Posts
Update: Now, Vimeo has taken the video too.
Someone has uploaded it on another YouTube account. I suspect YouTube will have trouble keeping it off for too long.
(Hat tip to Ten Percent)
Feeling The Hate In Jerusalem -- The Censored Video from Max Blumenthal on Vimeo.
This video has generated a lot of controversy by exposing racism in Israel. It's not pleasant, but people need to know about this. Besides, YouTube should not be a rightist only service.
Max Blumenthal did the video, and he has done a lot of good work exposing rightist Christian bigotry in the past. Rightist Jewish bigotry seems to be a taboo subject. In many ways, it's even more shameful that the Huffington Post censored one of their regular contributors in this fashion. I haven't been to that site since. More from Blumenthal's blog:
Youtube has removed my video, “Feeling The Hate In Jerusalem,” on the baseless grounds that it contains “inappropriate content.” They have offered me no further explanation and have stonewalled my inquiries and attempts to rectify the situation. Thus they have censored a video that contains far less inflammatory content than thousands of video they are already hosting. Why? I won’t ascribe motives to Youtube I am unable to confirm, but it is clear there is an active campaign by right-wing Jewish elements to suppress the video by filing a flood of complaints with Youtube. At the same time these elements have attempted to paint me as a self-hating Jew determined to foment anti-Semitism. I answered this last charge to Ha’aretz (read the barely coherent article here) last week: “I have received death threats from people, mainly ones calling me a self-hating Jew. I am self-hating, but my self-hatred has nothing to do with me being Jewish.”
At least he is keeping his sense of humor.
Jewish Voices for Peace has asked its members to email YouTube (or use their online form) and demand that the video go back up there. Good on them. Fighting racism is important.
They hate just as much as anyone. They hate Muslims, they hate blacks, they hate gays. They hate. Just like the Nazis. They have become everything their ancestors fought against.
Obama said that "We can change things." As in people can change things. Not one person. One person can't change anything. One person can be a catalyst, but they can't change anything by themselves. That takes a concerted effort by a group of people. These bastards in the video are too busy getting drunk to know anything about what's going on in the world and are apparently too busy reading right-wing racist websites to find out.
I believe Nietzsche said it best, "He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. When you gaze long into the abyss, it gazes back into you."
BTW, if that girl is a political science major, she should change it. Doesn't even know who Netanyahu is? Like only the PM of her own fucking country. I'm just a "stupid American" and even I know that. Sheesh.
Bowing to pressure from special interest groups in the U.S. and in Israel, YouTube joined with the Huffington Post and removed this video from public consumption.
I blogged it back on June 7th, 2009 because I thought then and I continue to think it's important people see and hear what at least some Israelis are saying about Obama.
Remember, in 2009, we are not allowed to see anything that portrays Israel is a negative light. Israel must always be seen as infallible.
Great to have you back posting again. Max Blumenthal does great work... the establishment, which includes A. Huffington, is skeered of upsetting the Israelis. The Israelis are digging themselves into one really deep hole IMHO.
I've sent my note to YouTube and will echo this on my blog.
Thanks