Barry Chamish re: Steven Plaut, Daniel Pipes and The Jewish Press

Now to the vulgar slander that appeared in the Jewish Press last week. First, some background: Before I ever heard the name Daniel Pipes, it was reported to me that he had mounted a campaign of slander against me. Until then, I didn't realize that not only was he a member of the Council On Foreign Relations (CFR), he was almost entirely funded by them directly or by proxy. His prominence was not due to any innate talent; he had an in. His father, Richard, was head of the CIA's Soviet department through the Cold War. Pipes turned to writing mediocrities with names you don't know like Goldwasser, Balint and Plout. Their assignment was to write to every site and newsgroup which published me, threatening them if they so continued. The first two, I surmise, saw how they were used and backed off. What remained was the third mediocrity, Plout. Now I never publish his name simply because he doesn't deserve any publicity on my coattails. Leave it be said that he is a professor, virtually unknown in Israeli academic circles, and he once wrote a book, apparently about the local boy scouts movement. I looked it up on Amazon. It is number over a million, meaning it's sold about twelve copies. Pipes tried to cover his tracks by setting up a phoney grudge between me and him. That didn't work because, if I had to, I would choose a much worthier grudge match. But he took on his assignment with vigor and not much intelligence. After being caught in the act with sites loyal to me, he played the same game using pseudonyms in places like Rotter.net and Israel's Wikipedia. But he was too dumb to cover his tracks well. His style of slander was repetitious enough but the big giveaway was referring to Pipes and leaving links to his site everywhere he showed up. The best giveaway though was, accidentally or not, now and then, thoughtfully including his e-mail address in the comments supposedly by other people. His most vicious slander was a long term attempt to portray me as a Holocaust denier. For that I am suing him next week. In the Jewish Press article, to save himself in court, he admitted it wasn't true. But in the wake of it, he employed a few devotees with names like Efratguy to spread the same lie. Consider this letter just received from a blog owner: I posted your email in my blog and someone in new jersey did a search for "daniel pipes shill blog" and found us, and then several visitors came from Tel Aviv straight to my site. They anonymously said a few rude things about you and now they're just lurking. I was amazed at how quickly they showed up AND the fact that there were probably a hundred returns to that search...think they went to every one of them and badmouthed you? anyway, my blog is at http://nord.twu.net/acl/ news.html Stay safe... looks like you're enemies are pretty desperate to shut you down. I couldn't believe it when they called you a neo-nazi and a holocaust denier! On the Pipes/Plout partnership: Israel Insider On Pipes's fine organization: htt p://www.newswithviews.com/guest_opinion/guest82.htm A few of the letters sent to the Jewish Press were forwarded to me. I'm told many more were sent and I can't begin to express my gratitude to all these wonderful people. Let us categorize the arguments. First, the writers noted the article had no research, no scholarship, but it sure contained a lot of hate: "Virtually every "question" raised by the conspiracists about the Rabin assassination has by now been fully explained away and answered:" Only error and misdeeds have to be explained away, like trying to "explain away" lipstick on your shorts. * It is surprising to me that the Jewish Press would support such weak quasi-intellectualism as was present in the conspiracy article by Steven Plaut. One can never judge the truth by just labelling something mental illness and writing it off like that. Every true Dayan (and scientist as well) understands that every detail of a claim must be examined carefully before a conclusion is reached as to its veracity or lack thereof. * Next, the writers expressed the suspicion that the article was commissioned by people a great deal more powerful than the "author:" * Tell me, dear Mrs. Klass, do you have any idea who could possibly have been paying whom to make fun of a very good and serious man called Barry Chamish and whose political fortunes are supposedly served by it? * One wonders why the author of this article finds the official gov't line so much more credible than the obvious conclusion which the above facts lead to. One also wonders if he doesn't have similar biases in his poohpoohing other conspiracies, in particular the Rabin Assassination which he has written about extensively in defense of the gov't position. * Plaut then quotes a certain "seminal book" by Daniel Pipes. The entire Plaut article thus strives to resemble a scholarly review of another scholarly work. This sort of writing just proves that he is either a mole or a tool of the Federal Government. * The author then goes to the fallacy of logic (argument ad hominem) and links Barry Chamish to fringe neo-Nazi and Holocaust revisionist groups. I can attest, that as a conservative in some political aspects, nonetheless my writings have appeared in the web-pages of the far left in America. The fact of the Internet is, that anyone can cut and paste the writings of anyone else. So much for the spurious use of argument ad hominem by the individual to whom I address. Very simply put; Barry Chamish writes with a bias to Israeli nationalism and Daniel Pipes is a Neocon. There you have it. * But what really peeved the writers, was the "author's" insinuation that I, and anyone who thinks as I do, is "mentally ill." Now here's where things get interesting: Israel's Plague of Conspiracism 1-Conspiracism is probably best characterized as a form of mental illness. Are you a licensed psychiatrist? 2-Some researchers in psychiatry plainly agree.....WHO? * Commentary: International Relations, Research & Education Vocabulary words used incorrectly by individuals who consider themselves intellectuals create misrepresentation, but what is even more bizarre is how loosely some individuals use non existent terms or words. There are many slick unsavory characters from all walks of life who probably contribute to numerous unsolved mysteries. There is no reference to "conspiracism" or "Conspiracists" in legal or medical terminology or any reference to a diagnosis of "conspiracism" as a mental illness or "plague". Conspiracy: in Criminal Law occurs when two or more persons conspire/ plan an unlawful act, which becomes unlawful when done by the concerted action of the conspirators. Civil Conspiracies: the term "civil" is used to designate a conspiracy which will furnish ground for a civil action,as where, in carrying out the design of the conspirators, overt acts are done causing legal damage, the person injured has a right of action. Reference: Black's Law Dictionary-Fourth Edition * His faulty logic goes like this: Because some people believe in conspiracies, all people who believe in conspiracies suffer mental illness, and therefore promote anti-Semitism thus they are dangerous and you should avoid them. * When I have questioned Plaut about his passion against Chamish, he was totally steadfast. No facts in the world could sway Plaut from his attitude. His answers were full of emotion. He did not answer my questions just lashed back about Chamish being crazy. As I see it, Plaut has a personal dislike for Chamish and the Jewish Press fell prey to it. If it is not a personal dislike, it is probably part of a campaign to discredit Chamish so the truths he does discover are not given validity. I guess that would make it a conspiracy, and since I am the one to suspect it, by Plaut's definition that would make me mentally ill. * Daniel Pipes may be an 'expert' on the Middle East but it is news to me that he is also a serious student of psychology. To describe all those who come to grips with some of the most serious conspiracies - and their cover-ups - as paranoid delusions, - means that a huge percentage of Israel needs to be in the padded cell recommended by this supposed academic. * At risk of being called a conspirator by Plaut, and therefore mentally ill by his definition, I question why Plaut is so vehemently opposed to Chamish's work that he would spend so much time and effort to discredit him. * Conspiracy theories are like Chassidishe Maises (miraculous stories of Tzaddikim) If you believe all of them you're a fool, if you don't believe any you're in denial!!! * Now look at this remarkable exchange, sent to me. The reader merely suggested that Plout appear on Tamar Yonah's radio show on Arutz Sheva to explain his views, because she often has me as his guest. What is Plout's answer? He calls Tamar "mentally ill." I asked Plaut if he'd be prepared to be interviewed on Tamar Yona's show. This was his reply!! *************************** For the rest of this article, please visit The Kempler video blog.