to which pro-Israel advocates are frequently subjected, namely:
- Ad hominem attacks instead of arguments of substance
- “Ganging up”
- Imputing intentions that do not exist
- Twisting of our words
But as someone pointed out to me, when they resort to these tactics, you know you are doing something right.
