First off, in a new post at Tikkun Daily he claims that Israeli politicians are calling John Kerry an "antisemite" because Kerry said that boycotts of Israel may become a problem. Note that Kerry was not endorsing boycotts in any way, just saying that in his judgement they may become a problem. It is evident why Gershon would like it if John Kerry was actually called an antisemite - John Kerry is not widely believed to be an antisemite so if it could be shown that he was being charged with this, it would make it seem like people maybe do throw around the term antisemite too much.
However the quotes that Gershon offers say nothing of the sort. He quotes the following:
Neftali Bennet: “We expect of our friends in the world to stand by our side against the attempts to impose an anti-Semitic boycott on Israel, and not to be their mouthpiece."
Adi Mintz: "“The anti-Semites have always resorted to a very simple method – hit the Jews in their pockets."
Yuval Steinitz: "Israel cannot be expected to negotiate with a gun to its head when we are discussing the matters which are most critical to our national interests."
In each of these quotes it is clear that nobody is calling John Kerry an antisemite. They are calling attempts to boycott Israel antisemitic, which they are. Since John Kerry is not advocating a boycott, it is nonsensical to say that these accusations were directed at Kerry.
The second lie occurred when I posted a comment pointing out that these quotes do not support the case that Kerry himself was called an antisemite. We have established here already that Gershon uses an IP filter to automatically delete comments from people he knows will challenge his bullshit. So I posted my comment using an IP anonymizer and of course it got through and showed up. As usual, I took a screenshot to prove it was there, and as usual Gershon then deleted it sometime later. You can judge for yourself whether this comment is in any way in violation of Tikkun Daily's comment policy:
So here we again have proof that Gershon deletes challenging comments, while claiming that he doesn't delete comments. Can someone who lies with such ease and so brazenly be anything other than a grifter?
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Update: Wow, the comment is back up now! (along with a similar one I put in when I was not sure whether the anonymizer was in effect) Did this article actually shame him??
Don't forget that DHG was once willing to auction off a 20% share of his future writing income with bids starting at a minimum of $100,000.
ReplyDeleteHere
What??? I think I missed that! What a huckster!
DeleteDeleting comments seems to be Tikkun Daily policy. I just read a woman poster there claim that women are afforded more political opportunity in Muslim countries than they are in the US. Upon very directly, yet respectfully, questioning this astonishing assertion, my comment was deleted, and my current locale apparently blanket-IP-blocked by that site's editors. Again.
ReplyDeleteNot that that site ultimately matters too much in the scheme of things, but it does seem to be rather symbolic of a certain unfortunate brand of faux-progressive 'thought' within the left these days. I find it very interesting that they leave up opposing comments from obvious conservatives (not that there's anything wrong with that, of course), and have even left blatantly antisemitic comments up under numerous articles; yet they appear to have zero tolerance for opposition from real liberals.
I even tried to leave a supportive comment under Mr. Timothy Villareal's most recent article there, and I'm clearly banned from even doing that.
Use an IP anonymizer. I used this one:
Deletehttps://simple-proxy.com/
And it worked. Just go there, type and IP address in the box, and start browsing. The filter at Tikkun (or anywhere else) can't tell where you are from.
The funny thing is, I was on my phone at the time, traveling to North Jersey for work. I couldn't get through on the train anywhere from North Philadelphia to Trenton, NJ. If nothing else, they're very good at blocking large regional chunks of IP addresses!
DeleteI thought smartphones have their own IP address
DeleteOh, they do? I thought they just picked up a local network wherever you were. You could be right then. After all, I don't know much about all these things.
DeleteI'm just an old-fashioned guy who thinks fire is magic, and it scares me a lot.
(I need more The State-quoting opportunities in my life...)
What Harris Gershon does is simply engage in trying to create a rift between America and Israel. He doesn't like it that we are friends. He wants Americans to stand AGAINST Israel. So what does he do... He constantly sends negative messages regarding that. As he told Mister Tee in a diary at Daily Kos (to paraphrase):
ReplyDelete"Well I haven't talked about solutions but I have discussed Israel's problem with Democracy many times".
He claims that he doesn't support BDS but he Gleefully tweets with Ali Abunimah about how glad he is that Scarlett Johannsen (sp?) was "fired" from OxFam over her participation in a Super Bowl commercial with the Israeli Company Soda Stream. Never mind that it was Ms. Johannsen's choice to leave. BUT....
As for his comment policy... anyone reading Harris-Gershon's tweets and blogs can see that he is quite "thin skinned" and frankly is a bit of an asshole (understatement of the year). He has absolutely ZERO understanding of the dynamic on the Palestinian side (or surprisingly on the Israeli side either) and rather than discussing it, he usually reverts to a condescending and snide form of messaging.
I believe he does this because despite his large amount of self-congratulatory posting he doesn't seem to understand people's positions in the slightest and when challenged on policy, simply refuses to engage. He claims to support the same thing as Peter Beinart yet I doubt he even understands what it is that Beinart actually supports. So rather than appear ignorant.. He falls back on bluster.
The more I read of him the more I believe he exposes himself for the fraud that he is.
ONE THING though that I will say.. Harris-Gershon's title was one used in the Israeli Press as well, and it was implied by some Right Wing nuts that Kerry had anti-Semitic motives. That is not a lie. I mean read this sub headline at Times of Israel: http://www.timesofisrael.com/right-wing-mks-slam-kerry-for-boycott-threat/
“Only security will bring economic stability, not a terrorist state close to Ben-Gurion Airport. We expect our friends around the world to stand by our side to face the anti-Semitic attempts to boycott Israel, not to be their mouthpiece,” Bennett added.
Calling Kerry a "mouthpiece for anti-Semitism IS pretty much calling Kerry an anti-Semite.
So... there is that.
But David Harris Gershon being a liar.... Why look it must be a day ending in "y".
(livosh1)
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, DHG seems uninterested in the substance of Kerry's point -- i.e., that the status quo is unsustainable for Israel. Kerry is right, and DHG (and others) don't give a rat's ass about that.
His anti-Israelism sprouts from his anti-Americanism, which he believes is pro-Americanism. Israel is a focal point of the movement.
ReplyDeleteWhat concerns most about people like him is that authoritarianism for the cause seems an appropriate behavior.
I doubt he actually believes his anti-Americanism is pro-Americanism. To the extent that he has any genuine political convictions, he is far-Left, and there is no pro-Americanism there.
DeleteHowever my belief is that DHG is a grifter motivated by profit, and therefore may not actually have any "real" opinions at base.
The far left is very much pro-American in its mind, just tilted way too far to the equality end of the American spectrum.
DeleteSinclair Lewis said: “When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.
It is no different for activists on the other side. They actually believe they are creating an American Utopia.
The grifter meme is a stretch, but if correct, could be argued as a passion for capitalism and Americanism. For all their claims to despise the system we live under, I have not seen many that would walk away from opportunity that the system provides. That does not mean that ideologues and activists lose "real" opinions, just that their thinking is clouded, not to mention they expect others to live by a different standard than they choose to follow.