This is what the Israel Lobby represents, how low it can go
Twitter warning locking Mittal’s account for doxxing
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Since Ben & Jerry’s announced that it would abandon its market in the Occupied Territories, much of the hate and vitriol of the Israel Lobby and its supporters has been directed at the chair of the independent board of directors, Anuradha Mittal. She has received death threats and abusive messages filled with misogynist and Hindu-phobic hate. Among other comments, she was labeled “a cheap whore,” and accused along with other Hindus of “stinking up a room” for “not taking regular baths.” Hindu death rituals were labeled as “desecrating” the dead.
When she received such tweets, she reported them to Twitter. Instead of banning the accounts which posted this content, the social media platform locked her own account, claiming that she had doxxed one of the users by posting a screenshot of his e mail message which contained his purported e mail address. After an appeal, her account is now visible, but she has no access to it until the appeal is resolved. Twitter is in effect blaming the victim for her own suffering.
Undoubtedly her account was locked due to an organized campaign by pro-Israel users to get Twitter to shut down her account. I too have been subjected to such stalking which led to a similar response by Twitter.
Twitter message notifying MIttal her account will be blocked till her appeal is decided
I published here some of the abuse she has received, including the message displaying the e mail address (see above). Needless to say, Twitter has screwed up its priorities. When a woman of color is attacked based on her religious beliefs and gender, it should be defending her and not her attackers. I should add that out of fear for her safety, she has left her home. If anyone is in danger of doxxing, it is Mittal.
Further, I haven’t even been able to ascertain whether the purported “rabbi” who e mailed her exists. He may or may not be a hoax identity used to conceal the real person behind the hate. So Twitter has blocked a major public figure receiving death threats from someone it can’t even confirms exists. It’s a shameful betrayal of its users, especially one facing such personal distress and danger.
I’ve tweeted to Alan Jope, Unilever CEO and Ben Cohen, one of the company founders asking if they would release a statement of support for Mittal. Their silence (so far) is deafening and profoundly disappointing.
