To MoveOn.org's defenders: how would you like your CROW?

To the Anti-Defamation League's Abraham Foxman, The Nation's Eric Alterman, Ira Forman of the National Jewish Democratic Council, and Jewish Funds for Justice:

We hope the CROW has been prepared to your liking, because it will be your principal meal for the next couple of weeks.

You and your organizations have not only swallowed whole but supported publicly MoveOn.org's press release of September 2.


To recap, here is what Eli Pariser said in his press release of September 2.

MoveOn’s ActionForum is an open forum where members of the public and MoveOn members can post their thoughts regarding important political issues. Once in a while—as in any public forum—inappropriate material is posted. Recently, a few ofthe thousands of comments that are posted every week contained anti-Semitic language.The comments that were posted were abhorrent. We were dismayed to see them, and removed them as soon as they came to our attention 17 days ago.

Right, Mr. Pariser. You said they came to your attention 17 days ago (in mid-August). Let’s take a look at the FAQ for your Action Forum, which is still online and which has been downloaded and stored elsewhere in case it vanishes suddenly next week.

How can I make sure someone at MoveOn reads my post ? All comments are read at least twice. While there is no single criteria, comments that suggest a possible MoveOn action and are not duplicative are likely to be immediately passed on, or included in a summary to the whole MoveOn team. Ratings, while important, are not definitive and some comments with few or low ratings are included in the summaries. Important issues are sometimes followed up with a survey to a sampling of the membership.

It looks like MoveOn.org has seriously violated the Eleventh Commandment ("Thou Shalt Not Get Caught") by forgetting to take down its Action Forum FAQ. As you see, MoveOn.org's moderators not only saw every single piece of hate speech on the Action Forum, they saw it twice. This proves beyond a reasonable doubt that MoveOn.org's press release of September 2 was a total and outright lie, and you swallowed it hook, line, and sucker-- excuse us, sinker.

ADL, you are in no position to complain about your victuals because Jan Poller and ourselves sent you reams of evidence that MoveOn.org had lied to you and made a fool of you, but you chose to continue your whitewash of this hate organization anyway. It is therefore expected that you will eat your CROW without complaint, and change your now-indefensible position promptly.

National Jewish Democratic Council and Jewish Funds for Justice, we are equally sure that you will not knowingly and willfully use your status as nominally-Jewish organizations to whitewash and cover for MoveOn.org now that this information has been sent to you directly.

Eli Pariser challenged on MoveOn.org hate speech

The following E-mail has been sent to info “at” moveon.org to challenge Eli Pariser to publicly debate, in front of as many cameras and microphones as possible, or in a newspaper’s point/counterpoint format, our allegations that MoveOn.org knowingly and willfully allowed its Action Forum to be used as a platform for racist, anti-Semitic, and anti-Catholic hate speech as well as 9/11 denial. This challenge was prompted by the Jewish Fund for Justice’s attempt to whitewash MoveOn.org. Whether this was at MoveOn’s request or on its own initiative is irrelevant; it is time for MoveOn.org to stop hiding behind its allies and enablers, step forward, and take responsibility for its actions.

Dear Mr. Pariser,
MoveOn.org’s press release of September 2 does not apologize for allowing its Action Forum to be used as a platform for hate speech that could have come straight from Nazis or Ku Klux Klansmen. The hate speech included a blood libel of Jews (asserting that the Talmud commands Jews to hate and even “slaughter” non-Jews), a racial slur that calls prominent African-Americans “house slaves,” and the phrase “Catholic Pedophiles of America.” In addition, there were numerous examples of 9/11 denial. 9/11 denial is like Holocaust denial except it dismisses, excuses, or blames on someone else (e.g. the Bush Administration) two missing skyscrapers and four missing passenger aircraft instead of six million missing Jews and three million missing Polish Catholics. The reprehensibility of 9/11 denial and Holocaust denial is equal in terms of everything but the number of innocent people whose murders are excused, written off, or blamed on someone other than the known perpetrators.

The press release instead seeks to blame the hate speech on “a right-wing campaign to target [MoveOn.org]” while claiming, “We were dismayed to see [the hate speech entries], and removed them as soon as they came to our attention 17 days ago.” organizations like Fidelis, The Center for Jewish Values (CJV), and the National Committee for the Furtherance of Jewish Education (NCFJE) do not find these statements credible and neither do I.

