As we told you earlier, the Community Overlords at Instagram decided that Eve Barlow’s post featuring footage of antisemitic violence in Los Angeles violated their guidelines.
I posted this to @instagram last night and like many posts showcasing antisemitic attacks it was deleted for “violating community guidelines.”
What a terrifying time we live in. pic.twitter.com/nODgZruIIj
— Eve Barlow (@Eve_Barlow) June 16, 2021
Pretty appalling to see a social media platform that is ostensibly about letting people share their lives and observations with the world try to suppress someone drawing attention to violence. But then, maybe it’s not so strange when you consider what social media platforms are willing to tolerate.
Like this from anti-Israel and antisemitic activist CJ Werleman:
(NEW):
40% of Palestinian children in Israeli custody are raped, and almost 100% are tortured. Then there’s the settlers.
Watch new episode @CJWerlemanShow here:
👉 https://t.co/WHqZoOxKby pic.twitter.com/bug2OjTSCo
— CJ Werleman (@cjwerleman) June 16, 2021
Want more facts?
Every year 500-700 Palestinian kids are arrested, interrogated and detained by Israeli soldiers.
They are beaten, kicked, slapped, pushed and sexually assaulted, "including grabbing a child’s testicles and threats of rape or sodomy."https://t.co/vC2XAu4bOP
— CJ Werleman (@cjwerleman) June 17, 2021
Want more facts? Check out Miftah, the organization that traffics in anti-Zionism, historical revisionism, blood libels, and all-around antisemitism!
Seriously, Werleman’s sources suck.
Here’s one thread debunking Werleman’s “facts” and the outlets from which he got them:
“What we have here is the kidnapping of Palestinian kids by Israeli soldiers, who later rape and torture them in adult prisons.”
IMPORTANT THREAD about unbelievable lies and demonization of Israel by anti-Semite @cjwerleman, from some brief research I conducted.
Read on. https://t.co/GUVrYLmqK2
— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) June 16, 2021
Werleman states that “a 2020 report by a renowned human rights organization” found that 40% of detained Palestinian children are sexually abused” when in Israeli custody. Yet the screenshot he provides is from a 2014 article on the International Middle East Media Center’s website pic.twitter.com/CPMXYZqz2W
— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) June 16, 2021
Furthermore, at 1:22, he shows a screenshot of an October 2020 article on the Voice of Dissent website, the opening sentence of which states “According to a new report by the independent, non-governmental, human rights organization the Palestinian Prisoners Club (PPC)….” pic.twitter.com/MgDyTEwmw0
— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) June 16, 2021
Yet, upon clicking the hyperlink embedded into the words “new report,” users are merely redirected to the 2014 IMEMC article. See here: https://t.co/nGBmXnIRK3
— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) June 16, 2021
At 3:53, Werleman mischaracterizes UN statements about Israel in 2013, despite presenting a screenshot of a 2021 TRT article meant to mislead the audience that these are new statements by the UN. The statement begins with "expresses its deepest concern…" https://t.co/1VXozSJdDw pic.twitter.com/uScek65wdx
— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) June 16, 2021
Werleman argues that the UN's statement is "just a fancy way of saying Palestinian children are being raped and tortured in secretive dungeons that are well beyond the reach of the courts, media and you."
But the UN implied no such thing.
— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) June 16, 2021
To top it all off, at 6:25, he cites data provided by @DCIPalestine as a legitimate source. For those who don't know, DCI-P is affiliated with the PFLP, a US-designated terrorist organization, according to @NGOmonitor https://t.co/dnaalkQIKn pic.twitter.com/n9ojes0uwf
— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) June 16, 2021
Conclusions:@cjwerleman links to ZERO 2020 reports, misrepresents what the UN says, and spreads misinformation + hate. He must be called out.@BylineTimes Is this what passes as journalism from one of your correspondents?
If I missed anything important, please let me know.
— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) June 16, 2021
An additional something I just found: the 40% sexual abuse stat is entirely fabricated. https://t.co/KotrX4SMUc
— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) June 16, 2021
Here’s another thread that’s exceedingly thorough and well researched (which is something CJ Werleman can’t say about any of his own work):
Want to spread false info on the Internet? A good case study is @cjwerleman's claim that 40% of Palestinian minors detained by Israeli security forces are raped, almost 100% tortured. Emulating this process, you too can also spread false info. Thread >>>https://t.co/3oPT8cngCT
— Michael Starr (@Starrlord89) June 16, 2021
Your objective is to make a claim that is politically/ideologically useful. But what's useful isn't always supported by reality. How to get useful info? Good false information is based on previous false info, which is as well. You essentially make Matryoshka dolls of false info. pic.twitter.com/HVjNjhvaW3
— Michael Starr (@Starrlord89) June 16, 2021
As you go deeper, there's less substance, expansion happens through exaggeration of previous info. Info is laundered by shady media or NGOs. NGOs are a good starting source for misinfo because inexplicably they are perceived as infalliable.
— Michael Starr (@Starrlord89) June 16, 2021
CJ makes two main claims in his video. 1) That 40% of Palestinian minor detainees are raped by Israeli security forces, and 2) Almost 100% of Palestinian minor detainees are tortured by Israeli security forces.
— Michael Starr (@Starrlord89) June 16, 2021
For the rape claim, we can trace the Matryoshka doll of false info from CJ, to a website called Voice of Dissent India, an website that has been inactive for 8 months. https://t.co/wpmXOJdTrC
— Michael Starr (@Starrlord89) June 16, 2021
The old article makes the claim that 40% of the minor detainees were sexually abused, based off an NGO called Palestinian Prisoners Club, and mentions that rape and sexual abuse of prisoners are forms of torture. This was changed by CJ to rape, which is a more loaded term.
