IP on my paranaoia

Arik is a commenter who recently popped up on this blog. A staunch supporter of Israel's incursion into Israel Lebanon, s/he has a number of IPs, perhaps half a dozen. So many that I have stopped tracking them.

At one point, I even suspected that Arik was more than one person, perhaps even a lobbyist for the pro-Israel side. But I quickly dismissed that notion because, really, I have better things to think about. Besides, I welcome all commentary, as long as people are reasonably reasonable.

Then reader H.S. tipped me to this, from the conservative Times online (I added the link):

WHILE Israel fights Hezbollah with tanks and aircraft, its supporters are campaigning on the internet.

Israel’s Government has thrown its weight behind efforts by supporters to counter what it believes to be negative bias and a tide of pro-Arab propaganda. The Foreign Ministry has ordered trainee diplomats to track websites and chatrooms so that networks of US and European groups with hundreds of thousands of Jewish activists can place supportive messages.

In the past week nearly 5,000 members of the World Union of Jewish Students (WUJS) have downloaded special “megaphone” software that alerts them to anti-Israeli chatrooms or internet polls to enable them to post contrary viewpoints. A student team in Jerusalem combs the web in a host of different languages to flag the sites so that those who have signed up can influence an opinion survey or the course of a debate.

Jonny Cline, of the international student group, said that Jewish students and youth groups with their understanding of the web environment were ideally placed to present another side to the debate.

“We’re saying to these people that if Israel is being bashed, don’t ignore it, change it,” Mr Cline said. “A poll like CNN’s takes just a few seconds to vote in, but if thousands take part the outcome will be changed. What’s vital is that the international face of the conflict is balanced.”

Which is why you must never trust Internet polls.

In fact, last week, I received a ''bulk'' email friom an activist for the Palestinian side in this debate, asking that I rush over to the Globe and Mail's website to vote no to whether Prime Minister Stephen was handling the crisis well. The no's won.

But this is the first time I have ever heard of an organized state-supported effort to troll through blogs and post comments, to propagandize and to fight back, online. It's quite brilliant really, a new form of viral idea marketing.

So maybe Arik is not really Arik? (Interestingly, the name means lion in Hebrew, and it is Ariel Sharon's nickname.) Not that I care mind you, but I am the type of person who believe in standing up for your convictions, with your real name and IP number.

UPDATE: CJR Online has more here.

The result: Deeply entrenched partisans yelling at each other in a sort of orgy of catharsis long overdue in a region where people literally could not speak directly to each other while remaining in their countries. Now, with chat-rooms and the like, a space that transcends borders has been created, where dialogue can bloom. Sure, right now it doesn't sound like dialogue, but there is some evidence in these discussions that there is room to hear The Other -- once partisans get over the initial shock of being confronted with positions that hate had until now shielded them from hearing before.

That dialogue is perhaps a far better chance for lasting and viable resolution in the region than any military campaign or ceasefire.

And here's the software being employed for this propaganda action.

Comments

[sooey]

gawd. that explains the yawner posts. look - ya wanna win the posting war? ya gotta snap it off fast and go for the cheap larf.

[Bill-Muskoka]

Antonia,

'Israel’s Government has thrown its weight behind efforts by supporters to counter what it believes to be negative bias and a tide of pro-Arab propaganda'

Is there not a law against such foreign manipulation of Canadians? Does CSIS know of this?

'Ve have ways of making you think as we wish!' Great, just so warm and fuzzy great!

[Scotian]

I ran across this a little while before I came to check your blog Antonia, and it comes as no great surprise. It is after all a logical extension of the letter writing campaigns to various prominent media outlets/newspapers that we have seen in the past. Still, I am very glad to see that you have chosen to try and expose this operation before it has too much of a chance to work without examination, for this is a mechanism of propaganda to advance the POV of a State involved in a conflict/war, and one should never be willing to trust what comes from such sources from whatever side of a conflict is involved. As I believe you noted last week the first casualty of war is the truth.

[Mark Federman]

Middle East conflicts (or, to be more specific, conflicts involving Israel) are always fought on two fronts: the geographic front with people dying, and the media front, with the truth dying.

Yassir Arafat was a master tactician on the latter front. This time around, it seems to me that the battleground of North American media (especially television) has been dominated by Israel to a greater degree than in the past. (As an aside to those who cite the cliché about Zionist-controlled American media, spend some time reviewing the history of media portrayal of Yassir Arafat, and those who spoke on behalf of the Palestinian cause in the North American massmedia. The media transformation of the man who first gave the world airline hijackings and suicide bombers into statesman is truly a wondrous study in the transformative power of the massmedia.)

I am not at all surprised that Israel has finally cottoned on to this specific dual front nature of their conflicts, and are actively (not to mention, aggressively) "aerial bombing" the info-war.

And, (Bill-Muskoka having lobbed such an easy one over the plate), a law against foreign manipulation of Canadians? Are you kidding? Haven't you been watching the Steve 'n' George show?

Or, frighteningly, this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCzTNedVbNE

[Arik]

Apparently, the exchange beginning here http://thestar.blogs.com/azerb/2006/07/like_minded.html#comment-20417482 was enough to get me singled out prominently as a ZOG operative, instead of merely a reasonably well-informed observer of current events who operates within the rules of the blog to counter anti-semitic and virulently anti-Israeli misinformation and conspiracy-mongering. Do you honestly not see how this makes you look?

[sooey]

yasser arafat, the terrorist, is pretty yesterday, mark. it's all about yasser arafat - wait for it - AIDS VICTIM?! now. i just don't know if that makes him more of a terrorist? or less...

[Antonia Z.]

