Welcome to the new MuzzleWatch blog
Posted on October 30 2006 by Cecilie Surasky under About Muzzlewatch , JVP.Welcome to MuzzleWatch, the new blog dedicated to tracking efforts to muzzle critics of US-Israeli foreign policy. We, the folks at Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), decided to start this blog because we’ve simply had enough.
We found ourselves getting disinvited from too many speaking engagements. We saw too many groups we like get called anti-Semitic. We encountered too many people who capitulated to pressure to simply shut up.
MuzzleWatch is dedicated to creating an open atmosphere for debate about US-Israeli foreign policy by:
- shining a light on incidents that involve pressure, intimidation, and outright censorship of critics of US-Israeli policy
- showing that there is an environment of intimidation that keeps far too many people from speaking honestly and openly
- demanding accountability from groups that use silencing tactics
It is simply absurd that these issues can be debated much more openly in Israel than in the United States.
JVP’s primary work is education and advocacy about what we think is terrible US policy regarding Israel. (You can find out more about what we think here and here.)
We understand that this is a highly polarized issue. We’re Jews, after all, so we only have to look as far as our families to know that opinion is divided.
But for most of us who do this work, there is a moment when we discovered the rules are different when you talk about Israeli and US policy toward the Palestinians and Arab states. Instead of those healthy debates we love here in the US, we’re met with silence and fear.
To be fair, emotions can get so raw that often people just don’t want to go there. Because of our experiences with anti-Semitism, when someone says “Israel shouldn’t be doing X,” what a lot of Jews actually hear is, “I hate Jews!” We get this.
But there’s also something much more insidious taking place. At JVP, we see it all the time. There are groups and individuals who pro-actively work to silence people like us.
By “people like us” we mean anyone who dares to offer principled criticism of Israel’s policies, and US support for those policies. The form of silencing is different for “dissenting” Jews, Muslims and Arabs, Christians, media professionals, academics etc…. but the end result is a disturbingly pervasive fear of simply discussing one of the most critical issues facing the world today.
The ironic truth is that these incidents of silencing are growing in number because groups like the Anti-Defamation League or AIPAC are growing increasingly scared. They’re the ones afraid of open debate. Not us. You’ve got to ask yourself why.
We’ll be linking to current news stories as well as sharing our own stories and primary documents when we get them. We hope you’ll write us as well.
What we want, ultimately, is a country in which everyone feels safe to simply ask questions, discuss and debate the issues. What could be healthier for Americans, healthier for democracy?
Get Muzzlewatch delivered fresh daily
Print This Post
January 19th, 2007 at 9:55 am
Congratulations on putting up a bold new site to take on the critics of those they call anti-Semitic when discussing the failed and often tragic and brutal policies of the nation of Israel.
I have been studying these issues for several years and for even longer there has been an abundance of forthright documentation that corroborates the statements of those that criticize the Israeli nation. Surprisingly, a lot of it can be found coming right out of Israel itself. Even Ben-Gurion and noted historian, Benny Morris, have admitted quite openly to the brutal plans for the disolution of the Palestinian peoples. If that weren’t
enough, documentation is easily found from government officials, IDF members, and a bevy of historians both inside and outside of Israel.
Critics of such truths often have little to substantiate their claims; Abe Foxman and Alan Derschowitz being prime examples.
Unfortunately, rabid Zionists, like any fanatical group are highly focused on their agendas, frighteningly cohesive in sociological infrastructure, and similar in bravery to the Medieval French Knights when it comes to attacking those that disagree with their point of view.
It will take more than this website to bring sanity to the discussion fo these issues but it is a good beginning…
January 19th, 2007 at 11:20 am
What a great idea this blog is! Every time the local paper publishes an op ed or letter critical of Israel, the muzzlers condemn it as an anti-semitic diatribe without, of course, refuting any fact in the piece they condemn. Well, once they used another adjective,
January 19th, 2007 at 1:00 pm
I work in communications for a small New York nonprofit in the field of Jewish education. I am often frustrated and depressed by the tone of writing on US-Israeli policy in the American Jewish press (to which I was blissfully oblivious before working here), and by the feeling that my pro-peace, anti-racist views would provoke angry, defensive reactions from many of the people I interact with in the course of my work. Particularly depressing since, as the poster above pointed out, my views are shared, and openly expressed, by many in Israel itself. Bravo to this and all the work of JVP.