On the other hand, the Anti-Defamation League, The Nation, and the Jewish Funds for Justice have accepted MoveOn.org’s explanations. The Jewish Funds for Justice has put up a petition to object to our ongoing exposure of MoveOn.org’s apparent tolerance of hate speech. The petition is full of politically-correct Kumbaya-singing claptrap and this is my personal response to it:

Dear Jewish Funds for Justice,

Scorn and defiance; slight regard, contempt,
And any thing that may not misbecome
The mighty sender, doth he prize you at.
–King Henry V

In fairness to the organizations, columnists, and pundits who have weighed in on both sides of this controversy, it is past time to clear the air with a public debate or a point-counterpoint exchange in a major newspaper. I would personally be delighted to meet you in either or both, prior to the November 7 elections so voters can make informed decisions about the candidates who have chosen to accept MoveOn.org’s endorsement and/or financial support.

Regards,
Bill Levinson
======================
Sent to info “at” moveon.org on 25 October (Saint Crispin’s Day), 591st anniversary of the Battle of Agincourt.
King Henry V, one of my favorite role models, put the above far more eloquently than I ever could:

Take a trumpet, herald;
Ride thou unto the horsemen on yon hill:
If they will fight with us, bid them come down,
Or void the field; they do offend our sight:
If they’ll do neither, we will come to them,
And make them skirr away, as swift as stones
Enforced from the old Assyrian slings.

Appendix: Jan Poller’s letter to MoveOn.org
From: Jan Mel Poller [E-mail given to MoveOn.org, deleted for privacy here]
Sent: Thursday, April 01, 2004 10:19 AMTo: ‘info “at” moveon.org’
Subject: Liberals and the left

I doubt that you will read this or pass it on to your leaders, but it is worth a try.
I am an old time Liberal, dating back to the Truman era. I am deeply disturbed by some of the anti-liberal views espoused in many forums on line, in college campuses and in the news media.
Liberalism always fought for truth and against censorship. I was told by a Muslim woman that she was against terrorism, Saddam, Arafat and the rest of the Jihad leaders. However, her posts were not allowed to appear here. At the same time, Nouris strongly anti-Israel posts, not to mention rod Hutchinson’s anti-Semitic post are allowed to appear.
You tolerated my posts, which challenged support for Jihadist terrorism and supported Israel and the spread of democracy throughout the world (including the Arab world), have all been removed. I am no longer allowed to post.
I am pleased that you have done this as it supports my view that the extreme left is totalitarian.
You are part of the college campus terrorists. San Francisco state expelled a 59 year old Russian Jewish woman because she attacked Communism and supported Israel. You are part of the totalitarian left who shouts down anyone who doesn’t share your views.
The first time I came to the MoveOn website, you prominently display a screed that said Barak, not Arafat walked out of the Camp David peace talks. You did this on the word of Uri Avneri against al the statements by people who were there, including your hero, Clinton.
The really bright thing that you do is support the Islamo-fascist Jihadists. You give them the knife present your throat and say, “Slit here”.
You are like the pacifists of the 1930’s who didn’t mind Hitler’s aggression.
Jan Mel Poller
PS: you might remind Noah T Winer that Hamas wants to slaughter all Jews in Israel. If they succeed in doing that, they won’t stop there. After all, the Islamo-Fascists are claiming Spain again and the Jews would be killed there, as well.

Blog Against MoveOn.org: Back the Attack!

Anyone who wants to help kick MoveOn.org’s backside this election can help by blogging about how MoveOn.org knowingly and willfully welcomed anti-Semitic, racist, and anti-Catholic hate speech at its Action Forum until the widening scandal forced the scandal to shut down on September 24. Please circulate this information as widely as possible, especially in states like Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Connecticut where MoveOn.org is backing candidates. Here is a list of MoveOn.org candidates:

Ned Lamont (D-CT)
Patrick Murphy for U.S. Congress (D-PA-08)
Diane Farrell for U.S. Congress (D-CT-04)
Robert Byrd for U.S. Senate (KKK-WV)
Bob Casey for U.S. Senate (D-PA)
Nick Lampson for U.S. Congress (D-TX-22)
Sherrod Brown for U.S. Senate (D-OH)
Francine Busby for U.S. Congress (D-CA-50)
Bill Nelson for U.S. Senate (D-FL)
In addition, Murtha (D-PA) is involved with MoveOn.org in some manner.



Talking points:
(1) For the past two and a half years, MoveOn.org welcomed racist, anti-Semitic, and anti-Catholic hate speech along with 9/11 conspiracy theories at its Action Forum.

(2) MoveOn’s exercise of editorial control (”exercise of editorial control” is the key phrase) over the Action Forum makes it 100 percent responsible for the content. MoveOn’s moderators were very diligent about finding and deleting posts that were critical of MoveOn.org while letting the hate speech stand.

