SLUT SIGNS UP: ISRAEL CONDEMNED

My ongoing preoccupation with Antony Loewenstein is easily explained. There's no getting around it, whether he's wearing a cowboy shirt or velvet, the guy is hot. But Loewenstein is more (actually less) than just a pretty face: he's a moderately bright yet untalented writer and gratingly monotonous public speaker who at 34 has yet to write or say anything worth reading or hearing. Were he not an anti-Jew Jew – his sole distinguishing characteristic (Okay, there is his dress sense) – the news media would ignore him, there would be no speaking engagements and his books would remain unpublished. Were he not an outspoken anti-Jew Jew, no one other than whining like-minded lefties, many of them perpetual students, no-hopers and academics, would take any notice of him, his less than profound thoughts garnering no notice beyond the occasionally-published letter to the editor.

Loewenstein's prodigious output coupled with a total lack of talent, insight, and analytical skill make him an easy target. His relentless attention seeking, claims of death threats, censoring of comments at his blog while perversely claiming to be a censorship victim himself, spurious claims of expertise having spent a long time in the Middle East (he hasn't) and ongoing dishonesty only add to his target value. It is the undue attention accorded him by the media that ultimately motivates me to write about him, however.

Again today Loewenstein receives the unwarranted attention of Australia's print and electronic news media. His "newsworthy" achievement? He organised and submitted a statement condemning Israel's Gaza assault, the statement being notable simply because it is "signed" by Loewenstein and 130 other Australian Jews. In fact, the statement (and Loewenstein's participation in it) is notable because it is endorsed by so few.

The statement was first announced last Friday with Loewenstein asking the 507 members of Independent Australian Jewish Voices (IAJV) to endorse it. The statement supposedly received 131 signatures but this number is dubious. Four of the signatories insisted on anonymity and cannot be counted thereby reducing the total to 127. Of these 127 signatories 29 are not among the 507 existing IAJV members and are not verified to be Jews. In fact, one of the 29 is one Shari Mutta, an obvious corruption of sharmuta, common slang for "slut", as used in Adam Sandler's You Don't Mess With The Zohan. (This isn't the first time Loewenstein, keen to get the IAJV's member numbers up, failed to recognise an obviously fake name most Jews would pick up.) Regardless, only 98 IAJV members – fewer than one in five – came on board with Loewenstein. In a word, WOW!

That 409 of IAJV's 507 members did not sign up probably has something to do with an earlier Loewenstein-orchestrated controversy. According to the Australian:

Antony Loewenstein, a founder of Independent Australian Jewish Voices, was a signatory to the advertisement, published in The Australian on Wednesday, which said the 60th anniversary [of Israel's founding] was a "celebration of the triumph of racism and the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians". Other members of the group, including publisher Louise Adler, declined to sign.

The advertisement also caused a stir when it emerged that [IAJV] names had been added to the advertisement without permission.

It sometimes takes a while but even his allies eventually work out Loewenstein plays fast and loose with the truth. It's all about attention seeking.

Update: Vexnews provides additional information:

“Shari Mutta” (not something you would ever call your daughter) originally emailed Loewenstein to say she’s “Jewish by marriage”.

Any real Jewish person knows you cannot possibly become Jewish by marriage, and only by birth or a very involved and difficult conversion process.

Of course any real Jewish person below the age of 60 would also know what ‘Sharmuta’ was.

Not really Jewish? You reckon?

Update II: Loewenstein will be pleased that the IAJV statement, signed by possibly 0.098% of Australian Jews, is receiving worldwide news coverage.