The Rancid Stew of Zionism, Palestine Activism and Social Networking

NOVANEWS

I’m just amazed at what I’ve been seeing since I began using Facebook and digg.com three years ago as an activist for Palestine.  What I’d wanted from the social networks were two things – to get to know other activists and to be able to use the internet to campaign for the end of the occupation of Palestine.  One would think this would be a fairly simple endeavor – just sign up on some websites, get into the social networking, and everything would work like a smoothly oiled machine.  I’d find the good guys and fight the bad guys.  Little did I know what I’d be getting into; what I’ve found is a rather dirty world of bigotry, personal attacks, backbiting, hypocrisy  and hidden agendas beyond what I’d ever imagined.  

 

This online horror show has no beginning, but it seems to have a fulcrum or central focus around which everything else revolves.  The fulcrum, of course, is Facebook, where the world has bared its soul, distance no longer exists, and one can create an alternate reality and/or identity if one wishes.  Facebook has also become a battleground between the factions that support Israel and those that don’t, which of course is to be expected – but what is not expected is that the battle lines have been drawn, erased and drawn again, not in straight lines but in convoluted tangles of intrigue and insanity.  

 

There are some Facebook groups which profess to be embracing the idea of peace and “coexistence” between Israelis and Palestinians.  This would be simple, and satisfactory, if the memberships of these groups were genuinely dedicated to this purpose, but hidden agendas abound.  I joined two of these groups for short periods of time, only to end up leaving them because I couldn’t deal with the blatant racism, Islamophobia and hatefulness which were supported and condoned by the administrators.  Both groups were made up of Zionists and those who support Palestinian Liberation, but the groups themselves were run by Zionists.  In fact, one group was administered by a settler in the West Bank, who confessed to a friend that his desire was to see all Palestinian Muslims convert to Judaism and live in Israel as Jews. 

In this particular group it was also obvious that some members were working for JIDF; a perusal of their Facebook profiles showed they had few friends, no photos and no posts on their walls, and it was evident that they spent all their waking hours posting and commenting on the group’s wall.  What struck me as important about these groups was that ultimately, pro-Palestine activists were demonized and then removed involuntarily, kicked out for defending Palestine against Zionist lies.  One such activist is Greta Berlin, one of the founders of the Free Gaza movement, who was harassed and bullied by one Zionist who has pretended to be pro-Palestine.  This same crypto-Zionist “activist” also tried the same tactic on me when I came to Greta’s defense.  Greta had been accused of being a holocaust denier simply because someone had tagged her in a photo which was supposedly anti-Semitic.  Greta didn’t even know the tagged photo  was on her Facebook wall. 

But no apology was forthcoming, no attempt was made to undo the damage, but instead a somewhat well-known Zionist supporter who calls herself a Muslim and, amazingly, a descendant of both Jesus Christ and Eleanor of Aquitaine, zoomed in to cause a fitna in her insane support of Zionism while lamely making the assertion that she supports Palestine.  This woman, the so-called descendant of Jesus Christ, viciously attacked several members of the group, and was fully supported by the others in a grotesque tableau of mob cyber-violence. This rather odd person has also publicly asserted that her family wrote the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.  Mental illness and delusion seem to be common on Facebook.

 

The rottenness extends to backdoor communications with thinly veiled threats, including my being sent the lyrics to Bob Dylan’s song “Masters of War” by a rabid supporter of none other than cult hero Ken O’Keefe:

“And I hope that you die, and your death’ll come soon.  I will follow your casket in the pale afternoon.   And I watch while you’re lowered down to your deathbed, and I’ll stand over your grave til I’m sure that you’re dead.”   

 

The above was sent via Facebook message to myself and to several other activists who have openly questioned Ken O’Keefe’s fundraising methods and how he spends donated monies.

