This past week as been one of the most disheartening I've ever had.
It's also forced me to think far more critically about the kind of information I am fed on a daily basis and why I have the beliefs I have.
On September 10th, I wrote an answer addressing the harassment and content theft I was experiencing on Quora for the question: "Why has Quora banned so many people who are Pro-Palestinian?"
The individual in question had appropriated much of the material I had written to make claims she had a "difficult childhood" and was the victim of abuse. I've been very open on Quora about the challenges that childhood neglect have presented me as an adult. This individual also frequently went out of her way to conflate her own personal identity with Zionism to deflect from any criticism of wrongdoing on her part.
Subsequently, this and other complaints were ignored by moderation.
After being banned from Quora on September 24th, 2018, I made various appeals to the moderation to have my activity reinstated. Previous to being banned, I provided moderators with evidence about my experience being stalked and having my material used.
About a week ago I shared a part of my experience with my facebook friends.
What I find so disturbing about this experience is that it seems to part of a bigger narrative to characterize Zionism as a liberal movement (it is not). As a Jew of color of matrilineal descent and being somewhat of a lucid popular voice on the platform, I think that I posed too big of a big threat to those invested in there being only one opinion available to the broader public discourse.
At the moment most Jewish anti-Zionists and critics such as Noam Chomsky, Norman Finkelstein, Max Blumenthal, Aaron Matte, and more, are practically invisible to the mainstream public due to the people invested in their silence and invisiblity. Now I can add myself to that list. This was an act completely intentional on the part of Zionist propagandists to a) Conflate Israel with the Jewish Identity and b) Keep even any mild criticism from gaining any traction in the Jewish community and elsewhere. If dissidents can not be painted as Antisemitic, the more extreme propagandists step in to create a hostile environment much like the one I experienced for those who wish to speak out.
Incidentally on October 4th, Queers Against Israeli Pink washing posted the article, " Israel is Shutting Down it's Critics on Social Media"
At this point, attempts to silence any criticism have gone so far as to characterize Pro-Zionist Actress Natalie Portman as "Antisemitic" for her opposition to the current right-wing presidency. These erroneous characterizations are pure lunacy.
In my particular case, an individual took in upon themselves to use all the information available on my page to use as her own because she knew I didn't stand a chance if she operated in the name of Zionism.
In this series I will elaborate on the incidents that led up to the ban and what you can do about it so that it doesn't happen to you.
It's also forced me to think far more critically about the kind of information I am fed on a daily basis and why I have the beliefs I have.
On September 10th, I wrote an answer addressing the harassment and content theft I was experiencing on Quora for the question: "Why has Quora banned so many people who are Pro-Palestinian?"
The individual in question had appropriated much of the material I had written to make claims she had a "difficult childhood" and was the victim of abuse. I've been very open on Quora about the challenges that childhood neglect have presented me as an adult. This individual also frequently went out of her way to conflate her own personal identity with Zionism to deflect from any criticism of wrongdoing on her part.
Subsequently, this and other complaints were ignored by moderation.
After being banned from Quora on September 24th, 2018, I made various appeals to the moderation to have my activity reinstated. Previous to being banned, I provided moderators with evidence about my experience being stalked and having my material used.
About a week ago I shared a part of my experience with my facebook friends.
What I find so disturbing about this experience is that it seems to part of a bigger narrative to characterize Zionism as a liberal movement (it is not). As a Jew of color of matrilineal descent and being somewhat of a lucid popular voice on the platform, I think that I posed too big of a big threat to those invested in there being only one opinion available to the broader public discourse.
At the moment most Jewish anti-Zionists and critics such as Noam Chomsky, Norman Finkelstein, Max Blumenthal, Aaron Matte, and more, are practically invisible to the mainstream public due to the people invested in their silence and invisiblity. Now I can add myself to that list. This was an act completely intentional on the part of Zionist propagandists to a) Conflate Israel with the Jewish Identity and b) Keep even any mild criticism from gaining any traction in the Jewish community and elsewhere. If dissidents can not be painted as Antisemitic, the more extreme propagandists step in to create a hostile environment much like the one I experienced for those who wish to speak out.
Incidentally on October 4th, Queers Against Israeli Pink washing posted the article, " Israel is Shutting Down it's Critics on Social Media"
Israel's leadership sees social media as the cutting edge of world communication, where its own reputation will be made or broken. It has undertaken a massive lobbying campaign targeting the major sites and their corporate leaderships.
Israeli ministers have met Google and Facebook executives, warning that if they did not police "anti-Israel" discourse on their platforms, the Israeli government would step in to do so. Facebook and other sites have acceded to many of these censorship demands.
At this point, attempts to silence any criticism have gone so far as to characterize Pro-Zionist Actress Natalie Portman as "Antisemitic" for her opposition to the current right-wing presidency. These erroneous characterizations are pure lunacy.
In my particular case, an individual took in upon themselves to use all the information available on my page to use as her own because she knew I didn't stand a chance if she operated in the name of Zionism.
In this series I will elaborate on the incidents that led up to the ban and what you can do about it so that it doesn't happen to you.
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