Friday, March 09, 2007

ISRAEL OPPONENT NOW NEUTRAL


Writing in comment is free in the Guardian -- apparently made-up for a Night of the Living Dead party later -- Antony Loewenstein makes a misleading claim:
Our group [Independent Australian Jewish Voices] does not hold any specific position on the Israel/Palestine conflict and nor do we claim to represent all Jews.
Loewenstein does hold a specific position on Israel, as stated in July 2005:
As a Jew who doesn't believe in the concept of a Jewish state - a fundamentally undemocratic and colonialist idea from a bygone era - reception to such ideas within the Jewish community is usually vitriolic, bigoted, racist and downright pathetic.
Speak for all Jews? Hardly, he's trying damn hard to draw attention to himself by provoking as many Jews as possible.

Many of those signing Loewenstein's petition have been duped by the disguised Israel hater. But, considering no-one reads his blog despite massive media attention, it's hard to blame them for not knowing his true position.


Earlier posts on Independent Australian Jewish Voices are here, here and here.
Update: The IAJV petition currently shows 496 signatures but the actual count is 396. A number of dubious names still show, so the real count is even lower.

Update II: The IAJV petition claims to be about "supporting free debate" but Loewenstein is no free speech advocate -- comments at his blog are heavily censored. Comments to his promotional Guardian article are also being censored. Moderators withheld my comment pointing to Loewenstein's low blog traffic (this despite the massive MSM coverage he's been accorded) as proof his message has been rejected. Free debate my arse.

Update III: Guardian moderators have allowed through a toned-down comment regarding Loewenstein's blog censorship.

Update IV: Unverified sign-up continues to be problematic: the signature page shows signatures 467 - 514 but with huge gaps -- out of 48 signatures only 15 appear, the rest having been canned.

Update V: IAJV has abandoned online sign-up. Prospective signatories must now submit their details by email.

1 Comments:

Anonymous Daniel Lewis said...

It's pronounced Grauniad.

6:55 PM  

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