— Michael Starr (@Starrlord89) June 16, 2021
The link provided by VOII was to a 2014 International Middle East Media Center article (also a CJ source), which refers to 40% of detainees facing sexual abuse, without mention of rape. The source is the same NGO, here called Palestinian Prisoners Societyhttps://t.co/fURhSwqB9r
— Michael Starr (@Starrlord89) June 16, 2021
A search of the PPS or club website and facebook from that period doesn’t show any report about 40% of detainees facing sexual abuse. https://t.co/aMImwagxj5https://t.co/6mWuHu8nTu
— Michael Starr (@Starrlord89) June 16, 2021
PPS is a shady NGO that according to @terrorisminfo is staffed by former Fatah terrorist operatives, and is supported by the PA ministry of prisoners. It appears that the organization fabricated the claim. As far as I can tell, the report does not exist. https://t.co/DiKB84Wmv2
— Michael Starr (@Starrlord89) June 16, 2021
We can see how an allegation can snowball, as those seeking to make claims find false info as a base for more false info
Rape << Sexual abuse w/mention of rape << Sexual abuse << NGO comment
CJ << Voice of Dissent India << International Middle East Media Center << PPS/C
— Michael Starr (@Starrlord89) June 16, 2021
We can see how false info Matryoshka works again with CJ’s claim about almost 100% of detainees facing torture.
— Michael Starr (@Starrlord89) June 16, 2021
CJ seems to base his allegations on two main source branches. First is the previous Voice of Dissent India article, which claims that the NGO Adalah says that 100% of minor detainees were subject to a series of forbidden interrogation techniques, which VOII calls torture.
— Michael Starr (@Starrlord89) June 16, 2021
However, I couldn’t find an Adalah report that makes these claims. Maybe someone better at research than I can. https://t.co/BCJtlnLKSh
— Michael Starr (@Starrlord89) June 16, 2021
However we can see how the claim evolves. Adalah reportedly claims that detainees face ill-treatment >>> VOII claims 100% face torture, and mentions the ill-treatment as proof >>> CJ claims almost 100% of child detainees face torture.
— Michael Starr (@Starrlord89) June 16, 2021
CJ’s other source seems to be a 2019 Middle East Monitor article. This article claims that 95% of minor detainees face torture. Their source is the Palestinian ministry of information.https://t.co/vFyhhT11Rd
— Michael Starr (@Starrlord89) June 16, 2021
What is interesting about the MEMO 2019 article is that has a similar article from 2020 which says that 95% of all Palestinian detainees are tortured. If nothing else, it speaks to the incredible consistency of Israeli security forces.https://t.co/4Wg6FXeoDC
— Michael Starr (@Starrlord89) June 16, 2021
This article sources, once again, PPS, making a statement in the Anadolu Agency. Once again, I couldn’t find PPS’ original statement, but perhaps it is out there and someone else is able to. https://t.co/r9mj14XD6u
— Michael Starr (@Starrlord89) June 16, 2021
However, what we can see here is how false info can be laundered through shady NGOs and news sources.
Branch one: CJ <<< VOII <<< Adalah
Branch two A: CJ <<< MEMO <<< Palestinian Ministry of Information
Branch two B: CJ <<< MEMO <<< Andalou <<< PPS— Michael Starr (@Starrlord89) June 16, 2021
The general allegation of torture against detainees as SOP is also treated in a similar way. Reports like ones cited by CJ speak of abuse, ill-treatment, rarely of torture. They are used by people like CJ, who begin shuffle of false info by using the loaded term torture.
— Michael Starr (@Starrlord89) June 16, 2021
Usually these reports are of allegations and testimonies, not hard fact. And usually the allegations in all these reports call the use of handcuffs, blindfolding, and other measures inherent or incidental to security enforcement abuse or in extreme cases, torture.
— Michael Starr (@Starrlord89) June 16, 2021
There is a debate about torture in Israel, such as the infamous ticking timebomb scenario and debate: https://t.co/SMA6Mi2lCp. However, what CJ and others are injecting into the discourse is propaganda meant to harm, not an attempt to balance security and human rights.
— Michael Starr (@Starrlord89) June 16, 2021
Careful of what you read on the Internet. Even question this thread. Review the sources yourself. For some reason, CJ is verified by Twitter, and has over 270K followers. Just because someone is popular and has a checkmark, doesn’t mean they are trustworthy sources.
— Michael Starr (@Starrlord89) June 16, 2021
Unfortunately, false info like CJ’s will do damage tens of thousands times over. Boring explanations that will likely not reach the impacted parties. Which is why it is important that we’re all part of the exchange of info, not just as consumers, but as informed participants.
— Michael Starr (@Starrlord89) June 16, 2021
CJ only provides screenshots from his sources. I can only speculate that it is either laziness or an attempt to hinder further examination. The links to CJ’s sources, so you can judge for yourself: https://t.co/wpmXOJdTrChttps://t.co/fURhSwqB9rhttps://t.co/LaFV3UpM6H
— Michael Starr (@Starrlord89) June 16, 2021
Part 2 of CJ's sources: https://t.co/mluKN22dSphttps://t.co/xng77BQu0y
— Michael Starr (@Starrlord89) June 16, 2021
Also, apparently CJ is unable to tell that @TheMossadIL is a parody account, which is worrying.https://t.co/B8mTKNvKUV
— Michael Starr (@Starrlord89) June 16, 2021
TL; DR version? CJ Werleman is an unhinged antisemitic bigot.
And Twitter is apparently fine with that.
100% false.
Why is @Twitter allowing this anti-semitic GARBAGE? https://t.co/Pev4sl2gAU
— RBe (@RBPundit) June 16, 2021
Because antisemitism is justifiable bigotry and hatred to people like CJ Werleman — and to our social media arbiters of “truth.”
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