February 8th, '02
Do I Feed the (Anti-Semitic) Trolls?

I belong to an email discussion group that is supposed to focus on folk music and business. But since it's a free cyber-society, sometimes people get off topic. Imagine how I felt, sitting in my apartment in Israel, to read the following:

To get anywhere with your anti war cds, you need distribution (not archiving in the Smithsonian for god's sake!). But first you have to admit that the major networks and music companies are under the influence of those who very much want the United States to be its Catspaw and defeat Iraq, which looms as the 2nd nuclear and biological warfare threat in the middle east (the other being Israel with its 300+ nukes and anti arab pesticides, bankroled with USA 10 million/year bucks)...Are you all really going to allow another country's landgrab determine the destiny of your country? Are you all really so afraid of being slandered as anti-semitic that you will not finally have the courage to speak out? Don't be cowards! Be brave. It does not mean you are anti semetic if you criticize Israel. Not one leader of our country (President, Senate, Congress) dares to speak against Israel for fear of retribution in the press and in elections on that score--Don't you also be afraid. Save your country with your art.

OK, I said to myself - take a deep breath.

First, this guy brings up the classic anti-Semitic canard that Jews control the media. Then, in a flurry of half-hysterical, context-free claims, he villifies Israel as a monsterous agressor. In closing, he calls on folksingers everywhere to save America. From whom, I wonder?

What's a girl to do? Not engage the guy in a "dialog", or try to offer him a more nuanced view of world politics. Call me over-sensitive, but having my country accused of stockpiling fictional "anti-Arab pesticides" rankles - especially when chemical-tipped Iraqi warheads may be heading my way in a matter of weeks. Oh yes, and the Iraqis purchased this technology from the Germans... don't even get me started on that one.

If I didn't respond, I would be joining in "Gentlemen's Agreement" that is bringing anti-Semitic attitudes back into the parlours of polite society.

But if I did respond, I'd be committing the sin of "thou shalt not pursue off-topic discussions on a listserve", not to mention feeding the troll - and giving this creep more attention than he deserves.

Thank goodness, someone else responded:

First of all, just so you know, the word is "anti-semitism." Secondly, this message, despite the first 19 words, has nothing to do with the subject of the list, issues relating to the folk musician. Under the guise of "telling truth", what you do is spew hate. I don't think you know really know a damn thing about the Middle East, and what the Israelis face. And by the way, if the Israelis really wanted to avoid trouble, an impending war with Iraq will not make things easy for them; it might just make things a hell of alot tougher! Stop spewing this awful venom on the net, and if indeed you have anything to do with folk music, go back to making it, rather than being a force for racism.

Relieved of the responsibility of buttonholing the original poster as the racist he is, I decided I would put in my two cents anyway. Here's what I wrote:

Whoever responded to George, the hate-spewing folkie:

>I don't think you know really know a damn thing about the Middle East, andwhat the Israelis face.

You got that straight.

Funny... As I read these particular postings, part of the the plastic sheeting I've rolled up above my office window fluttered down. This is the sheeting I've put there in preparation for doing a quick tape-down job the moment Bush bombs Iraq, and Saddam - presumably - lobs a few unconventional warheads over at us here in Israel. The gas masks for me and my four kids have all been updated, but luckily my husband will be drafted as soon as the war starts so we don't have to take care of him. And don't worry: I've already stockpiled water in case a chemical attack makes it impossible to use the sink.

Gee, George, I guess the only thing I'm not protected against is people like you.

- Sandy

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