36 thoughts on “Haaretz Columnist, Best-Selling Author Sexually-Attacked Jewish Journalist Allegedly – Tikun Olam תיקון עולם إصلاح العالم
task-attention.png
Comments are published at the sole discretion of the owner.
 

  1. This is terrible if true about Shavit. I would guess that the woman did not want to directly name him directly, perhaps out of fear of a lawsuit or ruining his career. In any case I hope that a news organization like Haaretz will not keep him on staff with these accusations against him.

    Perhaps this is the silver lining of the Trump phenomenon– that women are having the courage to speak up.

  2. Mr. Silverstein,
    you must realize that by now PREDATION is the law of the land in Israel.
    why should you be surprised by revelation,
    the revelation is the oddity, i wish someone would ‘REVEAL’ to me any law that was approved in the Knesset that serves to protects any single individual in the State of Israel. not a one, from customer to renter to worker
    please keep shouting at every occasion you can to uncover the slime of the earth , you will have your hands full for the next eternity, sadly to say

  3. Just a few clarifications about Haaretz: Yitzhak Laor has been accused by ONE woman of rape (the other complaints were about verbal abuse) and not been convicted or even been brought to court (in this very specific case, I do have doubts about the truth of the allegations). And while he continues to write in Haaretz, he did have to pay a high price, including having a renowned prize being revoked.
    As for Benny Ziffer, he decided to discontinue his column after what he wrote and public ally apologized (he does continue to work as an editor at Haaretz)
    In other words, I am not sure Haaretz is a typical example of an atmosphere that encourages sexual predation.
    I would like to point out here that I have no affiliation whatsoever with Haaretz.

    1. @whole Lotta Carlotta: well, that did it. Your feeble attempt to divert attention from.the Ashkenazi male power elite to point the finger of blame at Israeli Palestinians is racist, offensive & unacceptable. You’ve been warned about respecting comment rules numerous times. You are now moderated and only comments adhering to the rules will be published.

      You’ll be landing at Ben Gurion momentarily.

      1. What does this anything to do with the “Ashkenazi male power elite”? Neither sexual assault nor failure to respond to it is uniquely ashkenazi. See, e.g, Moshe Katsav, Silvan Shalom, Donald Trump, and Bill Cosby. Tending to think that they’re entitled to whatever they want when it comes to women seems to be shared by powerful men of every race, creed, and nationality.

        1. @Richard @Chen

          “Neither sexual assault nor failure to respond to it is uniquely ashkenazi ”

          Which is demonstrably proven in the article I linked.

          In this piece, Richard’s ‘soft bigotry’ and hypocrisy cannot be overlooked.

          1. @Lotta: I told you your earlier comment was Arabophobic & a violation of the comment rules. I told you you wer we moderated. Now, you’ve compounded yr error by repeating your bigotry. You are banned. Israeli security is waiting to greet you when you land at Ben Gurion.

          2. if pointing out misogyny in arab culture is “arabophobic” then why is what you just argue in this post not “ashkenaziphobic”?

          3. @ eli: Because the claim was off-topic. The subject of the post had nothing to do with Palestinian treatment of women. Also, the word “Arab” is capitalized. If you deliberately choose not to do so, you yourself are Arabaphobic. Your stay here will be blessedly short, I predict.

        2. @ Chen:

          Neither sexual assault nor failure to respond to it is uniquely ashkenazi.

          If you’d been reading my blog you’d know that it IS an Ashkenazi male trait. Certainly not “uniquely” Ashkenazi. But certainly very prevalent. Either you don’t know Israeli Ashkenazi men or you’re being deliberately dense.

          1. “If you’d been reading my blog you’d know that it IS an Ashkenazi male trait. ”

            Richard? Aren’t you an Ashkenazi male, as well?

          2. @Werner: I am American, not Israeli. The post was clearly speaking of Israeli Ashkenazi males. And if you are asking whether I have ever done anything remotely similar to Ari Shavit. The answer is emphatically, no.

            However I do know women who have been raped, and it is one of the reasons this issue is important to me beyond its intrinsic importance.

