My friend, Dena Shunra brought me word of the amazing news that our mutual friend, Yossi Gurvitz, who writes the Hebrew language blog, Friends of George, has been accused of incitment to murder. Though I have never met Yossi personally, from the writing in his blog and his picture there, he appears to be a pipe-smoking, bohemian (possibly) and totally harmless (physically) individual. How the lunatics of Im Tirzu can turn him into a potential murderer is little short of astounding.
It appears that Yossi is caught up in a larger game Im Tirzu is playing in which it seeks to smear New Israel Fund, a battle that has raged in Israel for months. I’ve reported here on the Shturmer-like demonization to which Naomi Hazan was subjected in the pages of all the major Israeli newspapers. Well, it appears that Yossi spoke at a New Israeli Fund conference for Israeli bloggers in which, according to the rightist Yisrael HaYom, he said he was eager to “get to the meat of the matter and do battle with Im Tirzu.” He further clarified that what he meant was to unmask the group’s funding sources. In Hebrew, he used the term basar va’dam, meaning “body and blood” or, as I translated, meat of the matter. So this is how a bunch of total meshugayim transform a call to political battle into a death threat. Amazing, simply amazing.
I’ve got news for Im Tirzu–these guys are political neophytes or poseurs if they interpret that as a death threat. I can send them some of mine, a few of which have been reported to the FBI, if they want to know the real thing. The most recent one was posted recently by a Los Angeles commenter named Bacci40 at The Magnes Zionist:
…must kill dickie to know that he is irrelevant.
Now, that’s a death threat.
Yossi, enjoy the notoriety and may it bring you added visibility for your worthy commentary on the Orwellian threats to Israeli democracy.
Richard, “Basar Va’Dam” is easily translatable to “Flesh and Blood”. The point is that according to Yossi’s blog, he didn’t even use that phrase as it is incorrect in Hebrew. According to his blog and as you correctly pointed out, all he asked for is more “meat”-i.e. reliable information that he can sink his journalistic teeth into.
I was looking for that phrase “flesh & blood” & couldn’t think of it. Thanks for reminding me.
Correction based on Yossi Gurvitz’s post relating to the matter:
1. The whole thing took place in a convention of bloggers organized by The New Fund. Yossi Gurvitz said that so far the discussion had been too theoretical and that he wished “to get to the flesh” (lehagi’a labasar, meaning to get to the substance or essence of things, to be more ‘tachles’) and to reveal Im Tirtzu’s financial sources (which was what he meant by getting to the substance). Im Tirtzu distorted his words and attributed him the statement that he “wanted flesh and blood” (which by the way is gibberish, there is no such idiom, except perhaps some borrowing from the Hebrew literary expression denoting the human condition, flesh and blood, “adam basar vadam”), and that he wanted, in addition, to reveal their financial sources.
2. So far Im Tirtzu has allegedly sued The New Fund, the organizers of the convention, without mentioning Yossi Gurvitz’s name (they apparently did not recognize him). It is Yossi Gurvitz himself who announced that the speaker was himself.
The whole thing is ridiculous, of course.
Sorry, this time correction of my own words: according to Yossi Gurvitz’s blog, they did not sue , they issued a complaint to the police.
There’s another big advertising campaign against Naomi Hazan ongoing. I spotted it last week over the highway in to Tel Aviv from the north and then again in Jerusalem over the highway to Mount Scopus and Maaleh Adumim. It catches the eye because it’s only in Arabic, no Hebrew. I can just about read Arabic so I know her name’s on it, dripping with something. And there’s an object that looks like a gas canister on which is written shukran (thanks).
Does anyone know what this http://only-israel.co.il/
is all about?
From what i’ve understood, it’s about the recently discovered gas fields, specifically the royalty issue. the NIF (amongst others) are for raising the royalties to be payed by Thsuva and novel energy. the campaign you saw is trying to connect that to anti-patriotism. i think their main claim is the NIF want to strengthen (god forbid) Egypt and Yossi Meiman by weakening tshuva. It’s not clear (or at least not publicly known) who exactly is funding this campaign.
http://www.globes.co.il/news/article.aspx?did=1000580473&fromMador=585&fromErechMusafHP
in short there is a dispute about natural gas commissions, the NIF supports raising the commissions one of the NIF directors Ruth Shehinski who happens to be the wife of Dr. Sheshinski who was appointed by minister of treasury to check the issue.
Dr. Sheshinski happen to forget that he his married, and didn’t report on his wife position as required by law.
NIF claims that if commissions rate will increase Tshuva will become a multi-billionaire and they oppose that, they rather Israel will keep its dependency on Arab originated natural gas, by increasing the commissions and making the Arab natural gas cheaper.
Yuval, this is just so much BS.
It is a clear interest of the State of Israel that Tshuva’s company pay as much royalty as possible, on the condition that the exploitation of the gas field remains profitable enough for the company to continue it. In other words, the state should allow Tshuva to make profits from the gas, but take care that those profits are as low as possible (and the royalty paid to the state as high as possible).
Any commission appointed by the state to fix the royalty rate will be guided by this principle, if its activity is carried out on strictly professional criteria. Any argument relating to the commission’s recommendations should be based on those recommendations (which have not been formulated until now). Any attempt to influence the commission’s decision by running a smear campaign against the NIF is just a smear campaign, nothing more.
Whether or not there is a conflict of interests inherent in Dr. Sheshinsky’s chairmanship of the commission because of his wife’s activities, depends on several factors, one of them being the exact position of Ms. Sheshinsky in the NIF.
Meni,
The smear campain somehow attempts to use an argument that part of the discovered field may not belong to Israel but to Lebanon. I couldn’t understand what it has to do with the issue. Do you happen to know what it is about?
Try to google: Israel Lebanon gas (in English)
There are several newspaper reports (mainly from Near Eastern and/or Arab press), indicating that Lebanese officials voiced claims to part of the relevant gas fields, but those claims are not substantiated.
God knows what any of this has to do with the NIF.
It seems that Yossi is doing a pretty good job of killing himself with that cigar
Yossi’s in fine health as far as I know. It’s an avatar. You do know the difference?