 

The spreading of rumors and lies among squabbling activists seems to happen often on Facebook.  There is an intolerance of anything that disrupts the politically correct thinking, but it seems more likely that the narcissism apparent in many activists becomes more pronounce when someone dares to disagree with them.  In a recent such episode, I voiced a differing opinion on a friend’s wall, and the friend responded by publicly criticizing and chastising me for being “impolite.”  When I responded in a private message, I expressed my disappointment in being treated so rudely and unfriended this woman, who reacted by sending a message around to our mutual friends which accused me of being a “spy,” among other things:

 

“DEAR FACEBOOK FRIENDS, especially the 178 FRIENDS that I have in common with MARY SHEPARD. About a year ago, I had a hunch that Mary could be someone that we should be weary of. This gut feeling has been confirmed. I have been sent information about this American woman living in Egypt who is also a recent convert to Islam. She is someone that we definitely do not want amongst us. If you have Mary as a friend, I would seriously consider removing her and blocking her. I will not use the 3 letter word that begins with the letter S and ends with a Y, but regardless of whether she is or isn’t, I am posting this with the best intention…OUR safety! Greta Berlin Adam Sam Alison Weir Ancient Spirit Anne Amna Elliott Ayah Fargone Brad Truthseeker David Albuquerque David Evans Jeff Zavala”

 

The above was circulated on Facebook by a woman I had known for about a year; she is in all appearances a normal, reasonable person, well educated and gainfully employed.  However, on Facebook she seems to have lost all sense of reality and has allowed herself to engage in juvenile rumor mongering and absurdity, which I seriously wonder whether she would do under any other circumstances.  What is astonishing is that not once did this otherwise intelligent woman question just how the hell one would come to know anyone, online or offline, is a spy.  Is there a way to google it?  Is there a list somewhere?  In the world of Facebook, such questions never arise, so of course there is no need for them to be answered.  The weirdness continued with her replies to my response, one of which is this:

 

“I would never deny it! Why would I? Mary, there is a FB message that was sent to me about YOU and I trust what has been said about you and the person who sent it to me. If you are working for someone…you should be more careful. If you aren’t,  you should be more polite, respectful and courteous. You can listen to this advice if you want, but I really don’t care if you don’t….it’s up to you. I liked you too, but regardless of what you think of me now…you can take this advice and get on with your life or not. I have notified all my friends in Egypt and Gaza about you and I have forwarded the information about you that was sent to me. Please do not contact them.”

 

Elsewhere, so-called activist Ken O’Keefe, when confronted with questions as to the legality and propriety of his fundraising tactics, reacts by viciously badmouthing and verbally crucifying those who dared to cross him:

 

“Never mind me, this has never been a personal dispute, this is about infiltration, lies and Zionist styled treachery, taken right out of the Zionist handbook.  But despite the early success of this plan it is beginning to crumble, and soon enough even the idiots are going to take a big bite of humble pie and admit, “I was a flippin idiot!”  Bank on this. And a special note of shame shall go to any and all Muslims who bought into, fed or spread this backbiting and slander, something that every genuine Muslim knows is expressly condemned in Islam.  Here is an example of how you have been played, by a false Muslim like Catherine Myles;”

 

Ken O’Keefe insists “this has never been a personal dispute” but goes on to make it personal, uttering derogatory religious remarks against those he perceives as his enemies; in fact, he publishes a list on his website of the “idiots,” and my own name appears on that list.  But it gets much worse.  Mr. O’Keefe further destroys the credibility of Palestine activists by engaging openly in discussions supporting the demonization of Judaism:

 

 Ken O’Keefe “Ryan, you have a great mind, but your youth does at times breed an arrogance. The truth is that the mere mention of “Jew” has been so stigmatised that decades of ethnically cleansing the Palestinians has been given cover because of the fear of saying the truth, the culprit in this massive crime has been the “Jewish” state of Israel, with the US importantly, providing the means. 

 

“In Israel the word and meaning of “Zionist” is a non-issue, most Jews in Israel do not even use that term, read Gilad Atzmon’s latest book to understand this. It is Jews, some Zionist, some not, that have an incredible grip on power and this power threatens our very existence. You may be down with not using Jew to explain what Jews are doing, but thankfully this tendency is not so paralysing as it has been for the decades since World War II. 