          3. @ Richard Sexual assault is “certainly very prevalent” among Ashkenazi males, but it is also , unfortunately, very prevalent among all males, particularly powerful males. Either you don’t know men or you’re being deliberately dense.

            Ari Shavit, Haim Ramon, Yinon Magal, and Natan Eshel are of Ashkenazi descent, but Moshe Ivgy, Eyal Golan, Silvan Shalom, and Moshe Katsav are not. Nor are Bill Clinton, Donald Trump, Bill Cosby, Clarence Thomas, Bill O’Reilly Ashkenazi men.

      2. To Lotta : Your comment is deeply offensive. Once again the ruthless, ultra nationalist Zionist agenda has succeeded to taint its supporters with a false moral superiority that belies an agenda embracing genocidal occupation of Palestinians who are unwanted, hated and considered “inferior. Richard is neither a bigot or a hypocrite but a journalist who has the courage to speak truth to power.

  4. I just read in Haaretz that Shavit published an apology. Not that this absolves him, but at least he is not denying it and calling her a liar, like so many predatory men do.

    Again Richard and Nissim, perspective! Are you letting facts get in the way of your positions?:

    Rates of sexual harassment in Israel are evidently similar to other places in the Western world. For example:

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/19/1-in-3-women-sexually-harassed-work-cosmopolitan_n_6713814.html

    http://www.haaretz.com/a-third-of-israeli-women-experience-sexual-harassment-at-work-1.295009

    This, in contrast to virtually 100% of women, say, in Egypt:
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-24908109

    I think you guys let your own personal animosity or biases lead you to false conclusions about imagined unique Israeli ailments like “ashkenazi male domination” or Nissim’s silly “predation is the law of the land”, and the like.

    Take a deep breath, people!

    1. @ Yehuda: First, rates of rape in Israel are much higher than elsewhere. Second, Israeli women vastly underreport such crimes because of either shame or knowing the police will blame them or not investigate properly. So Israeli figures regarding sexual assault are very tentative. Violence against women in Israel is an epidemic. Only an Israeli man would deny this. And only an Israeli male wouldn’t realize the savage irony of this.

      I have no interest in discussing the treatment of women in Egypt. That is off-topic. Lotta tried it & ended up getting the boot. So don’t you do the same.

      1. To say a rate is “high” has no meaning with comparison and context.
        I refer to the statistics that you provide in your own post from 2011
        https://www.richardsilverstein.com/2011/04/26/levels-of-sexual-violence-in-israel/

        As with harassment, assault in Israel falls in the middle of the group of comparable western and European countries. Some Scandinavian countries are lower. There is under reporting everywhere, as evidenced by the events surrounding this US election season.

        What I deny or don’t deny as a male is totally not the issue, Richard, and you know it. That is a ad hominem and convenient pc way to shut me up. I’m “mansplaining”, right? Or am I “ziosplaining”? What is the issue is that Israel can’t win in your logic which says that if another country has a higher rate than Israel, its because of under reporting in Israel. If another country is lower, its because there is actually less sexual assault, not because of THEIR under reporting. You’re applying a double standard to the data. You expect 0% rates. Otherwise there will always be an event to report.
        You thus spuriously conclude that Israel is a misogynist and unjust society. Maybe it is, especially compared to Mars, where there is no racism, crimes against women or anything else. Everything is relative. An anecdotal quote from a female friend, or some specific event that you mention in the post proves nothing, but that seems to be the basis of your claim against Israel, not the data.

        I had mentioned Egypt only as context, just as you had to mention other countries in your post. I’m not off topic. I have no interest in discussing Egypt either.

        Out of respect for your rules and editorial decisions, this will be my last comment on this thread.

  5. The claim of an “Israeli type” is very disturbing and offensive. and of course, not very clever. All negative stereotypes are. I mean, I know many Isreali men and none of them behave that way. And on the other hand, I could easily give a long list of similar and worse allegation against powerful American men. You know that.
    I suggest you delete that paragraph as it is not in your favor

    1. @ Amico: Oh gimme a break! What nonsense. I didn’t say “Israeli type.” I said it as an “Ashkenazi male type.” That’s quite different.

      American men who misbehave in this manner stand a much greater chance of being outed or arrested than Israeli men.

