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Sunday, June 05, 2011

Memo to Suzie and Chip Activist

While reading 'Book of Joe' late last night, I came across a rare political offering (albeit tangentially so) on his excellent blog. It was a blurb about a web site that helps budding young activists plan ahead before heading out - laptop or iPad in hand - to save the world.

The site, called 'Access Now', is a catch-all reference for those who need up-to-date data on what kind of censorship they are likely to encounter when they arrive in a particular country to try to offer their worldly wisdom to the noble savages. Here are the relevant maps showing the different types of censorship:

Filtering Conflict
Filtering Political
Filtering Tools
Filtering Social


What the site never comes out and says (although, if you squint you can figure it out from the maps), is that Israel is the only country in this part of the world that has none of the Internet filtering/censorship that might interfere with little Suzie or Chip's summer / post-grad activism tourism.

In fact the only mention of Israel I was able to find on their entire site was a random comment in a thread about corporate complicity written by a would-be activist named Ana stating:

"I agree that nokia is doind [sic] very dirty bussiness [sic] but I think you have to write as well that this company work [sic] with the sionist [sic] country of Israel which doesn’t respect UN resolutions, international law, geneva convection, International criminal court…. So until don’t [sic] add this information too you won’t show the real facts. thank you very much, looking forward see [sic] a new stament [sic]."

Memo to Ana (and all of her fellow activism tourists running around with their laptops and iPads trying to save the world: If you really want to bring democracy and free speech to those colored countries on the maps I've posted... come here to Israel and discover the only working model in the entire region of of what you actually want to achieve. And then, rather than putting on a Kefiyah and demanding that Israel change its stripes... maybe take a look at whose stripes really need changing.

Nah... that's crazy talk!

Posted by David Bogner on June 5, 2011 | Permalink

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Let's try the One State solution: http://www.pjtv.com/?cmd=mpg&mpid=80

Works for me.

Posted by: antares | Jun 5, 2011 4:04:08 PM

It always amazes me how those on the left of the political spectrum spend so much time vilifying the one country in the Middle East that shares their ideals... and supporting those to whom those ideals are anathema. It's yet another manifestation of the human ability to embrace stupidity.

Perhaps the best example is "Queers Undermining Israeli Terror," AKA QUIT. Let them try to live openly amongst the Arabs in Gaza and see how long before they're murdered... another embrace of stupidity.

Posted by: Elisson | Jun 6, 2011 5:22:34 AM

A good point, especially as Syrian Tanks are once again massing on the border of.........Hama! It's one thing to criticize Israel occasionally, as I am wont to do. It's another thing entirely to deny that Israel is the only country in the region where I could do that, or where I could change the policy by voting in a different government. Sheesh...don't get me started on the gay freedom issue.

Posted by: Jordan Hirsch | Jun 6, 2011 5:59:05 AM

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