January 19th, 2007 at 1:26 pm
I would like to take note of several interesting phenomena. First of all, in repsonse to the previous two posters, I see many letters/Op-Eds similar to their viewpoint in local newspapers, complaining that every time they criticize Israel they are called anti-Semites; yet I cannot recall seeing a single letter or Op-Ed that accuses someone of being anti-Semitic merely for criticism of the policies of the state of Israel! Why is it that this charge is always made by critics of Israel?
More fundamental, though, is the nature of such criticism. Is it biased in its very nature (for example, by criticism of Israel’s actions to protect its citizens with no mention whatsoever of Palestinian terrorism)? Is it couched in highly inflammatory and unfounded language (for example, comparing Israel’s actions to the mass slaughter of millions by Nazi Germany)? And most importantly, is it biased by refusing to accept the right of the Jewish people to a state in our own homeland while granting that same right to any other self-identified group in the world?
I accept criticism of Israel very legitimately from those who say : “I totally support Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state, but I don’t agree with what they are doing about …..” (read any Israeli newspaper and you get plenty of that!). However, from those who don’t support Israel’s right to exist at all, and therefore oppose ANY action that it takes in face of Palestinian rejectionist terrorism (read the Hamas charter, folks!), such criticism is merely a smokescreen for supporting the destruction of the Jewish state.
So from those who support Israel’s existence, no problem. But if you don’t (and that includes JVP), you leave yourself open to those who question YOUR underlying motive. As the European Commission Working Definition of Anti-Semitism states, “Examples of the ways in which antiSemitism manifests itself with regard to the state of Israel taking into account the overall context could include denying the Jewish people the right to self-determination eg by claiming that the existence of the state of Israel is a racist endeavor; applying double standards by requiring of it a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation.”
I challenge you to keep this post up in the spirit of “open dialogue”.
January 19th, 2007 at 1:38 pm
I stand with Berkeley Women in Black each Friday from noon to 1:00 at the entrance to the U C campus at Telegraph and Bancroft.
While many students, staff and teachers stop to inquire about our purpose and accept our informatinal flyers with interest and even appreciation, it is unnerving to see the anger that others approach us with……..as if there is no middle ground for discussion. Thank you for opening the door and letting some light in.
January 20th, 2007 at 12:38 am
Your effort to counteract the militant exploits of AIPAC is greatly apprecieated. There has been entirely too much war and oppresion in the history of the world. I am confident that your program will help diminish the sad conditions we see in this world today. Please encourage letters to the editor, letters to political figures, and petitions. The models established my Moveon.org are excellent examples.
January 20th, 2007 at 4:35 am
I find it both amusing and amazing that critics of Israel feel so besieged.
I am a supporter of Israel on moral grounds. It is my view that the enemies of Israel have, for eight decades, been absolutely genocidal in their intent and that Israel has demonstrated on multiple occasions its willingness to agree to what may militarily be accurately described as suicide borders in return for what appears to be the possibility of a very cold and fragile peace.
I view the openly-declared enemies of Israel as also being genocidal against all non-Arab or non-Muslims. Witness the fate of Lebanese Christians, Sudanese non-Arabic-speakers, Kurds (non-Arabs) and the Copts.
I also view the enemies of Israel as being the most misogynistic (witness honor killings, forced marriage, female genital mutilation, the burka or face scarf, driving prohibitions, legalization of domestic violence) and homophobic forces in the world today.
Despite this, I feel that I am muzzled when I speak out in support of Israel. I attended a conference at Columbia University to discuss anti-Israel bias at the Middle East Studies Department. There, six people in the audience tried to interrupt the session, rather than participating in the ample and open Q&A. A non-Jewish friend of mine had lived in the Saudi Arabia and Iran for many years and challenged one of the Columbia professors standing accused of bias on matters related to the treatment of women in Muslim countries; he was given the worst grade on his undergraduate transcript by that professor.