      1. I am afraid no breaks will be given on this particular issue. Not when you clearly stated in your article that:
        “Ari Shavit unfortunately is not an anomaly. He is a ‘type.’ An Israeli type.”
        Now, even if you refer “only” to “Ashkenazi male type.” it is equally disturbing. Particularly as I am myself an “Ashkenazi male”. I can’t believe you don’t perceive how wrong such a generalization.
        It is no shame to retract your words. Anyone can make a mistake.

        As for your last sentence: I believe you are wrong. When similar allegations were raised against Yinon Magal, an Israeli MP, he was forced to resign from the Knesset. And I can give a long list of similar examples from recent years. Hey, as I write these words Shavit’s career takes some serious blows due to the public outrage. On the other hand, Donald Tramp is accused of much worse and is still receiving the support of a very large segment of the American public.
        So, I really don’t know what your claims are based on.

  6. In this review of his book, Lawrence Bush saw through his problem very perceptively:

    “Shavit’s conversations are fascinating, and his own soliloquies are compelling and convincing, especially to a relative naïf like me — until the thought occurs: Where are the women? Of all of Shavit’s extended interviews in this 464-page book, I count only two with women: Gal Gabai, also a journalist, whose entire conversation is about Deri, Shas, and the pain of Mizrakhi Jews; and Michal Nadel, a Tel Aviv clubber “in an extravagant getup, with her provocative mannerisms . . . looking for the guy she’ll have fun with at dawn.” What about Daphne Leef, who launched the Occupy Tel Aviv movement by pitching a tent on Rothschild Boulevard to protest soaring rents? Shavit references her, but never tracks her down for a conversation. What about Tzipi Livni, Israel’s Minister of Justice and probably the most influential female politician in the country since Golda Meir? Livni doesn’t even get a mention in Shavit’s index. What about Women of the Wall, who have been challenging sexist Orthodoxy in Israel since 1988?

    As I become aware of this omission, Shavit’s paeans to his countrymen’s creative genius and utmost confidence and business seykhl and sheer indominability suddenly seem part of a macho pose, and his spell on me shatters. Damn, now I’ll have to reread his 464 pages in a state of disbelief rather than rapt belief, and see if there are any more women hidden there who aren’t having casual sex in nightclub bathrooms. If, in fact, this invisibility of women as players in Israel — if this absence of an eighth “revolt,” the feminist revolt — is an accurate reading of Israel, then the country seems far more Mideastern, for better or worse, than on Shavit’s scorecard. If, on the other hand, female invisibility in My Promised Land is more a matter of Shavit simply having a sexist blind spot, then his reportage and especially his interpretations are not to be trusted.”

    http://jewishcurrents.org/old-site/find-missing-israeli-women-2/

    1. This is unfair to Ari, he grew up here, and describes in his memoirs what he has experienced. If you’d be so kind as to read his acknowledgments you will see that most of those he thanks are women who were instrumental to his publishing the book. He’s been around a long time, and is not known for abstinence. Yet, he’s never been charged in this way. I think it was a misunderstanding. I also think the young lady in question may have been slighted at being considered a potential mistress. Let’s get a clear picture, they met in the lobby, he tried to kiss her, she said no, it must have been awkward, they must have been embarrassed but had she been violently attacked, I doubt he’d have insisted on walking her to her car, nor that she’d have agreed.

      1. @ Tamar: You clearly didn’t read Lawrence Bush’s critical review of Shavit’s book in which he notes that of all the scores of sources the author quotes, only TWO were women. TWO! Of course Shavit thanks secretaries and others for helping his research and publish the book. But as for peers, sources on which he based the book–only TWO were worthy. That’s telling & damning.

        I think it was a misunderstanding.

        He thinks it was a misunderstanding too. What a surprise that you two agree! But unfortunatley the victim, whose voice I believe and who’s been proven correct in everything she’s claimed about this incident, says otherwise. Who should we believe? I think not Shavit.

