Subscribe to Print Edition | Wed., January 30, 2008 Shvat 23, 5768 | | Israel Time: 02:41 (EST+7)
Haaretz israel news English
web haaretz.com
  Back to Homepage
Rosner's Domain
Diplomacy
Defense Jewish World Opinion National
Print Edition
Advertising
Books Arts & Leisure Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File
Last update - 11:17 25/01/2008
In praise of the Jewish blogosphere
By Richard Silverstein
Tags: Blogs, Israel 

I began my blog, Tikun Olam, in February, 2003, one month before the Iraq war began. Even more than opposition to the imminent war, what motivated me was my passion to speak out on behalf of Israeli- Palestinian peace. Military force, I have always believed, though it might serve a legitimate defensive function, ultimately could never resolve the conflict. I have been dedicated to this cause all my adult life, but until blogging developed, I had no regular, public means of expressing my views.

It was lonely at first. The world of blogs, not to mention of progressive Jewish ones, was much smaller five years ago. But what drove me was seeing blogging as a personal expression of angst, passion, anger, identity - whatever are your deepest emotions.

In the beginning, I reached out with mixed success to other like-minded bloggers. In 2005, I created Israel-Palestine Forum, for progressive discussion, and in the hope that this would amplify our message in the greater blog world. But bloggers are fiercely independent creatures. They don't necessarily want to be organized or part of a community. So I've had to adjust my ambitions and set humbler goals.
Advertisement
After five years of blogging, 2,000 posts, and 6,000 comments, I have a modest but substantial readership with 200 subscribers and 200,000 unique visitors annually. I would like my impact both on the blog world and the broader debate over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to be larger. But bloggers are often seen by "serious" journalists as shouters, dilettantes and dabblers rather than serious participants in the media discourse. While these generalizations sometimes are true, many of us break important stories and do serious independent research. Some of us have sources, life experience or expertise that few journalists have.

In the age before blogs, Jewish leaders were like political bosses. They ruled their roosts, and anyone who questioned them was easily frozen out of communal discourse. Their politics were conservative and generally supportive of the Israeli right. For its part, the Jewish media was a corporate entity that largely expressed the views of such leaders. The few dissenting individuals and organizations made barely a ripple in the communal pond.

Blogs have changed that. Now, Jewish "bosses" can be held up to immediate public scrutiny. When Abraham Foxman, of the Anti-Defamation League, refused to acknowledge the Armenian genocide, the Jewish press and bloggers took him to task and he backed down. When the Jewish Telegraphic Agency published a quote falsely attributed to Desmond Tutu equating Israel with Hitler, the MuzzleWatch blog brought this to the Jewish community's attention, and JTA corrected the record.

More importantly, when Israeli policy goes off the rails, as it did during the Second Lebanon War, peace bloggers published almost minute-by-minute coverage documenting the carnage and folly of the military-political decisions that informed the conflict, demonstrating the power of the Internet to circumvent the control of governments and centralized authority.

And if most Israelis who supported the war while it was happening concede today that it was a failure, I would argue that that is, in part, because of the dissenting voices in the Israeli and world media, including blogs like mine and others, which caused a reconsideration of both the cost of the war and the supposed benefits touted by Israel's politicians and generals.

Bloggers conducted a furious debate for and against the war. No one could pull the plug on us, and even if we weren't feared or noticed by the Olmerts and Halutzes of this world, we could have our say and people listened.

Not that all's always well in the Jewish blog world. The breaking down of communal consensus has caused a breakdown of civility, and some blogs are characterized by a barrage of hate, invective and verbal assault.

There has also been a steep rise in partisanship. More radical, violent and racist ideas get more attention than they ever did in the past. I have been unsuccessfully sued for libel for calling militant pro-Israel activist Rachel Neuwirth a "Kahanist." The owner of another far-right site, Masada2000, started a mock blog in my name, which included pornographic references and a stolen image of my son and me, with a caption saying we were making bombs (we were baking cookies). Masada2000's owner also threatened me with genital mutilation. Members of the Kahanist Jewish Task Force Web site wished that I would get cancer of the rectum. It would be wrong to see these merely as aberrant Jewish expressions or the actions of lone troubled individuals (though they might be that). For the Internet has given nuts a huge megaphone to amplify and spread their hate.

My aim is to improve the Jewish blogosphere by encouraging more liberal voices to join the debate. We need more prominent communal figures and even journalists to understand the power of blogs and begin writing their own. Some, like Leonard Fein, Bernard Avishai and Daniel Levy have already done so. But there is room for much more. And, as more newspaper readers migrate to the Web, I'm hoping that the mainstream media both in Israel and America will expand their interest in blogs and incorporate what we have to say into their reporting.

Richard Silverstein blogs at Tikun Olam about Israeli- Palestinian peace, world and Jewish music, and U.S. politics. He lives in Seattle with his family.