(3) The rest of the MoveOn community voted overwhelming approval, usually ranging from 70 to 95 percent, of the hate speech.

(4) MoveOn itself (NOT the Action Forum) published a bulletin that cites anti-Semitic sources in Counterpunch magazine, and also an anti-Catholic cartoon that showed Pope Benedict waving a gavel in front of the Supreme Court.

(5) The candidates named above have refused to disown and repudiate MoveOn.org’s endorsement and/or monetary support. Compare to Ronald Reagan, who refused to accept the Ku Klux Klan’s endorsement. (Don’t hesitate to compare MoveOn.org to Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan, noting that the hate speech in question was quite suitable for Klansman and/or genuine Nazis.)

(6) The hate speech in question included a blood libel of Jews that says the Talmud commands Jews to hate and slaughter non-Jews, Jews are more loyal to Israel than the U.S., Jews control all the media, African-American soldiers should be segregated and disarmed as potential mutineers, Condoleeza Rice and Colin Powell are “house slaves,” “The Catholics are raping your children,” and “Catholic Pedophiles of America.” (More here: http://www.stentorian.com/MoveOn/sideshow1.html)

MoveOn.org official Web page cites anti-Semitic sources

"Crazed Christian fundamentalists" smeared along with Jews

MoveOn.org has argued that the racist, anti-Semitic, and anti-Catholic hate speech at its Action Forum were planted there by conservative operatives, apparently right under the noses of MoveOn.org moderators who were very diligent about finding and deleting criticisms of MoveOn.org itself. Now perhaps MoveOn will claim that a huge invisible (Republican) elephant hacked into their Web site and posted this under the name "Noah Winer."

http://www.moveon.org/moveonbulletin/bulletin13.html#8

This essay describes many of the familiar neo-conservatives as having "dual loyalties," making policy decisions in the interests of the State of Israel as much as the United States.
http://www.counterpunch.org/christison1213.html

Let's see what the Counterpunch article has to say.

A Rose By Another Other Name
The Bush Administration's Dual Loyalties

by KATHLEEN and BILL CHRISTISON
former CIA political analysts

...These people, who can fairly be called Israeli loyalists, are now at all levels of government, from desk officers at the Defense Department to the deputy secretary level at both State and Defense, as well as on the National Security Council staff and in the vice president's office.

We still tiptoe around putting a name to this phenomenon. ...We make wry jokes about Congress being "Israeli-occupied territory." ...But we never pronounce the particular words that best describe the real meaning of those observations and wry remarks. It's time, however, that we say the words out loud and deal with what they really signify.

Dual loyalties. The issue we are dealing with in the Bush administration is dual loyalties-the double allegiance of those myriad officials at high and middle levels who cannot distinguish U.S. interests from Israeli interests, who baldly promote the supposed identity of interests between the United States and Israel, who spent their early careers giving policy advice to right-wing Israeli governments and now give the identical advice to a right-wing U.S. government, and who, one suspects, are so wrapped up in their concern for the fate of Israel that they honestly do not know whether their own passion about advancing the U.S. imperium is motivated primarily by America-first patriotism or is governed first and foremost by a desire to secure Israel's safety and predominance in the Middle East through the advancement of the U.S. imperium.

...We have a Jewish friend who is not bothered by the term [dual loyalties] in the least, who believes that U.S. and Israeli interests should be identical and sees it as perfectly natural for American Jews to feel as much loyalty to Israel as they do to the United States. But this is clearly not the usual reaction when the subject of dual loyalties arises.)

Jews are not the only group that this article targets:

The dual loyalists in the Bush administration have given added impetus to the growth of a messianic strain of Christian fundamentalism that has allied itself with Israel in preparation for the so-called End of Days. These crazed fundamentalists see Israel's domination over all of Palestine as a necessary step toward fulfillment of the biblical Millennium, consider any Israeli relinquishment of territory in Palestine as a sacrilege, and view warfare between Jews and Arabs as a divinely ordained prelude to Armageddon. These right-wing Christian extremists...