At Berkeley, I was invited to a party at someone’s home. This self-proclaimed liberal compared Israel to Nazi Germany with a poster he proudly displayed on his wall; his walls smeared no other country. If only he could experience both and report back. Many people, during my years at Berkeley, made me feel as an absolute pariah for my beliefs…so who is being muzzled, I ask?
I have attended dinner parties in the U.S. hosted by Europeans–French, English, Scandinavian, etc. Likewise, many of them are unaware of the pro-Israel position–their ignorance is staggering–at the same time, I was well-versed in all of their arguments; they have only ever been exposed to one side of the argument. So, which side is being muzzled?
Accusations against the pro-Israel camp often mirror the code language of anti-Semites in their implications of Jewish domination of the media and evil Jews pulling strings behind the scenes. These motifs are straight out of Nazi Germany and the fraudulent Protocols of the Elders of Zion (the best-seller aside from the Koran in the Muslim world).
My honest read is that it is a great tactic to silence critics to accuse the critics preemptively of trying to silence you. It has conspiratorial appeal–and who better to accuse of a conspiracy than the Jews? And it liberates the accuser of ever having to defend his/her position, when challenges to the position can be so dismissed as mere mean-spirited attempts to silence him/her.
Historically, however, it has never been Jews pulling the strings…it has been Jews simply trying–and generally failing–to survive.
History repeats itself. And, when it does, you may console yourself in claiming that, if only Israel listened to your advice and got rid of those pesky checkpoints and walls, it all could have been averted.
January 20th, 2007 at 4:42 am
For the record, I am a different “Mike” than the Mike with no “P”.
January 20th, 2007 at 12:06 pm
Israel-haters like to claim they are being silenced or accused of anti-semitism simply because they are criticizing Israel. My observation is that there is a LOT of open and honest criticism of Israel, both in our society and in Israel, and it is scarcely silenced at all.
HOWEVER, there is also a lot of criticism of Israel - particularly from self-described “progressives” - that is astoundingly dishonest or misleading. This may fairly be criticized. It may fairly be considered anti-semitic.
These dishonest or misleading criticisms of Israel typically include:
a. misleading terminology (e.g. “wall”, “apartheid”)
b. selective application of human rights principles (Israel is unique in the Middle East in the extent of political democracy, women’s rights, gay rights, freedom of press, etc… You would never know this by listening to some of the most vocal so-called “peace” groups or so-called “progressive” media)
c. obsession with criticizing Israel, while ignoring or underplaying vastly worse human rights violators, particularly in the Middle East.
d. misplacement of blame on Israel (e.g. actions that are clearly defensive are portrayed as offensive; misery caused by PA, Hamas or Hezbollah is attributed to Israel; etc.)
e. exaggeration of impact of Israel’s actions (e.g. false accusations of “massacre”)
There are so many examples of “progressive anti-semitism”, it is hard to pick just one, but for illustrative purposes, you can view the web site http://www.mecaforpeace.org/ This is supposed to be an organization to advocate for “Middle Eastern Children”. On their site, you do indeed see documention of suffering of Palestinian, Iraqi and Lebanese children. This is (1) falsely attributed entirely to Israel and/or it’s ally the United States; that is, there is nothing about Palestinian leadership misusing aid funds, mis-education of children to generate hatred of Jews and suicide bombing, artificially generated poverty attributed to Jews, conditions created by Hamas, Hezbollah or Sadaam Hussein that lead to such suffering, etc. Moreover, (2) MECA ignores the suffering of children throughout the vast majority of the Middle East ( Sudan ? Iran ? Hello!) . Why is this?
It appears that as far as MECA is concerned, if you can’t blame the Jews, then the suffering of “Middle East Children” is irrelevant. The organization behaves as if it is a cover for generating hatred of Jews and the United States , rather than honestly representing situations that would reflect their own name and charter.
There are countless other examples, including “academics” and “progressives”.
This is tragic. The blatant hate-mongering and dishonestly does indeed “muzzle” true debate, as it clouds honest conversation.
Art
January 20th, 2007 at 12:50 pm
For my part, the muzzle has been so effective that I did not know of JVP or other Jewish groups who question the policies of Israel. I don’t read the NY Times or attend a university. So the filtered view is one of you are an anti-semite , Pres. Carter case in point, if you dare question Israeli policies towards Palestinian
people in particular and Arab states in general.