 

“The truth is the truth, and so I repeat, Jews have a special burden, similar to that of the “decent Germans” of Nazi Germany. When the Germans failed to reign in the Nazi regime, look what happened. Likewise, Jews had better reclaim their religion and destroy the widely practised Jewish ideology that says Jews are “the chosen ones” and the rest of us are “Goy” who can be lied to, stolen from, tortured and killed… because God said it is just fine. This has nothing to do with Zionism, this is Judaism that says this and we can witness it on a myriad of levels. Am I saying all Jews? Absolutely not. Am I saying Muslims and Christians are innocent? Hell no. But any person, whether it was a Jew, a Muslim, Christian, Nazi, whatever, who claims to be “the chosen ones” and acts like they can do whatever they wish no matter how vile, is an enemy to all. With the Jewish state of Israel threatening to kick off the end of the world, it is time all Jews of conscience scream and shout we are not better than the rest of our human family, and we do not support the racist Jewish state of Israel at all. There is no racism or bigotry in what I am saying here, but mind controlled people will see these words as such, and it is just such conditioning that needs to be destroyed so that truth can be seen and spoken without hindrance.”

 

A response by one of Ken’s friends:

 

Patrick Soddof Willis “As long as people are willing to turn away from reality, we will have masters. The jews have a long history of exploiting weaknesses in the human condition. A long and extremely well documented one. Even going back to biblical times, where the usurers were lobbed out of the temple, if you go for that kinda thing.  By deception shall we make war. There are always those that are more than willing to be deceived.  There are followers, and there are leaders.”

 

Winding through this rubbish pile is also the snake of Islamophobia, and it pokes its head out every chance it gets, whether it’s within the words used by a Zionist settler or a westerner professing to “respect the culture” of Gaza.  On one so-called “balanced discussion” group page, one commenter says he is “proud to have haji blood on my hands.”  One other Muslim is called “pig face boy” and another makes the assertion that it is permissible or even desirable for Muslims to lie.  “I have heard that Muslims are allowed to lie and this comes from the Quran,” says a Zionist Jew in his pseudo-sincere efforts to contribute to “peace and coexistence.”  There were claims made that Islam causes “suffering,” no doubt as a lame attempt to deflect attention from the true cause of suffering in Palestine and elsewhere in the world – Zionism.  Yet the common Zionist refrain is, “The clear majority of Arabs/Muslims support violent terrorism against Jews – it’s a sad fact.”  

 

Clearly, with such putrefaction in the world of Palestine solidarity and activism, it appears that there is little hope for any progress.  After the recent bus crash in the West Bank which killed 10 Palestinian children, the dregs of humanity climbed up out of their cesspits to celebrate the deaths; do peace-loving people produce such ilk?  By the same token, the hunger strike of Khader Adnan, an act of nonviolent resistance to administrative detention and maltreatment by the occupier forces, is met with either indifference or self-soothing denial; Khader is, of course,  a “terrorist who threatens the security of Israel.” 

No questions are asked as to his guilt or innocence – it is enough that he is supposedly a member of Islamic Jihad.  Guilt by association is enough for the morally lazy and ethically impoverished to wash themselves of any involvement or culpability for what, at this writing, may very well be the death of a young father who chose to use his own body to fight the brutality of occupation.

 

The finishing touch on this decomposing mixture consists of the immortal words of Norman Finkelstein, former anti-Zionist Jewish guru, who has pronounced the BDS movement a “cult,” and who went on to condemn the entire solidarity movement as one which will never succeed.  Overnight, as in the case of Judge Goldstone, Finkelstein has gone from persona non grata in the Zionist world to becoming the prodigal son, returning to the Israel-supporting fold.  One must wonder whether, like Newt Gingrich, he’s made friends with Sheldon Adelson. 

 

I’m hoping the sludge will be shoveled up and tossed away, and after the criminals who have ripped off money meant to help the people of Palestine, the psychotics who see fit to turn on their fellow activists have received proper treatment, and the ideologically confused have meditated or prayed their way to a clear path, we can salvage this endeavor, concentrate on the task at hand and accomplish our goal.  Inshaallah.

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