Israel solidifies its control over web 2.0
A while back on my blog Paulitics, I discussed the campaign by the Israel lobby to pay university students to agree with Israel in classroom discussions, university clubs and in rallies.
This programme and the overwhelmingly pro-Israel North American (and, to a lesser extent, European) media coverage were however not enough for the powerful and extremely well organized lobby. The Israeli lobby then created a desktop application called "Megaphone" about which many political commentators still remain blissfully unaware. Megaphone serves as a syphoning tool which has the power to instantly send pro-Israel activists flooding into any online discussion, web poll or other forum where Israel is being discussed in order to grossly unbalance the discussion thus creating the impression among Internet users that Israel's support is both much wider and deeper than it actually is. However, as frightening and undemocratic as these two operations were, they pale in comparison to what the government of Israel is doing now in terms of making "crimestop" a reality.
The Israeli press is now reporting that, in addition to the considerable influence of the Israeli lobby, the government of Israel has decided to marshal its state treasury to the cause further unbalancing the already obscenely unbalanced debate over Israel's illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories. The government of Israel will now directly pay pro-Israeli agents and bloggers to infiltrate online discussions, message boards, online newspaper comments et cetera with a ubiquitously pro-Israel, anti-Palestinian message.
In the original Paulitics post on StandWithUs.org, I commented on their Orwellian use of doves and other peace imagery despite the fact that Israel has steadfastly rejected international law which calls for the right of all refugees to return to their homes and the Geneva conventions which proscribe against the acquisition of land through military conquest. I can now without reservation say that I was dead wrong in my initial estimation of the situation. Calling the initial programmes "Orwellian" does a disservice to the now genuinely Orwellian levels of deception and subterfuge being engaged in directly by the state.
On the bright side, however, if all of the favourable and unballanced meainstream media coverage; an impressive array of applications and an intimidating lobby group are together not enough to secure Israel's outright hegemony, then there surely is hope that the illegal Israeli occupation is unsustainable.
This text originally appeared on the Paulitics Blog.
I just came across this and am stunned.
What's more stupid is that Israel has told the world its plan. How nefarious, advertising that it would pay for people to surf the net and post. Personally I don't believe these tactics really work well. I prefer what i have seen done on many progressive boards (even here from time to time) and that is put out a call to post at various sites to defend and protect a cause.
I take issue with the charge of this tactic being "anti-democratic". I see it as promoting dialogue. Then again if Israel farts it is cause to be critical here.
It has? Seems to me that in actual fact very few people would/do know.
Ah but Gus, if their farts just weren't so awful...
Nothing "stupid" about it at all. Vicious regimes are often quite open and upfront about their propaganda and subversion programs. The USA, for instance, makes no secret about spending hundreds of millions of dollars on subversion in Cuba, Zimbabwe, Iran, etc., under the guise of what you euphemistically refer to as "promoting dialogue".
Israel isn't interested in promoting dialogue, but in silencing its critics. And it knows it has legions of useful idiots around the world who will gladly help do that by posting in places like babble. But you know this already.
Is that supposed to make it all right then?
Of course these tactics work well! Pro-Israeli propaganda and lies have been successfully propagated all around the globe, and have even managed to confuse people who consider themselves "progressive".
But you know this, too, already.
Israel pays for its support, while the anti-Zionist Jews that expose the crimes of Israel on the internet and elsewhere do so from conviction. The worst nightmare of the champions of Israel has come true.
In an interview this month with the Calcalist, an Israeli business newspaper, Mr Shturman, the deputy director of the ministry's hasbara department, admitted his team would be working undercover.
"Our people will not say: 'Hello, I am from the hasbara department of the Israeli foreign ministry and I want to tell you the following.' Nor will they necessarily identify themselves as Israelis," he said. "They will speak as net-surfers and as citizens, and will write responses that will look personal but will be based on a prepared list of messages that the foreign ministry developed."
Promoting dialogue eh? And undercover, can anyone say slimey, slithering actions loud.
Forbidden! http://arabwomanblues.blogspot.com/2009/07/forbidden.html
The blogger Irish4palestine has published a very, very important piece of information and I urge you ALL, to read it and circulate it around..
Paul, your own source in the article you wrote accusing Israel of paying students $1,000 to agree with their policies states "Jewish student leaders from Columbia University, New York University, and Queens College will receive up to $1,000 a year from the advocacy group StandWithUs to bring speakers and films to campus that portray Israel in a positive light." The money is provided to Jewish campus groups to invite speakers. Yes propaganda of a sort, but a far cry from what you accuse Israel of doing. Do you need help reading perhaps?
I won't waste anymore of my time and wouldn't trust anything you have to say on this issue.
Ahh, Israel's money in action?
What Paul accused Israel of doing, taken from the linked article he used to make his claim, was:
A far cry from the $3000 you are referencing from what seems to be a related, but different article on another one of Israel's anti-democratic propaganda attacks.
P.S. please excuse any spelling or grammatical errors in this post ... after all, I'm not being paid for this.
Nor am I my friend......
Your comment may be accurate regarding the internet, I am not disputing nor debating it.
As you yourself pointed out I am referring to a different article relating to another issue that 'Paul' has commented on, and explaining that the link in THAT article reveals he wrote a total falsehood about students getting paid to be pro-Israel. As a result I will not waste my time investigating and possibly refuting other claims such as the one above, this guy has to make.
