January 30, 2007

But why sue Sue?

Lots of people say that Gilad Atzmon is some kind of nazi or antisemite. Some will be appalled by his anti-Arab stereotyping on the Peace Palestine site under the name "Jihad Abu az Zamman." The man makes enemies.

He didn't draft the "Palestinians are the priority" petition though its lack of coherence and self-contradiction certainly bears his bootprints.

He gets flak from zionist sites like Harry's Place and Engage. They even condemned him at the Jewish Chronicle until they noticed he really was antisemitic so they mostly left him alone. I've denounced him here. Tony Greenstein has denounced him from many platforms. Two things stand out here.

First up, Gilad is a Jew hater. All of his articles denounce Jews in general with certain exceptions. There is no consistency to his argument and he has doctored people's writings to make a case against them. Most recently he did this on Counterpunch with Michael Rosen as the target.

Secondly, he claims to believe that "Palestinians are the priority."

So why is he having a lawyer threaten a non-Jewish high profile Palestine solidarity activist? It doesn't tally with his Jew-baiting or his professed position on the Palestinian cause.

Many people believe that the online antisemitic activity dressed up as anti-zionism is being manipulated by Israel. We tend not to say it openly but this is what we believe. It really isn't the point. We don't oppose wrongness because it's Israel but because it's wrong. In this case we feel that antisemitism helps zionism. No one though takes the view that Atzmon is in the pay of the Israelis. He's too stupid and unreliable. Discrediting Sue would certainly be a service to Israel but Israel isn't calling the shots on this one.

What else do we know about Atzmon that might make him attack this woman? There are rumours that he bullies women, that he is a misogynist. When I caught him using a woman's name in my comments section to praise his own work and deny its antisemitic content, he suggested that it was an insult to be called a woman. And check that "Jihad" post above. That might explain his professed support for Neturei Karta but surely he wouldn't go to the expense of threatening Sue simply because she is woman.

What about the fact that she's not Jewish? Is this significant? Could it be that for a Jew to call a Jew baiter a nazi is fair comment but not for a non-Jew to say it? There might be something in that. Also, if he launched yet another attack on yet another Jew the courts might just think that he's using them to give vent to his antisemitism. Attacking Sue couldn't be called an antisemitic attack. Maybe it's that.

How about the timing? Why now? Did he think he was on a roll because the SWP has recently issued yet another cover up for him? Though Lyndsey German's letter to the Socialist Worker was a little less than praising his position. She merely said that swatting him now wasn't a priority. (If not now, when?) Counterpunch will publish anything he writes even when a glance at a source shows what he has written is a complete pack of lies. Does he think the courts work like Counterpunch? He can't do. I'm trying to get my bearings by reference to my own blog. I didn't post anything last week on Atzmon. I posted a nice post about a woman he has worked with. It was headed What you can't take away from Reem Kelani. He wouldn't lose it over that. It was nice and he's worked with her, she's Palestinian and, after all, Palestinians are the priority.

Nope, it's all a bit of a mystery why this neo-nazi sympathiser and antisemite is threatening Sue Blackwell. I should have more of this soon enough.

So remember folks, Palestinians are the priority but be profoundly suspicious if you are asked to sign a petition to that effect.

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