Comments on: Indian Muslims Condemn Terror; After Hebron Settler Pogrom, Jewish-Right’s Silence

By: amir

amir — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 20:57:30 +0000

I disagree.

And the last time you called me a racist I challenged you to prove it and you said that would be as easy as finding a drop of water in Lake Michigan (or something like that) yet even that was too difficult for you beause you didn’t do it. You might want to try to follow your own comment rules. Argue all you want but why resort to name calling if your arguments are so strong?

By: Richard Silverstein

Richard Silverstein — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 23:03:13 +0000

@amir: So you’ve finally answered the question. Thank God for that. You haven’t written anything favorable about Palestinians, yet you claim not to be prejudiced against them.

Well I’ve read every comment you’ve written here & I say you are. And most reasonable readers here would agree. I’m not going to spend a lot of time going back over yr past comments to pt. out the bile you’ve written about Palestinians (besides I think I already did that once before when we had a similar interaction). If you can’t find anything positive you’ve ever written about Palestinians I’m going to interpret that as confirmation that you are hostile to them & their interests.

And once again, I invite you to produce anything you’ve written that proves you are not.

By: amir

amir — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 16:50:57 +0000

If you’re asking have I written anything positive about Palestinians then the answer is probably no. I never claimed to be pro-Palestinian. But that doesn’t make me anti-Palestinian either, which I define as being prejudiced against them or hateful.

By: Richard Silverstein

Richard Silverstein — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 08:16:05 +0000

@Alex Stein: Considering that I don’t believe I’ve ever asked Amir to answer such a question in the years he’s commented here and that readers demand I answer their claims virtually every week here & excoriate me if I don’t, I’d say the terms are a little different. Besides, my question should be very easy to answer. Either he’s said or written positive things about Palestinians or he hasn’t. Shouldn’t be too hard to answer.

The scenarios, lists of questions/demands, hypotheticals that are posed to me are quite a bit more complicated besides the fact that they arise, as I wrote, almost every week if not more often.

By: Alex Stein

Alex Stein — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 08:08:16 +0000

Richard – does that principle apply to all the questions you don’t answer, or is the standard different because it’s your blog?

By: Richard Silverstein

Richard Silverstein — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 07:33:40 +0000

@amir: I asked what you had ever done, said or written that showed Palestinians in a favorable light. You refused to answer. Silence is assent.

By: amir

amir — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 20:02:24 +0000

According to your own logic you would be considered anti-Palestinian because you don’t like either Fatah or Hama. “Doesn’t leave you much to like.”
I’m not sure what you mean by “silence may be construed as assent”. You’ve accused me at various times of being racist, an islamophobe, anti-Palestinian or anti-Arab and I have never been silent or assented to this vile accusation.

By: Richard Silverstein

Richard Silverstein — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 07:38:00 +0000

@amir: I don’t “like” either of them. Fatah is corrupt & rudderless. Hamas is intolerant & extremist. But Hamas strikes me as a more authentic Palestinian voice & not afraid of running in an election to determine who was most popular. I respect that though I certainly have many problems w. Hamas.

You don’t need to make a statement about having anything positive to say about Palestinians because you can’t & you haven’t. BTW, in the law silence may be construed as assent.