Now take a look at who else thinks just as highly of this reference as MoveOn.org:
http://www.aljazeerah.info/Opinion%20editorials/2005%20Opinion%20Editorials/May/12%200/The%20Bush%20Administration's
%20Dual%20Loyalties%20By%20Kathleen%20and%20Bill%20Christison.htm

Yes, that domain name is aljazeerah.info

Now, who are Bill and Kathleen Christison? A Google search finds the following beauty:
http://www.counterpunch.org/christison11082003.html

Zionism as a Racist Ideology
Reviving an Old Theme to Prevent Palestinian Ethnicide

By KATHLEEN and BILL CHRISTISON

http://www.counterpunch.org/christison01252003.html

Too Many Smoking Guns to Ignore:
Israel, American Jews, and the War on Iraq

by BILL and KATHLEEN CHRISTISON
former CIA political analysts

Authors' note: Given the prevailing atmosphere in the United States for debate on Israel, the frequency with which critics of Israel are accused of malicious ethnic motives, and the widespread skittishness about associating Israel or American Jews with war planning against Iraq, the following items are of particular interest. The first of these items reports a clear Jewish effort to suppress any evidence of Jewish support for war.

Perhaps the Christisons had better put on tinfoil hats before the Zionist Occupied Government's Evil Mind Control Rays make them forget all about this horrible conspiracy. In any event, it is informative to see the kind of sources that MoveOn.org itself (as opposed to the sideshow freaks it welcomed at its Action Forum) uses as references on Israel and the Middle East.

Jewish Funds for Justice joins MoveOn.org whitewash

Hard pounding, gentlemen: but we shall see who can pound the longest. - Arthur Wellesley. Duke of Wellington at the Battle of Waterloo

by Bill Levinson

Our relentless pounding of MoveOn.org's tolerance of vicious hate speech at its Action Forum has apparently stirred up the Left to the extent where Jewish enablers are stepping in in an attempt to whitewash the beleagured organization. The Jewish Funds for Justice has, we assume due of ignorance of the facts, chosen to collaborate with MoveOn.org by sponsoring a petition against our efforts. Bring it on.

This came to our attention through Jewschool.

When the staff at MoveOn.org learned that antisemitic comments had been made on its open forum, they acted swiftly to remove the offensive remarks. The Anti-Defamation League praised their response, declaring themselves “satisfied with [MoveOn’s] responsiveness” and characterizing the matter as having been “resolved satisfactorily.”

It has already been amply demonstrated that MoveOn.org learned about the hate speech more than two years ago and chose to let it stand, and deleted only a fraction of the offensive remarks when it was exposed and humiliated in public. Robert Goldberg's op-ed in the Washington Times shoved MoveOn.org's face in its own hate-filled excrement and our reply to Eli Pariser's pathetic attempt at damage control made MoveOn.org eat it. We have answered the ADL's whitewash as well.

The petition continues,

“As American Jews, we condemn the manipulation of fear of antisemitism for political gain, including the recent campaign against the online movement MoveOn.org.

In other words, MoveOn.org and its adherents are now sufficiently desperate to have to find some Jews who will collaborate in their grasping-at-straws effort to whitewash an ongoing litany of vicious hate speech that was directed not only at Jews but also at Catholics and, to a lesser degree, African-Americans. In doing so, they failed to remember our assertion that we can smell organizational fear the way a wolf can smell blood. We are confident in our ability to read the opposing side's fears from the way it and its allies react. The fact that this Jewish Funds for Justice has come out to whitewash MoveOn.org shows that we and our own allies are hurting MoveOn.org very badly. Reading between the lines of their petition, in fact, gives us at least a partial damage assessment that we find very encouraging:

For the past two months, Jews across the country have been exposed to lies about MoveOn.org. We need your support to make sure hundreds of thousands of Jews can see the statement in advertisements placed in Jewish newspapers.

Excellent; our efforts and those of our allies have been reaching Jews (and hopefully African-Americans, Catholics, and the other groups targeted by the hate speech) across the country and they need money to place advertisements to counteract what we have achieved with almost no expenditures whatsoever. The only inaccuracy in the statement above is that Jews are not being exposed to lies about MoveOn.org, they are learning the very ugly truth.

We cannot allow these attacks to go unanswered by the Jewish community, which is rightfully concerned when charges of antisemitism are leveled but equally concerned when false accusations of antisemitism are used for partisan purposes.

If the Jewish Funds for Justice thinks it can get away with an unanswered accusation of leveling false accusations of antisemitism for partisan purposes, it has made a very serious mistake and it will end up looking very foolish, just as the ADL has made itself look very foolish. This organization should realize by now that it has joined the wrong side of a fight against people who are not afraid to stand up to them and who will not melt like vampires in sunlight in the face of politically-correct drivel.

Furthermore, two Catholic groups including Fidelis have joined in asserting that MoveOn.org not only welcomed bigoted hate speech in its Action Forum, but published an anti-Catholic hate cartoon in its own name in 2005. We and others (e.g. Robert Goldberg in the Washington Times) already forced MoveOn.org to disable its Action Forum in the moral equivalent of a headlong battlefield rout, and we will not hesitate to take on this Jewish Funds for Justice group as well.

