Comment Rules

My wish is that the comment threads here become a community of sorts for those interested in Israeli-Palestinian peace and the other subjects about which I write. Like any community, there should be room for disagreement (and agreement). There should be education, ideas, jokes, criticism–everything that makes up a full-throated discussion of the issues.

The comment threads of this blog are moderated. Civility even in disagreement is a first principle. Those who cannot control their bile are not welcome.

First-time comments are moderated. Once I approve your first comment no subsequent comments of yours will be moderated unless you violate the rules. I require commenters to respect the following no matter what their political views:

1. insults, baiting, vulgarity, harassment or abuse directed toward the blog owner or other commenters are not tolerated.

2. do not republish entire articles, posts or comments from external sources; publish an excerpt with a link.

3. support claims you wish to make using sources and links; do NOT make unsupported claims. The more outrageous the claim the more I insist on evidence. If you don’t provide it, then don’t expect to be taken seriously. Links to sources like Debka, CAMERA, MEMRI, Middle East Forum, Palestine Media Watch, Campus Watch, Stoptheism, SamsonBlinded, Cactus48, or other propaganda sites will likely be removed. This blog does not promote right-wing or extremist anti-Zionist sites.

Quotations from, or flattering references to racist figures such as Meir Kahane or Hajj Amin Husseini may (depending on context) be edited or deleted.

4. anyone creating false or multiple identities will be banned.

5. comments which deny the existence of the Israeli or Palestinian peoples are unacceptable. Comments justifying the annihilation of either people will not be tolerated. Comments advocating expulsion of Israelis and their resettlement outside Israel will not be permitted.

6. arguing on behalf of hasbarist subjects such as Mohammed al Durrah, Hamas’s use of human shields, the Hamas charter, etc. is a waste of your time and mine.

7. comments which abuse the Holocaust and Holocaust terms (‘Judenrein,’ etc.) for propaganda purposes may be deleted. Also, use terms like ‘anti-Semite,’ ‘anti-Israel,’ ‘genocide,’ and ‘Nazi’ VERY carefully as they are quite often misused. Calling the Gaza withdrawal “ethnic cleansing” is incendiary propaganda and not legitimate argument. Terms like “zionazi” are not permitted.

8. comments which claim my readers or I “hate Israel” or that we are “enemies of the Jewish people,” “kapos,” “self-haters,” “dhimmi” or similar smears are grounds for banning.

9. comments must be on-topic.

10. I may set limits on the number of comments certain commenters may publish each day if an individual publishes an inordinate number on a regular basis. If you publish more than 2-3 comments on a given day you’ve pretty much hit your limit. And if you exceed this regularly, you’re an offender. Do not flood the threads. If you do, your comments may not be published at all or may be published at delayed intervals esp. if I wish to reply to them.

11. Any comments or private e mail remotely resembling a physical threat will be reported to my local police department along with any personal identifying information about the perpetrator. I take such threats SERIOUSLY and react proactively.

12. Comments should be written specifically for this site and in reply to something published here. Any comments already published at other sites may be deleted.

Those who comment here are like house guests. Anyone who treats my home, me or readers with disrespect will receive no respect in return. Anyone who violates the rules above may find comments moderated or banned. Anyone who is a troll, stalker, or abuser may be banned.

Blogs are the property of the owner. If you can’t say what you like here following the rules you’re welcome to create your own blog and have your say there.

There are 22,000 comments here at the time I write this. Most take issue with my views, which is fine. But comments containing vicious, obscene, abusive, racist content have forced me to write and enforce these rules.

E-mail: Readers who send private e-mail should specify whether or not they wish their correspondence to be private. I will generally honor such requests unless I find the original e mail sufficiently offensive or outrageous. If you do not specify, your message may be published either in paraphrase or quotation. For e-mails sufficiently nasty or hostile even a demand for privacy may not be honored.

Please do not quote private e mail I write to you without permission. I will likely give it, but like to be asked and know I will be quoted publicly before I am.