I hope the Palestinians have a friend
in the JVP and like organizations.This what scares the conservatives. Up until now, it has only been the wacky far left that presented an alternative viewpoint.
I don’t see any end to this myself, I hope I am wrong. Now that religion has been alloyed into the issue,and hs given all the players a divine and righteous path, the peace prospects are tenuous at best.
Most working class Americans have the viewpoint that “They have been fighting over there forever”, and to be candid, you’ll hear that “the Jews run everything”. I’m just being honest, I don’t run in intellectual circles.
It is also not hard to find sympathy for the Palestinians, but with the last gasp of a people that have turned to the terrorist siren call that sympathy is in jepardy.
I honestly believe that many Palestinians will resist “forever”. I beleive it is human nature. Why should they go quietly into oblivion because a people of the Jewish faith from thousands of miles away wants their land?
Anti-Semitic ? I am not a graduate student ,but aren’t Palestinian people semitic also? Isn’t arabic a semitic lauguage?
You have a lot of work to do.
February 5th, 2007 at 3:49 pm
This is a wonderful idea for a new blog. I considered setting up something along the same lines a while back, but didn’t really have the time or energy to make anything come of it (see: http://www.anti-semite.blogspot.com/ ). Presumably JVP is in a better position to do so.
The whole “anti-Semitism” libel as a Hasbara device has really gotten ridiculous. Frankly, after declaring Jimmy Carter and Desmond Tutu “anti-Semites” the whole concept has become an embarrassment. Being very active in some of the more radical elements of the peace & justice movement, every once in a while I do run into some well meaning, but ignorant, people saying things that are in fact anti-Semitic, i.e. is actually a racist comment about “the Jews.” Thanks to the ongoing abuses of the term, I’ve stopped using it all together, even when confronted with real anti-Semitism. Instead I take exception by pointing out the racist nature of the comment – using the term “racist” – as opposed to using the term anti-Semitism.
Beyond the use of the term for sheer political malice, it gets even more absurd with things like the attack on the Australian brewery for citing the “German Purity Law” (A beer making law from Germany. See “Beer commercial ‘leaves sour taste’” - http://www.ajn.com.au/news/news.asp?pgID=2423) and calls by the Israel Hasbara Committee to ignore real anti-Semitism in favor of supporting Islamaphobia and radical right-wing Zionism (To quote: “The misojudaic ideologies of the KKK, the Arian Nations, the Skinhead movement and their sympathizers, pose just a minute problem to the Jewish people, because they constitute a fringe minority in our society. These traditional Jew-haters should not be the focus of our concerns about the worldwide rise in misojudaism at this point in time.” From “The Perspective of American Jews on Antisemitism Must Change” by the Israel Hasbara Committee - http://www.infoisrael.net/cgi-local/text.pl?source=4/b/vi/250620061 ). Not surprisingly, if you move to the Right and read Arutz Sheva or Horowitz’s “FrontPage” you learn that most Israeli leaders (Sharon, Olmert, Peres, &c.) are also “anti-Semites.” Plainly only an idiot can take this charge seriously any longer – Israel and its defenders have gutted the word of any meaning beyond “anti-Semite = anyone to the left of Likud”.
Anyway, keep up the good work and I’ll do what I can to help spread word of your excellent effort.
John Sigler
–
Jewish Friends of Palestine
http://www.jewishfriendspalestine.org
February 7th, 2007 at 11:07 pm
BTW, I assume that JVP roundly condemns the attempt to “muzzle” the speech of a woman outside the Berkeley JCC 3 days ago who was hnding out postcards to sign in support of the 3 IDF soldiers kidnapped by Hamas and Hezbollah?
Hmmm, but in this case you were one of the co-sponsors of the event going on inside (the JCC staffer explained to the woman that she had to leave because the event organizers requested it).
I guess anytime you can’t get invited by a private organization in which you have no standing (such as ADL) you claim to be “muzzled” but you have no problems asking someone to leave a public area where one has First Amendment rights. Double standards, anyone?
(not Mike P, just Mike!)