Chesler Chronicles

January 4th, 2009 10:43 am

No Hate Speech Allowed: This Blogger’s Declaration of Independence

For the second time since I began blogging, I’ve decided not to publish a comment, not because the writing is illiterate or filthy with curses, (I’ve jettisoned some of those in the past), but because, like Israel, I’ve decided that “Enough is enough.” I am tired of putting up with the written equivalent of screaming street corner hate speech at my own blog.

I have had enough of those commentators who sound like Norman Finkelstein or David Irving, who cloak their Big Lies in sarcastic, intellectual sound-bites or who imperiously drone on for hundreds, even thousands of words. Often, they sound “logical.” Sometimes, like Finkelstein, they pretend to great scholarship by presenting many footnotes.

A footnote does not a scholar make.

However, focusing on lengthy, self-important comments by anti-Zionists, America-haters, and Jew-haters is dangerously distracting and also demoralizing. This is a propagandist’s goal. It is also the way a cult functions: By over-inundating and overwhelming its potential members with false information. Everyone must agree. Dissent is treated as heresy and punished accordingly. During war, propaganda manipulates public opinion with false information and false images and also indoctrinates people into a Big Brother-or perhaps a vampiric-like Cult in which each new convert in turn silences and recruits the next one.

I will not allow my site to be “flooded” by propaganda.

In this one instance, I suggest that this particular commentator publish his comments elsewhere. There are thousands of anti-Zionist and anti-America sites out there. And, for those of my readers who need to keep duking it out with the haters: It will not be hard to find such views expressed elsewhere in cyberspace, in every language known to humanity. Let’s see if your beg-to-differ comments are posted. Please let me know.

There is a very hot war going on. There are boots on the ground in Gaza. Seven years of Hamas-launched rockets aimed at civilian Israel is enough, as is eight years of a carefully planned Palestinian Intifada characterized by fake photos, fake footage, fake claims of victimization, and by Hamas’s use of Palestinian children, women, and the elderly as human shields.

But there is also another very hot war underway. I am referring to the war of ideas and to the propaganda that fuels it. Thus, I have decided to “kosher” my blog comment site. After surrendering to what some might argue are the the holy demands of the First Amendment for quite some time, I now realize that by doing so I was also surrendering my tiny internet space to hate speech and Big Lies. Refusing to do so will in no way hurt the First Amendment since there are thousands of other internet sites devoted to such hate speech, as well as much of the mainstream media.

Inspired by Israel’s decision to finally fight back against terrorism, I have decided that I will no longer publish rank propaganda. Opposing views clearly argued–yes; rank propaganda–no. Diverse views, hard questions–yes; sarcastic, overly long, incredibly self-important, slightly hysterical hatred of “the Zionist entity”–no. A reasoned critique of American foreign policy–yes; a denunciation of America as existentially evil–no. I am far too interested in providing my readers with a real forum in which to wrestle with ideas–”ideas” not “factoids.” I will not allow those who romanticize jihadic terrorism and who despise democratic Israel to divert my reader’s attention from the matter at hand.

Please stay tuned for some very important Hamas and Gaza-related videos and a discussion of the issues they raise for America and Europe.

18 Comments

1. Yona:

Phyllis,

I totally support you in not publicizing anti-semitic propaganda. We are already inundated by this in the media, day after day.

Jan 4, 2009 - 11:19 am 2. Alex Grobman:

Phyllis, If only the media would follow your lead. They do not possess your intelligence, knowledge or insight. Alex

Jan 4, 2009 - 11:26 am 3. Ester:

Bravo Phyllis for taking this stand. I attended a rally in front of the Israeli consulate last week and was absolutely disgusted with the lies and swastikas printed on banners of the Israeli flag and others. At no time was there any mention of the thousands of rockets fired into Israel and terrorizing it’s citizens. Sometimes, listening to the rhetoric, I wonder about the real meaning of “freedom of speech.”

Jan 4, 2009 - 11:40 am 4. Fern Sidman:

Kudos to Dr. Chesler for taking a hardline stance against those purveryors of falsehood and hatred. What makes this ilk so insidious and dangerous is the ostensible “scholarship” that permeates their writings. In fact, if one digs deeply in to their research, one finds a plethora of half truths, distortion of facts, and well concealed lies.

Dr. Chesler mentions the name of rogue professor, Norman Finkelstein who was denied tenure at DePaul University. Besides positing himself as an unabashed Holocaust denier, his academic intergrity has been scrutinized and thus, such trash books as “Beyond Chutzpah”, (a response to Prof Alan Desrhowitz’s book) that appear to be (on the surface level) a meticulously researched dissertation have been dismissed in the academic world as pure propaganda.

Nonetheless, his dangerous lies have the ability to hold sway over those who only read on the surface level. The Big Lies will continue to be spewed forth by Finkelstein and his cohorts such as David Irving, Noam Chomsky, Ilan Pappe and Amy Goodman but at this juncture, we extend our gratitude to Dr. Chesler for srawing a line in the sand.

Jan 4, 2009 - 12:20 pm 5. Norman Simms:

Good on you, Phyllis.