AIDS victim and ''buggerer'' Sooey. Doncha forget THAT!!!

As for you Arik, lighten up. This is a blog not a battlefield. If you want to fight, go join the army of your choice.

[Bill-Muskoka]

Mark Federman,

'Haven't you been watching the Steve 'n' George show?'

Oh yes indeedydo I have. Sickening, yet with a warmth of love seldom seen between such people! Steve and George, why they may have to appear as stars on the next 'Survivor', eh?

LOL!

[Stanley Spector]

This would explain why it is that today's Globe poll ("Which nation or organization is most responsible for the carnage in Lebanon?") has so far had 214 120 votes, more than ten times the usual numbers, which tend to range from 10 000 to 25 000.

[Todd]

Antonia said:

"As for you Arik, lighten up. This is a blog not a battlefield."

You're half-right, Antonia: it's not a battlefield, but it's still a site of struggle.

So go class societies . . . .

[Todd]

And corporations have been doing this thing for some time now. It only makes sense states would get into the act sooner or later.

[sheena]

If Arik tries selling me Cheaper! Online Viaaggarra That Makes Chix H0Rny, I might not come back here, Madame Blogger.

[sooey]

gawd, todd - it's just you, me and the propagandists reading the comments. i hope they're gettin' paid, at least. otherwise - cheap fascist corporate bastards!

[Grimsby]

Oh, I'm sympathetic towards Arik. A blog posting at the media columnist for Canada's largest newspaper, seeking to out him, all because he dared inject a dissenting voice into the chorus of nods? Who, exactly, needs to stay calm here? Sheesh -- you'd think folks could tolerate other opinions without eagerly seeking to connect it up to institutional conspiracies.

(Well, no, you wouldn't. That would be ... utopian.)

[Antonia Z.]

I was not attempting to out Arik. I was checking up to see if he was somebody else who has been cyberstalking me and somebody else who comments on this blog.

I welcome dissenting voices.

But I still find the Times story fascinating.

[Bill-Muskoka]

sheena,

'If Arik tries selling me Cheaper! Online Viaaggarra That Makes Chix H0Rny, I might not come back here, Madame Blogger.'

Actually, sniffing mercury vapours will act as a substitute for Viagra, but then it makes one insane as was the case with several monarchs, as well as hat makers!

Welcome to 'How did they do that?'

[Robert McClelland]

Check out this post from Vues d'ici on the the G&M's latest poll.
http://canadian-politics.com/vues/?p=226

I do believe that we're seeing this Israeli cyber effort in action.

[Arik]

Thanks, Grimsby.

[sooey]

gawd, arik. now you're just being boring. ...hm... boring, eh? aha! well, two can play at that game, mister!

[Reality Check]

At least nobody is chanting "Death to The Star" or threatening to behead the publisher for presenting the Arab side of the dispute. I think it completely appropriate for people to try to mobilize pro-Israel opinion in the way you described.

[Greg Soucie]

Just my two cents. How about we discuss the actual post? I think it's fascinating that the Israelis are doing this. It seems to me to be another tactic in the war for public opinion, which is a pretty useful thing to have on your side.

I think it's also another reminder that polling, especially of the internet variety, is relied on far too heavily in media coverage. "First, we tell you the story with the Fox, CBC, BBC, Al Jazeera spin. Then, we tell you how good a job we've done convincing you that our spin is to be relied upon!" It's a lazy excuse for journalism.

Also, a few polite comments. Bill Muskoka - There are absolutely no laws in Canada regarding these alleged activities, nor should there ever be. I think I have a little more faith in the Canadian people to make up their own minds on an issue, regardless of how many public-opinion ballot boxes are stuffed by bloggers and online poll clickers.

Arik - Posting from multiple IP addresses is a little unusual. Declaring that you have been accused of being a ZOG operative is slander, at best. Now I know Antonia has got a tough skin, but don't you think that might be a wee bit on the harsh side? Let's have a debate about issues. The tactics alleged in the Times article are fine with me. But if someone points out that someone may be lobbying in an organized fashion, does that make that person an anti-semite? I think not.

[sooey]

yabbut, it got caught doing it. maybe if there'd been a bit of wit it wouldn't have been so obvious. phff. amateurs.

[Arik]

But if someone points out that someone may be lobbying in an organized fashion, does that make that person an anti-semite? I think not.
Posted by: Greg Soucie | August 01, 2006 at 10:33 AM

There was no evidence of anyone "lobbying in an organized fashion." One person was singled out, apparently on the basis of being the only commentator here who posts from more than one physical location over the course of a day (I guess everyone else here is independently wealthy and doesn't work). Ostensibly to ensure the person wasn't a "cyberstalker", despite that person's posts not in any way constituting stalking of any kind. And this person uses a Hebrew word for a handle. And only this person with the "Jewish" handle was monitored in this fashion, and subsequently described as a potential agent of a foreign power.

No, no anti-semitism there.

[Antonia Z.]

Get over yourself, Arik. I track the IPs of all posters here, except those I personally know.

As for my being stalked by the organized lobby, why don't you email me and I'll show you the evidence of that? (Of course you'll have to identify yourself.) There's plenty of it. Anybody whoever mentions Israel lands on the media watch lists.

So yeah, I am paranoid.

That makes two of us.

[Arik]

"I track the IPs of all posters here"

Worth doing if someone makes threats, etc.; not sure why it needs to be done simply because someone posts comments, given that you also claimed: "I welcome dissenting voices".

"my being stalked by the organized lobby, why don't you email me and I'll show you the evidence of that"

Indeed. Though you said this in your original post:

"But I quickly dismissed that notion because, really, I have better things to think about."

Which is it?

But please, don't bother; we both have better things to think about.