POSTSCRIPT
(Found by searching on "Jewish Funds for Justice" and "Palestinians")

It seems that "Jewish Funds for Justice" has a Discover the Networks entry as well. "In 2006 the Shefa Fund merged with Jewish Fund for Justice to form a new entity called Jewish FundS for Justice." Furthermore, "During its eighteen-year history, the Shefa Fund supported ...Rabbis for Human Rights; the Refuser Solidarity Network ...Massachusetts Peace Action; MoveOn.org" and also Tikkun magazine. Judging from the company they keep, we understand why they are trying to defend an entity that, if not officially anti-Semitic, welcomed all forms of hate speech on its Action Forum.

MoveOn.org Halloween calling parties in your area

Just look for the people who wear sheets even when it isn't Halloween. Stephen King may think the Republicans are scary but racists, bigots, anti-Semites, and Catholic haters are even scarier.

All kidding aside, we know that most of the people who are hosting these Call for Change parties are not bigots, racists, or anti-Semites. We cannot say as much for MoveOn.org itself, which knowingly and willfully welcomed the most vicious imaginable hate speech on its Action Forum, including a blood libel of Jews and a racial slur directed at prominent African-Americans, until the Action Forum was taken down in disgrace on September 24.

You don't want to associate your name and identity with MoveOn.org; it is bad news. See if your local Democratic Party needs people to make turn-out-the-vote calls instead.

Banned from MoveOn.org Action Forum?

Are you among the people whose postings were censored by MoveOn.org, and/or who were banned from the Action Forum, for posting pro-Israel material or objecting to racist and anti-Semitic hate speech in the forum? If so, please post your experiences as a comment to this posting or send them to moveon "at" stentorian.com (a special address I have set up for this purpose). Also let us know if you are willing to have your experiences published as additional evidence against MoveOn.org.

Jewish Funds for Justice whitewashes MoveOn.org

From Jewishschool, which accuses us of lying about MoveOn.org (despite reams of proof that MoveOn.org was knowingly and willfully tolerating hate speech on its Action Forum). An answer has already been posted elsewhere, and we will reply in more detail here. For the time being, check out this organization's entry in Discover the Networks and see what kind of company they keep, including MoveOn.org itself.

Furthermore, if they think they are going to stop us with a barrage of politically-correct drivel, they may wish to rethink this.

MoveOn.org: "Catholics are hiding 12000 perverts"

Catholic Church is a "cult," says MoveOn.org's hate-filled Action Forum

Courtesy of Google's cache, more hate speech from MoveOn.org's disgraced (and now-disabled because of the scandal) Action Forum.

You want to remove the influence of the Catholic Church on our
children? Use the information the Church has provided to us, to prove that they
no longer can be trusted around our children. ...Start sending
letters to our leaders asking them why they don't care that the Catholics are
hiding 12,000 perverts. Point blank. Ask them if they are part of the cult.

11 out of 12 Action Forum participants voted to agree with bigoted hate speech that calls the Catholic Church is a cult that is hiding 12,000 perverts. Bob Casey (PA), why won't you repudiate MoveOn.org's support?

MoveOn.org hate for Catholics, Evangelicals

Yet another delightful sample of hate speech from MoveOn.org's disgraced Action Forum, this one garnering a 100 percent (eight out of eight) approval rating from the other participants.

TO: bush and blind ignorant Un-American, Un-Patriotic fool
followers...
...(republicans, evangelicals, catholics, neo-cons, bushies, et al), I know that you're watching, so, this IS the organization that WILL put your weak criminal ass and family and the hoodlums and hookers who support you and your screwed up Un-American agendas into jail and clean up Washington DC to finally make it respectable and honest! WE WILL PUT YOU WHERE YOU BELONG! INTO
JAIL! NO EXCEPTIONS. NO EXCUSES. NO MORE DELAYS!
You were hired by the people of this country and NOT the religious, NOT the businesses, NOT the mob, NOT special interests, NOT the lobbyists, and on and on and on. YOU and your ilk FAILED! WORST AND MOST CORRUPT PRESIDENT IN USA HISTORY!!!!!!!

Now it is one thing to hurl epithets at the Bush Administration, Republicans, and neo-conservatives because all these refer to political positions or groups. It is quite another to refer to evangelical Christians and Catholics with the same epithets. This is known as bigotry and hate speech. It stank when the Nazis did it, it stank when the Ku Klux Klan did it, and the smell has not changed even though MoveOn.org's Action Forum is doing it.