As for you, debate all you like but try to be a gentleman and not make silly accusations about people on this board getting $$ for posting. Debate on the merits of the argument......if there are any.
Hope you won't waste your time reading my post.
As for you, debate all you like but try to be a gentleman and not make silly accusations about people on this board getting $$ for posting. Debate on the merits of the argument......if there are any.
Well my friend, maybe you should take this up with Israel ... now that they (Istrael) have admitted to paying for pro-Israeli shills to come along to boards like this and try to shut down the negative debates, then anyone that then comes along and goes so far out of their way to distort a posters content and links, has to be suspected of what is now far more than just a "conspiracy theory".
If Israel and its champions went so far as to finance free PR junkets to young people and politicians and leaders of Aboriginal organizations and trade unions - then I might believe they would pay for propaganda. Not otherwise.
Well my friend, maybe you should take this up with Israel ... now that they (Istrael) have admitted to paying for pro-Israeli shills to come along to boards like this and try to shut down the negative debates, then anyone that then comes along and goes so far out of their way to distort a posters content and links, has to be suspected of what is now far more than just a "conspiracy theory".
If in fact Israel is paying people to spread that sort of propaganda on the web I certainly don't condone that practice. Both sides use their own bag of dirty tricks which eats away at their own credibility. Never said I didn't agree that's a practice to be condemned. And I never suggested shutting down debate [?!].
Going back to the comment I originally made, I simply pointed out that 'Paul'/canadian leftie in a PREVIOUS article which you can jump to by clicking the first link in his thread above, 'comes along and goes so far out of his way to distort ' the truth -- to paraphrase your own words. And therefore his credibility for any further debate on the subject.
Did you read the whole article, and check ALL the sources? The second source (the propaganda group itself) outlines their plans (beyond simply movies and guest speakers) for using students to spread their propaganda ... so, is your distortion any better or worst than the "distortion" you are complaining about?
The link you've got confirms what I said.
"StandWithUs, the non-profit Israel education organization today announced that 40 student leaders from 40 campuses will launch the Emerson Fellowship, an annual program that selects and trains student leaders from campuses across the United States and Canada to run events THAT EDUCATE STUDENTS ABOUT ISRAEL."
That's one student per campus being taught how to lobby for Israel, invite speakers etc. Now you can call this propoganda, you can disagree all you like. But tell me if the following statement by Paul/leftie correctly represents this effort.
"A pro-Israeli lobby group, has begun a program to pay Canadian and American university and college students to agree with Israeli policy and to voice pro-Israeli sentiment in classroom discussion, and in grassroots organization with other campus groups.
The program, organized by the pro-Israel lobby group Stand With Us Campus, offers $1000 per year to pro-Israeli students or to students who may be enticed to go along in order to receive the prize of $1000 (source). In exchange for this money, students are to, in Stand With Us Campus's own words, "build relationships with their campus groups and individuals" to influence discourse in favour of Israel and then (again, in their words) "report back to SWU campus staff to evaluate program effectiveness and network among themselves to ensure consistency." So the next time you hear an undergraduate student in class claiming that Israel is only defending itself when the Palestinian/Israeli death toll is more than 14-to-1 in Israel's favour, just think: he or she might actually be getting paid to say (and believe) such arguments."
Paul could have chosen to attack the program for what it is and we could debate whether an Israeli group has the right to do this or not.
Instead he makes it seem like they're lurking in every classroom. Now that is an absolute fabrication, wouldn't you in all fairness agree?
nope, they in fact probably are "lurking in every classroom
okay then.....
The link you've got confirms what I said.
No it doesn't .. here's what you "said":
I won't waste anymore of my time and wouldn't trust anything you have to say on this issue.
The link I provided clearly shows that the program goes far beyond the $40K and being used just for speakers and movies, which is what your post tries to claim.
So once again I ask, is your distortion any better or worst than what you claim is Paul's distortion?
If you don't want to answer that question, then all I can assume is that you are a paid Zionist inter-webs disruptor coming here to derail the conversation away from the fact that Israel now pays shills to derail valid criticism of Israel .... trying to discredit the presenter of valid information using the BS distortion you are trying to pull is obviously the tactics of someone not interested in allowing the truth to be discussed - the irony is of course that this thread had more or less died until you came along and tried to distort the facts in a foolish attempt to defend Israel's anti-Democratic tactics.
Because of course the Palestinian tactics for manipulating the press are totally defensible, right? But we don't discuss that stuff here, only Israel's wrongs.
Look, you can assume what you like. I already made my point and your link does not contradict it.
I have also already said about the new allegations 'If in fact Israel is paying people to spread that sort of propaganda on the web I certainly don't condone that practice. '
In other words, yes that would be a bad thing. Now find some honesty in your corner.
You and many others here have a distorted view of Israel which can be dealt with in another thread on another day, but to attack every defender of Israel as a spy is paranoid and intellectually immature. Grow up.
Palestinians manipulating the press? Are you here all week?
The Jenin 'massacre' of thousands that never happened. The West Bank muzzling of the press on 9/11 so the world could not watch Palestinians celebrate.
How naive can you guys be.
At least I agree that Israel spreads propoganda, every state and organization from Hamas to the IDF does and some of the stuff can be ugly. But your portrayal of one side on this issue as blameless and downright virginal is unfortunate.
Where is the pest spray?
Where is the pest spray?
I don't know, Himmler, you tell me.
I don't think you belong here, Swonder. I was about to send you on your way before you called a member of this community a Nazi. Now it makes it easy. Ciao.