More Jewish World news and features
Bookmark to del.icio.us  
 
Pride of Shas
Shas MK: Gays are causing Israeli society to self-destruct.
In bad taste
Local Jewish group protests 'Holocaust float' at Rio Carnival.
  1.   Sheep in wolf`s clothing 11:20  |  I know you 25/01/08
  2.   Do Not Attempt Dialogue With Silverstein 11:43  |  Ben Israel 25/01/08
  3.   I don`t know you 11:57  |  sh 25/01/08
  4.   Silverstein as Hateful as they Come 11:59  |  Dan 25/01/08
  5.   #1 is correct - richard is known 13:08  |  henry 25/01/08
  6.   In praise to the few who know the truth and this writer does not 13:15  |  Mark Hamil 25/01/08
  7.   keep up the good work 13:34  |  ira 25/01/08
  8.   nuts & megaphones 13:41  |  Shut up Silverstein 25/01/08
  9.   Silverstein Isn`t What He Claims To Be 14:11  |  Ben Israel 25/01/08
  10.   1 14:16  |  Caveat Emptor 25/01/08
  11.   I know you and his assumptions 14:26  |  Yaakov Sullivan 25/01/08
  12.   Misrepresents himself 14:26  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 25/01/08
  13.   Richard, you know you are doing something right when... 14:31  |  Yaakov Sullivan 25/01/08
  14.   Shut Up Silverstien, an astute observer 14:37  |  Yaakov Sullivan 25/01/08
  15.   Ignore him and he will go oy vey 14:39  |  fOX 25/01/08
  16.   Richard Silverstein-Thank you for your work 14:48  |  Dorothy 25/01/08
  17.   People who can`t listen to varied opinions are wimps not leaders 14:57  |  Sam 25/01/08
  18.   Good for you Richard. 15:01  |  Diane Mason 25/01/08
  19.   silverstein and haartezgo together like a horse and carriage 15:07  |  v hardman 25/01/08
  20.   Six Attacks, Five Ad Hominem 15:08  |  Rowan Berkeley 25/01/08
  21.   Humble Expert Opinion 15:20  |  d de 25/01/08
  22.   #18 the ash tree bends to the sound of silver 15:25  |  v hardman 25/01/08
  23.   Silverstein`s courageous service to Zionism, humanity, Judaism 15:42  |  Haim Dov Beliak 25/01/08
  24.   Question for Rowan Berkeley 15:49  |  Ben Israel 25/01/08
  25.   Liberal ouitlook on peace in the middle east 15:57  |  Asher Najer 25/01/08
  26.   Victor, that`s a very weak argument 16:04  |  Rowan Berkeley 25/01/08
  27.   Yaakov 16:08  |  Ronni 25/01/08
  28.   Is Silverstein interested in Truth or Himself 16:27  |  B 25/01/08
  29.   wow, good to see such unanimity among israelis 16:31  |  palestinian 25/01/08
  30.   SIlverstein. you know you`re on the wrong side... 16:58  |  peter 25/01/08
  31.   Silverstein`s blog 17:02  |  Fox Hunter 25/01/08
  32.   Asher- definition of insanity 17:17  |  Dorothy 25/01/08
  33.   #24 B I don`t quite follow 17:19  |  Rowan Berkeley 25/01/08
  34.   Silverstein is generous with the lives of Israeli Jews 17:26  |  Jasmine Murphy 25/01/08
  35.   Ronni, look at thyself 17:50  |  Yaakov Sullivan 25/01/08
  36.   The Tikun Olam Blog 18:03  |  mark 25/01/08
  37.   #25 ash tree gets the message and emphasise it ! 18:10  |  v hardman 25/01/08
  38.   JTF cares about the Jewish people. Silverstein does not. 18:15  |  judeanoncapta 25/01/08
  39.   He lives in Seattle with his family 18:23  |  judeanoncapta 25/01/08
  40.   In Seattle? 18:58  |  Rinat 25/01/08
  41.   Yaakov Sullivan 19:10  |  Ronni 25/01/08
  42.   lost cause 19:19  |  gilbert 25/01/08
  43.   yaakov - 2nd try 19:33  |  Ronni 25/01/08
  44.   Ronni, that is simply nothing but bullcrap 20:04  |  Yaakov Sullivan 25/01/08
  45.   I dont know who is worse... 20:15  |  Illusion 25/01/08
  46.   Yaacov Sullivan - Creep!!! 20:16  |  I know you 25/01/08
  47.   Yaakov 20:34  |  Ronnie 25/01/08
  48.   Richard Silverstein 20:44  |  hollingsworth 25/01/08
  49.   Silverstein lecturing on "civility"? 20:45  |  DrMike 25/01/08
  50.   Why do you read what Sullivan writes? 21:22  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 25/01/08
  51.   embarrasing level 21:23  |  lennybruce 25/01/08
  52.   I know you-GOOD LUCK! 21:24  |  Yaakov Sullivan 25/01/08
  53.   Silverstein 21:39  |  Connie 25/01/08
  54.   Margie from TA doesnt bother #50 21:51  |  Yaakov Sullivan 25/01/08
  55.   Ronni on Jews Thriving 21:57  |  Yaakov Sullivan 25/01/08
  56.   Silverstein`s NOT part of the `JEWISH BLOGOSPHERE` 22:16  |  KJJ 25/01/08
  57.   Silversteins neither Liberal nor Zionist..he was born Jewish 22:25  |  KJJ 25/01/08
  58.   Dont be fooled by this article 22:44  |  KJJ 25/01/08
  59.   #48 Hollingsworth - Silverstein is bad, but not that bad 22:54  |  Slibovitz 25/01/08
  60.   #29 Palestinian - Absolutely 22:59  |  Slibovitz 25/01/08
  61.   In praise of the Jewish blogosphere 23:26  |  Marc 25/01/08
  62.   R. Silverstein and his cohorts feed Israel`s enemy 23:30  |  GodIsWatchingUs 25/01/08
  63.   Slibovitz 23:51  |  hollingsworth 25/01/08
  64.   Yaakov 00:02  |  Ronni 26/01/08
  65.   inability to deal with critics rationally 01:04  |  roberto 26/01/08
  66.   # 62 thinks he has the exclusive rights on God 01:25  |  roberto 26/01/08
  67.   The venom and hate in some of these talkbacks proves the point 01:35  |  Cinammon 26/01/08
  68.   #58 -- KJJ`s self styled crussade 01:41  |  roberto 26/01/08
  69.   #15 fOX 04:22  |  Franco 26/01/08
  70.   Margie in Tel Aviv on misrepresentation 07:39  |  whodey 26/01/08