salinea | An update on the Ran's board situation

First,
I've been pointed out that one of my paragraph in the post I had pasted from the thread could be read as implying that I thought the death of Jews, in the Shoah, as somehow more important than the current suffering and death of the Palestinian people, when I said it was not a genocide, and as a result dismissing their plight. I wrote this line because this claim (calling what Palestinians suffer a genocide) is something I have heard a few times, and indeed, I've seen someone make this comparison in another thread at the board. However I was not my intent to dismiss the Palestinians' suffering and horrid current plight and I apologize for writing something which could be read that way. I have bow retracted (via striking it out) of my previous post.
Another person commented addressing this paragraph to say that while it was not a genocide, it was in effect ethnic cleansing. I am not educated and knowledgeable enough to address that comment with the seriousness it deserves, which I'm sorry for. But I thought you guys should be made aware at this objection to my post.

Second,
My one day suspension having ended, I sent a PM to Ran telling him that I thought I deserved an explainion

This is his answer, and my own answer to him.

I believe I did explain, precisely, why Elrostar's post wasn't removed. I also suggested that it would be good to discuss it in that thread or via PM.

If you mean your other thread, you were using to indirectly attack other boarders ("racist idiots" is obviously referring to Elrostar, at the least) and then, when I closed (but did not delete, you'll note) it because of this, you then sent a spurious report making a mendacious claim. Hence the suspension.

I'll tell you how I see what happened. You can make of that what you want. I'll be leaving the board after that.

Elrostar made one comment which follows a trend which I can't call anything but Anti-semitic. I've seen other people on this board made those kind comments, and I have seen it since. Since threads on the subject of Israel and Gaza had a history of going too heated very easily, and since I don't believe whatever comment I could make would be listened to (It's not like I don't have a history of my comments being dismissed out of hand because people see me as too ~~Jewish~~ biased), I chose the least wank-inducing option which was to report it.

Your answer to my report obviously showed that you had no clue why I saw this as anti-semitic. You even compared this to attacks against the United States, as if Americans had a history of being an oppressed minorities for a big part of History; or as if Americans had been the victim of Nazi genocide - not comparable in the slightest. So I tried to explain it to you.

Your answer to my explanation was something which I interpreted as : this anti-Semitism you and all Jews of the board suffer from is none of my business as an admin or as a mod. Handle it on your own.

This I found outraging and deeply upsetting.

When I wrote the new thread (a new thread because I didn't want to thread jack the other thread, and a public thread rather than PM because Elrostar is only one of the person likely to make that sorts of comment, and I don't particularly want to enter the business of sending all of these people a PM every time they say something outrageous); I was quite angry, yet I tried the best possible job at explaining why it is anti-Semitic and how comparison of Israel and Jews to Nazi has a history of being used as hate speech against Jews; and also why I think it is the responsibility of the overall community (id est: you, the mods, and other boarders) to not turn a blind eye to that kind of hate speech when it happens (Something which I believe when other kinds of offensive comments against minorities and women are done, I assure you!).

You answer to that was to 1/ close the thread 2/ delete one of my comment.
In other word, after telling me that I was on my own to defend myself and my people from anti-Semitic comments; you actually took the step of silencing me when I was trying to do just that.

You didn't bother to explain to me why you took this step. You never engaged with any of my arguments at any point. You just said it was "obvious". Well not to me.

This I found to be disgusting and hypocritical. I called you out on it via the report tool (because I like irony). That you were, in effect and whether you are aware of it or not, protecting hate speech on our board, and preventing people from calling it for what it was.

Then you suspended me, showing your utter unwillingness to consider your own ignorance and prejudices.

You now give me the flimsiest of explanation, about the deletion of that one last comment, that "racist idiots" is an attack on a boarder.
In this sentence there is one word which is, indeed, name calling and an attack

It is the word "idiot".

Calling someone a racist is no an attack. It is not name calling. It is not an insult. It is not a slur.

Insults are words and sentences expressed for the sole purpose of humiliating, aggravating, demeaning and dismissing other people.

Calling someone a racist (or calling them a sexist, a misogynistic, a homophobic, an ableist, a transphobic etc.) is a tool a way to name the oppression and aggression that discriminated people suffer from - and it's often their only tool.

It can, of course, be used incorrectly, and it can, indeed, be pretty upsetting to suffer as an accusation. But it's an important and essential tool to keep in the hands of people who suffer discriminations.

If you remove that tool from their hand, you are, in effect and whether you are aware of it or not, condoning their oppression.

Now, you might be thinking by this point that I am a Drama Queen, and that I am exaggerating and posing myself as a victim.

But newsflash for you : anti-Semitism exist. Anti-Semitism did not suddenly disappear after WW2. Anti-Semitism has been perpetrated by a wide variety of populations, not only the Germans under the Third Reich. Anti-Semitic attacks are happening right now, in Europe, where I live, and elsewhere. And I have suffered, personally from anti-Semitism, subtle and blatant. I've been called a dirty Jew.

So yeah, when I see something that I see an anti-Semitic remark, I see it as an attack against me, and against my people.

It doesn't need to be an anti-Semitic against all Jews. A remark that is racist in nature whether it targets all people of the minority or only those which are "uppity" or too loud or annoying right now to the racist person is still a racist remark.

I cannot tell you how disappointed and disgusted with you I am right now, but judging from your previous behaviour, I have little chance to receive an apology.

So good bye.

Third,
There are maybe some people reading this who are puzzled and confused about this, because the first post I made on the subject was flocked. Given that a lot of people commented there knowing it was flocked, I would rather not unlock it. So, sorry for the confusion

Fourth,
There are maybe some people, especially other boarders, who are disagreeing with me deeply about this in general. I want to tell you that I prefer a thousand time for someone to tell me fair and square that they disagree with me, than for them to be bashing me in private under a flock post. Seriously few things make me feel more betrayed.

I'm leaving the board now. I spent a lot of good times there, and I'm sorry to abandon all the people there I enjoyed discussing with, but I don't think I can enjoy myself there anymore.

And that's it for this subject.

Current Mood: sad

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From:

silanah.livejournal.com

I didn't respond to your other post because I don't have enough knowledge of the subject of Israel-Palestine and I think it behooves us to treat a situation like this with as much sensitivity as we can muster.

In any case, I'm sorry that you are leaving the board; I think it will be the poorer for it. You were one of the very few posters that were able to conduct a political discussion with sensitivity, intelligence and grace. You don't have a reputation for name calling and I've always enjoyed reading your posts whether I've agreed with them or not.

It is sad that it's come to this after all these long years but over the last few months I think you are not alone. Glad I still get to 'see' you here.

N

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An update on the Ran's board situation

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