It is time to take a stand. Through all the vitriol and self-serving hatred of the delusioned mobs, there occasionally shine a few beacons of light. Berbnard-Henri Levi on CNN, Tzipi Livni, who gets better and better in each interview, Mayor Blumbuerg of New York, and so on. But all around the forced of hatred consolidate and suck in the naive, the gullible and the confused.

Norman

Jan 4, 2009 - 12:34 pm 6. Tony DeCarlo:

Phyllis, thank you for sparing us another racist and vile commentary by some half-baked and self important blogger.

Jan 4, 2009 - 12:39 pm 7. joeblough:

My compliments.

Hang in there.

Jan 4, 2009 - 1:27 pm 8. Marcia Pappas:

I completely support your decision to not allow hate speech on your blog. There are more than enough of those blogs floating around. Let the haters go there and spew all of the hatred they wish. You are not obligated to publish theirs.

Jan 4, 2009 - 1:29 pm 9. Melody Caine Bier:

Great news Phyllis. I’m glad someone took the right stance. I’m so tired of reading all that filth in the “media” so it is refreshing to know that we will no longer be subjected to it here. I’ve seen Finkelstein in action on the Berkeley campus.The birthplace of the Free Speech Movement does NOT allow debate…only the party line is tolerated…especially by the lefty Jews themselves. We call it the “Finkelstein Syndrome”.Students & activists just parrot his “info” as if if it was the truth. It’s especially hard to come back from a rally to protect the Israeli consulate and have to read the hate & filth they spread here.

Jan 4, 2009 - 1:30 pm 10. massaraksh:

Dear Dr. Chesler

I do understand the frustration and disgust you feel, and part of me wants to applaud your decision to censor the hate speech, but OTOH, it seems to me that the haters do a very effective job in reminding the people living in Ivory tower (many of them happen to be Jews) about the real word we live in. The Leftist intellectuals are bending over backwards to remain fashionable in the faculty lounges by ignoring the real barbarians (Islamists) and dumping on the only civilized country in the region - Israel. The Anti-semitic haters remind the self-hating Jews that to the Anti-semite, a Jew is a Jew is a Jew.

Jan 4, 2009 - 1:55 pm 11. Gail:

Way to Go Phyllis! I pray others follow your lead in curving ignorant mindsets for an agenda. Blessings, dear lady!!

Jan 4, 2009 - 8:11 pm 12. Gianni:

Phyllis, you are doing the right thing.

I am struck and shocked by the level of hatred of these pro-Hamas demostrations.
The few and brave counterdemonstrators can’t do anything. Hamas supporters have the numbers on their side, and when you have the numbers you win.
The just don’t have the numbers they have a lot of money as well.

That said, there are things that can be done.

1. We all know Hamas and Hezbollah are funded by Iran and Sudan, so I would divert attention from the demonstration to divest effort from these two evil countries.
It’s a long term strategy. Do everything you can to divest and/or sever commercial ties from Sudan AND Iran.

2. Go green. Jewish people are very good at this and that’s one of the reason I love them. The more we depend on Saudi and other islamists country oil the worst the situation will become. Do everything you can to be energy-savy and to lobby for URGENT development of renewable energies.
And please…stop talking about nuclear. Do you really think islamisists would not attack a nuclear plant? Think twice

3. Start everywhere petition ballot to make burqas and niqab illegal everywhere. Is it so difficult? I don’t think so. Unless it is for medical reasons or for someone who is a member of the security forces NO ONE is permitted to hide his/her face. NEVER!
I know that for some people (and I am not speaking about the author of course) Portia de Rossi and Ellen DeGeneres marrying each other is more dangerous than women in burqa.
If these are the priorities you are lost.

4. Is it too difficult to stop being so in love with this hellish free market? I may be wrong but I have reasons to suspect that unregulated free market brought the result to enrich islamists organisations and countries. And I say: let free market go to hell!

Jan 5, 2009 - 3:21 am 13. Chip:

I’d ‘love’ to post at Kos or DU, but I’m banned immediately for counterrevolutionary tendencies. Let Jew haters post there where they’re more than welcome.

Jan 5, 2009 - 10:04 am 14. Pippa:

Keep it up Phyllis. I have been reading many “left-wing” blogs and news sources - I use the inverted commas because the moniker no longer seems appropriate for most of these anti-semitic and neo-fascist websites- and am aghast at the rampant, unapologetic censorship and censure of any dissenting voices. One commenter at rabble.ca dared to suggest that she would only consider attending a rally that supported an end to violence from BOTH Israel and Hamas, and was promptly barred for a four week cooling off period. there are few places left where I feel I may comment and I think you are right to censor the trolls and the hate speech; there are plenty of places for that elsewhere.

Jan 5, 2009 - 1:29 pm 15. marymcl:

I agree with massaraksh @10.

As infuriating and distracting and flat-out stupid as this stuff is, it needs to be seen to be believed.

As for the demonstrators, as ugly as it is to see, I’m glad they’re showing their true colors, for the same reason.

Jan 5, 2009 - 7:33 pm 16. Greenconsciousness:

I feel like posting this whole comment thread on my blog — I had the same experience on Common Dreams (which is actually neither common or a dream) during Islam Fascist Week. They do not believe in free speech and flooding a website is a way of burying dissent.

Jan 6, 2009 - 10:42 am 17. Max the Micro Niche Finder:

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