Subscribe to Print Edition | Fri., October 26, 2007 Cheshvan 14, 5768 | | Israel Time: 10:57 (EST+7) web haaretz.com   Back to Homepage Print Edition Diplomacy Defense Arts & Leisure Real Estate Jewish World National Advertising Magazine Week's End Business Opinion Rosner's Domain Anglo File Books Travel

del.icio.us Digg It!  new Last update - 07:53 25/10/2007 Likud shutters its Russian Web site due to critique of right-wing content By Lily Galili, Haaretz Correspondent The Likud took down its new Russian-language Web site Wednesday following inquiries from Haaretz about its content, which appeared to be considerably more right-wing than the party's Hebrew site, where senior Likud figures address Hebrew speakers with soothing moderation. The approach to the Russian-speaking community was somewhat more acid. Hebrew speakers are not informed, for example, that the Foreign Ministry runs a pro-Palestinian policy, or that the Education Ministry promotes anti-Semitism. The site had links to radical right-wing sites that recommend, among other things, Meir Kahane's books, and promote conspiracy theories about Rabin's murder. Advertisement On Wednesday the site was inaccessible, and a notice appeared instead at the address - www.likud.ru - for the site's "temporary removal." Likud sources thanked those who drew their attention to "deficiencies on the site." "The site was intended to be a political Hyde Park, but inappropriate essays and links found their way into it, and were removed from the site," a source said. Afterward the Likud decided to remove the site altogether. The site's launching earlier this month was part of the Likud's election campaign. The party is trying to win back the multitudes of Russian speakers who abandoned the Likud in the last elections, mostly for Avigdor Lieberman's ultranationalist Yisrael Beitenu party. Toward that goal, the Likud recruited Michael Falkov, a Russian-language media analyst who once worked with Yisrael Beitenu. The Russian-speaking supporters of ultranationalist Likud member Moshe Feiglin have joined the election effort with such gusto, that one might think, mistakenly, that Feiglin, not Netanyahu, won the party's leadership. Although a large picture of Netanyahu appeared on the main page against a background of the Western Wall, the content is "Feiglinish." "I don't think so," says Asia Antov, a Feiglin supporter who helped set up the site. "Russian speakers in the Likud are simply more right wing than the others. The last campaign drove the Russian voter to Lieberman. Now Lieberman will pay his debt back to us." The way to the Russian-speaker's heart, the Likud apparently believed, is strewn with radical statements of its party leaders. Netanyahu was quoted in a long interview with Arutz 7 on education. "Teaching the [Palestinian] nakba in Israeli schools is Israel's moral bankruptcy," Netanyahu was quoted as saying. "When I become prime minister, I'll throw all these innovations to the garbage bin...teaching the nakba constitutes real anti-Semitism and sabotage to the state's foundations." The former prime minister is full of more creative ideas for education. When asked what is to be done with such textbooks, Netanyahu's response is why waste money on books when we have Internet? One Russian blogger commented, "Why do we need condoms when there's virtual sex?" In another article on the site, MK Gideon Saar accused the Foreign Ministry of "conducting propaganda for Israel's enemies." As proof, Saar cited the ministry's financial support for the Cameri and Habimah theaters' play, Hebron. The Likud's Russian-language site had links to some of the most extreme Russian-language sites. Alexander Nepomniaschy, a right-wing activist, says on his site that three criminal cases against Ehud Olmert have pushed him to Annapolis, so that he can reach the "final solution." This term has exactly the same connotation in Russian as it does in Hebrew. Another link was to a site called Jerusalem, which suggests a dubious list of recommended Russian-language books. Beside books by Vladimir (Zeev) Jabotinsky, the site recommends a selection of Rabbi Kahane's books, Feiglin's writings and conspiracy theories about Rabin's murder. A jurist and expert on this subject says the Likud would be responsible for any incitement or criminal content on those sites linked by the party's Web site. The site's domain is not registered to the Likud but to one Alexander Kogan. Dr. Yuval Karniel, professor of law and communication at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzilya, says this is not a criminal offense but an ethical failure at the most. Bookmark to del.icio.us For their grandparents Many young Israelis are honoring their grandparents' pre-Shoah communities. Something fishy here... Amnon Levy's candid camera show catches frozen fish importer adjusting sell-by dates.   1.   If Israelis were not so gullible, these things would not happen 08:54  |  Natallie Durson 25/10/07   2.   Lol, Likud is only sorry it got caught 08:57  |  Steve 25/10/07   3.   Lies and intrigues 16:03  |  Gene 25/10/07   4.   domains and hypocricy 16:14  |  Gene 25/10/07   5.   see the sources for yourself 19:32  |  Gene 25/10/07   6.   missing link (in prev. comment) 19:54  |  Gene 25/10/07   7.   Not a criminal content 20:13  |  Irena 25/10/07   8.   By the way 20:27  |  Dari 25/10/07   9.   Genia, Zheniachka, my intuition didn`t betray me 21:35  |  zmogus 25/10/07   10.   Ignorance or Incitement? 21:48  |  Alex 25/10/07   11.   to zmorgus 00:36  |  Gene 26/10/07   12.   cached version of the site 00:41  |  G 26/10/07

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