        I also think the young lady in question may have been slighted at being considered a potential mistress

        First, she’s not a “young lady.” She a professional journalist on assignment who was mauled by a man. She also happens to be a woman (not a “lady”). As for what you think happened, on what basis to you project your opinion in this incident? You weren’t there. Not even Shavit has made such an insulting claim (though perhaps he would if he thought he could get away with it).

        had she been violently attacked,

        She was violently attacked. She was sexually assaulted.

        As for what a sexual predator would do after being turned down–you have no idea. You’ve clearly not had the misfortune of engaging with such a person. They don’t take No for an answer and walking her to her car was yet another way to prolong the encounter & persuade her to yield to him. That’s the way people like Shavit think. Unfortunate that you are so naive.

    2. Regarding Shavit’s book, you guys (and Lawrence Bush) go way overboard in the retrospectoscope. You’re reading too much into the “body count”. Is this a new left wing academic political correctness rule? “In a book characters represented have to correspond to a cross section of the population in terms of gender, race or ethnicity.” We have to hear everybody’s “voices” proportionately. Otherwise, gevalt, its misogynist or racist.

      This reminds me of my criticism of the Heredi rules of modest clothing. In a laudable attempt to counter the modern commercial culture of sexualizing women, they put so much emphasis on the “rules” of dress, making everything about “tznius” (modesty) that they actually have the reverse effect, making everything about sex and women’s bodies. ( and in so doing they put the onus on women not to draw attention to themselves, not on men to control their own behavior).
      Same with you guys. In the correct and worthy cause of reducing or eliminating discrimination, you exaggerate and make EVERYTHING about race, gender and ethnicity. In this world of categories and pigeonholes, calling a women a “lady”, or writing a book while not tallying up the proper mix of characters according to grouping, makes you a bigot.

      You have no idea how ridiculous this sounds to people outside your nice comfy “safe spaces”.

      1. @ Yehuda: Actually, you have a great idea & yes, a book dealing with the history of Israel should include a balanced set of sources and informants both by gender & ethincity. Otherwise, how can he fully represent his argument as reflecting Israel itself? I’ll bet he used almost no Mizrahi sources either. Because he’s a male Ashkenazi it wouldn’t occur to him that there was a problem in only interviewing “his own.”

        BTW, we on the left didn’t tell Shavit to attack women. We didn’t tell him to ignore women as sources. He did that himself. His attitudes & failures in this regard are not our fault but entirely his own. YOu might consider looking to him as the person who’s failed & criticize him. What you’re doing is blaming the messenger for the bad news.

        The only one who sounds ridiculous here is YOU. And if you think writing about Israeli criminal behavior & facing the wrath or derision of multitudes of offender/perpetrators is a “comfy space” you’re out of your mind.

  7. ari shavit is a dolt but the lady should have read tennyson before she lunged at shavit and almost destroyed his career

    womanlike taking revenge too deep for a transient wrong done but in thought to your beauty.

    1. @ richard cohen: You are the second person to call a victim of sexual assault “a lady.” I don’t want to see that locution in these threads again. Understood? ANd if I have to explain why you’re just dumb, thick-headed and sexist & should spend more time at donaldjtrump.com (if there is such a place).

      You think Shavit’s assault was a “transient wrong?” As for her beauty, that doesn’t give Shavit a right to maul her.

  8. meeting was in a public place
    the lady did not leave as she should have when she took offence
    her reason was that her office needed the interview with shavit
    she was quite rightly looking after her career but she did not hesitate
    to destroy his.

    1. @ richard cohen: I am so damn sick & tired of Israeli men telling us what women should or shouldn’t do in such circumstances, and of them defending their counterpart Israeli male sexual abusers. It’s obscene and offensive.

      Women have a right to think of their careers and to not anticipate doing so will cause them to be pawed or raped. The fact that you don’t understand that points to the fact that you are an ignorant sexist Israeli male.

      Your IP address resolves to England. But your name appears to be quite Israeli.

      1. [comment deleted: off-topic. Stay directly on the topic of the post & do not wander beyond it. You are done in this thread. You also may not publish more than three comments in any 24 hour period per the comment rules.]

    2. Right, she should have stayed at home, where she belongs, instead of venturing out into the world, luring men into destroying their careers. It is all, and always will be, Eve’s fault.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *