Swallowing The Camel on Jonathan Kay's Book "Among The Truthers"


Swallowing The Camel's author Sarah Elliott reviews Jonathan Kay's "Among The Truthers" with her focus on 9/11 truth & antisemitism with-in the 9/11 truth movement. Her Blog "Swallowing The Camel" examines hoaxes, scams, controversies, rumours, schemes, bizarre ideas, bogus products, disinformation, misinformation, impractical jokes, literary fraud, and anything else that smells bad.

Swallowing The Camel- http://swallowingthecamel.blogspot.com/

9/11 Realities - 3 book reviews on Jonathan Kay's " Among The Truthers"
by a Newspaper Columnist, Truth Activist and Skeptic on Conspiracies...
http://911truthedmonton.blogspot.com/2011/07/conspiracy-theorists-tend-to-overlook.html

Jonathan Kay posts this video on his blog

Screw Loose Change has over 50 comments reacting to this YouTube. Here on 911 Blogger it's quiet...
" Could I be wrong that there is a antisemitism problem with-in the 911 truth community? One time I was out handing out 911 truth leaflets and this angry guy threw all my leaflets on the ground and called me an antisemitic in front of a crowd. One media company here in Canada ties 9/11 truthers with holocaust deniers and antisemitic . I contacted a member of the Jewish Federation in Winnipeg once to see if we could work together countering this mis-conception of antisemitism with-in the 911 truth community... The Dr. said no Jew would ever help me or the 9/11 truth movement. Anyways- I'm a guest this Wednesday night 9pm Mountain time on Canada's 911 truth radio The Unbought and Unbossed CHLY 101.7 . I'll be talking about Kay's book and the on-going petition drive to publicly investigate 9/11 in Canada.
http://chly.ca/ The call-in number is 250.740.1017

more attacks on 911 Truth Supporters as we remain silent

The railroading of Richard Falk
Posted on July 11 2011 by Cecilie Surasky under ADL , American Jewish Committee , United Nations.

Professor Richard Falk is a distinguished academic expert on international law with some 40 books under his belt and a lifetime of learning and teaching that has taken him on a journey through some of the best universities in the United States. Naturally, he was not on the radar of what Jewish feminist Letty Cottin Pogrebin calls the “Pro-Israel Mafia” until he was appointed to several high level UN Palestine-related posts including the U.N. Human Rights Council’s Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories.

In these positions as a human rights watchdog he has proven himself perfectly willing to strongly criticize Israeli human rights policies. In 2007, he famously compared the Israeli treatment of Palestinians in Gaza with Nazi treatment of Jews- warning of a possible impending “collective tragedy” in an article than will only be judged in retrospect as either provocatively alarmist or prophetic, but certainly was morally sincere and rationally-driven.

Naturally, however, this is not allowed.

It was at that point that groups like UN Watch - associated with the American Jewish Committee– and the Anti-Defamation League, who share an almost comical willingness to find anti-Semites under every door and who don’t hesitate to engage in cherry-picking and personal smear campaigns—decided it was time for Richard Falk, who is Jewish, to go (see here, here and here.)

But this past Friday, they gained one especially big new ally in their latest push to rid the UN of Richard Falk-the Obama Administration. (US Ambassador to UN, Susan Rice had previously called for Falk’s head for suggesting what a significant number of Americans already believe– that the US government might have been less than fully forthcoming about the events surrounding 9/11.)

But what happened? And how did this campaign move from a small blog to the floors of US Congress in a matter of days?

Cartoon as originally appearedWell, ostensibly, the issue is a cartoon posted in Richard Falk’s blog (the inset is of the cached image as it originally appeared, the original post here. Falk has since removed the image and written plausible explanations and apologies here .)

On June 29, Richard Falk wrote a blog post about NATO’s hypocritical abuse of the International Court of Law in the case of Libya and bringing charges against Qaddafi. The post is a broader analysis of the use of international law in the service of power and mentions only briefly Israel in the context of the US and Europe as examples of hypocritical selective deployment of international accountability. He included a cartoon of a dog with a big USA label peeing on Blind Justice while eating the remains of a body. This was, he felt, the right visual representation of his blog post about US hypocrisy.

When Falk, who by his own admission is 80 - and anyone over 40 knows what age does to eyesight - posted the cartoon, he claims he didn’t see a tiny Star of David scrawled on the hat of the dog; he said the dog looked like it was wearing a helmet and not a Jewish skullcap as others have since contended. Falk picked the image because of its commentary about the USA hypocrisy. (In my entirely unscientific yet unintentionally humorous test in my office, I showed the cartoon exactly as it appeared to several colleagues including a young man with excellent eyesight who happens to be the son of a rabbi. He kept asking over and over, “But where’s the Star of David? I don’t see it!” The fact is that if you don’t know to look for it, it is hard to find unless you see the image in really big resolution.)

But according to the ADL and UN Watch and the right-wing smear machine (which likes to mention that Falk is suspiciously married to a Turkish woman as proof that he isn’t actually Jewish), Richard Falk is an anti-Semite who knowingly posted a cartoon portraying Jews as vicious dogs. For them, the only necessary context is his prior record of standing up for Palestinian rights with unapologetic language.

By July 6, UN Watch had gotten Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee to follow their script faithfully on the floor of Congress.

Falk has absolutely no record of anti-Semitism. But of course, he does have a record of making extremely strong statements about Israel’s human rights record- which is the real source of the visceral hatred for him and others like his UN his predecessor South African John Dugard- and UN investigator Richard Goldstone. It’s a well trodden path of smears and attacks and its pretty clear that not even Mother Teresa would come away unscathed after going through the Israel-advocacy machine.

An end to Israeli exceptionalism

Finally, I think Richard Falk did the right thing by apologizing and removing the cartoon which clearly many people found to be offensive. It’s simply a fact that different people see different things… and if you’re human you’ve at some point unintentionally offended people. But it’s worth interrogating the confusion around the very premise of the charge that the cartoon is anti-Semitic.

It’s important to note that the infinitely more prominent USA on the dog has aroused no similar massive outcry for Falk’s ouster by American patriots. That’s because people are perfectly capable of understanding the difference between even strident political criticism of a government–the lifeblood of a democracy–and the wholesale condemnation of its people. In the case of Israel- the line between the government and the Jewish people as a whole is deliberately obscured and groups like the ADL never hesitate to use this confusion to their advantage, making virtually all criticism of Israel subject to potential condemnation as a form of anti-Jewish hatred.

This is the essence of Israeli exceptionalism which leads to the situation we have now- a country that claims all of the benefits of being a western style democracy with little of the accountability. (Aside from the increasingly permanent occupation of another people, Israel gives to Jews a whole range of special privileges including rights to land and political freedoms that non-Jews, 25% of the population, don’t have.)

It was Israel that decided to call itself the homeland of the Jewish people, to use the Magen David– the Star of David as its most prominent feature on its flag, to demand that other countries specifically recognize it as a Jewish state. So when understandably many people conflate the policies of the Israeli government with Jews (to my great sadness), groups like the ADL and the AJC and the Conference of Presidents of Jewish organizations turn around and call them anti-Semites for doing so. That’s the gift that keeps on giving and I can think of few more cynical ways to exploit real suffering and the good will of others.

If UN Watch, B’nai B’rith International, the American Jewish Committee and Anti-Defamation League have a problem with Falk, it should be based on substantiated well-argued facts. Not slander and empty personal attacks. And if they want to get truly serious about wanting the world to treat Israel no differently than any other country, then I for one will be the first to sign up.

In the meantime, their behavior fuels exactly the kind of boy-who cried wolf cynicism about real anti-Semitism that makes many Jews fearful that when we REALLY need allies, we’ll just be greeted with eye-rolling.

-Cecilie Surasky

http://www.muzzlewatch.com/2011/07/11/the-railroading-of-richard-falk/

MuzzleWatch
Tracking efforts to stifle open debate about US-Israeli foreign policy.

Free Speech and Being in Control of One's Own Mind

Charlie Veitch changed his mind on 9/11 being an inside job, takes up an opportunity to travel with BBC crew to see where it all happened...

Hero to sell out is who the popular Charlie Veitch is as proclaimed by some of his fans on his comments with-in the social community of Youtubes, facebooks and twitters with-in the last few days . Anger , disbelief turning into bitter Hate best describes as to what some of his fans with-in the truth movement's reaction to Charlie changing his mind about the events of 9/11. Hate right next to antisemitism are two of the biggest problems that face the 911 truth movement today almost 10 years after the events of 9/11. It's become a public relations nightmare and the media are feeding on it to no end. So who fixes this black eye with-in the 9/11 truth movement? What will the next generation of 9/11 truthers do to counter hate and antisemitism with a new decade of truth and justice to be pursued of 9/11

That and more will be the discussion I'll have tonight with my pal Raymond Geisler's on Canada;'s number 1 - 9/11 truth radio in Canada - The UNBOUGHT and UNBOSSED on CHLY- 101.7.

An angry man opens his mouth and shuts his eyes. Cato

Sample Comments
on Charlie Veitch's YouTube Channel

@niknak72
"you have emotional problems quit being a little bitch"

DAMN VEITCH HOW COULD YOU SAY THAT 911 WAS NOT ! AN INSIDE JOB,SHAME ON YOU !!!! SPIT SPIT

TheTruthPatriot (1 hour ago)
"Craw into your hole you sellout cock sucker-"

jungibaaz (16 hours ago)
You are a fucking Jew Zionist under cover as a truth finder. Ya fuck you ass hole

PapaLuvTLC (15 hours ago)
Good Night, Charlie...=It's off to bed with you >>>

TheHeuristicIslander (1 day ago)
I hope you enjoy the taste of cock charlie, and i hope the BBC pays you well. complete asshole-fuckery

kensei85 (1 day ago)
B.B.C. = Bye Bye Charlie

BangingMash (1 day ago)
Fuck you and thank the lord people are finally seeing the bullshit that comes out of your egotistical mouth

DJEN33 (1 day ago)
Check out TheAlexJonesChannel everyone!!! Alex Jones just lampooned Charlie Veitch BIGTIME!!!!!!

DeutschProblem (1 day ago)
Alex Jones just put you on blast!!!! Made a parody of your backstabbing retardation .

niknak72 (1 day ago)
I believe 9/11 was inside job undoubtedly but because someone changes there mind they do not deserve the abuse from another human being, we are all equal. If you dont like then either choose to forgive or move on.

One Rule of Civil Information Activism said by a very wise person- "Think for yourself and let others enjoy the privilege of doing so too." — Voltaire

I'm reading, AC, but am

I'm reading, AC, but am confused as to what the point is here. Five minutes into the video I still didn't hear anything particularly damning about either Kay or truthers, nor who Sara Elliot is or why we should care. (Her blog appears to be rather infrequently updated). Sorry, but the video is 14 minutes long. Do I have better things to do, when nothing of major import has been communicated in the first 5 minutes? Yes, I do.

Imo, you are also unnecessarily disturbed by Kay. Although I agree that we need to pay careful attention to the renewed efforts in mainstream media to marginalize and defame 9/11 truth/ justice/ research, I believe Kay himself to be irrelevant, and his book will go the way of bargain bin novelty items.

zero tolerance with-in 911 truth movement to antisemitism, Hate

I think Kay's book is relevant with respects to 9/11 truth and antisemitism relationship as he observes and reports continuously through corporate media in Canada - It's a serious black eye for the 911 truth movement being compared to Holocaust deniers and the bulk of the movement are mostly quiet and unfazed about it. I think I for one need to counter this antisemitism misconception by some national news agencies or it will continue to hurt the integrity of the movement I respect and care about . I've seen too many friends here in Canada attacked by Corporate media to sit idle... something has to be done to counter these attacks. I hope others will join me - with zero tolerance with-in the 911 truth movement to antisemitism, racism and hate.

Re: supposed anti-semitism in 9/11 truth

I support your call, AC, but question the validity, and source, of the claim. What are the actual stats on anti-semitics in the 9/11 truth movement? Has Kay or anyone else ever provided any? I ask this with genuine curiosity. I don't think they have.

Focusing on a few high-profile activists doesn't necessarily paint an accurate picture of the group as a whole, and most certainly doesn't in the case of a vast, decentralized, international "movement" (for lack of a better word) such as 9/11 truth. We know there are anti-semitics in 9/11 truth, just as there are among 9/11 liars and in the larger general population. We also know that, oftentimes, criticism or suspicion of Israel's actions as a nation is often painted as "anti-semitic." How valid are these "observations" of Kay's and other of his cohorts? Given their obvious disdain for 9/11 truth and their desire to undermine its credibility, why would you believe anything they have to say?

The Stats would be low ...

My guess is the Stats would say that antisemitism is low in the 9/11 truth movement, equal to the same amount of antisemitism found with-in any average news room - close to nil, as is antisemitism is relatively low in Canada already . The problem of antisemitism with-in Canada and the 9/11 truth movement is mostly exaggerated and inflated as a problem when amplified by editors, journalists and authors like Kay with-in editorials and books by comparing 9/11 Truther with Holocaust deniers . I think to counter such yellow journalism from some media hacks who are out to hurt the integrity of the 911 Truth movement each of us can counter such deception by simply adopting ZERO % tolerance to antisemitism, racism and hate. I for one have applied this policy and put it into practice on the streets during 911 truth actions. More from others and larger groups adopting this policy would really help with this public relations problem.