13 thoughts on “Haaretz Fires Shavit After New Victim Comes Forward – Tikun Olam תיקון עולם إصلاح العالم
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  1. This post and the ones from the past week lead me to the following thought. Rather than me kvetching about what I consider your “unfair” treatment of Israel, it occurs to me that you do a lot more kvetching about the endless catalog of misdeeds, lies, incompetence and malfeasance perpetrated by an ever growing list of villainous Israel supporters, including but not limited to:

    liberal Zionists
    liberal Zionist media, and the media in general (who march to the orders of the Zionists)
    Israeli Ashkenazi males
    The US government and all recent US presidents
    The Israeli government
    The Israeli Knesset, except for the Arab MKs
    The Israeli army and intelligence services
    The Israeli courts
    The Israeli police
    The settlers, and their supporters
    religious Zionists
    the secular Right
    Christian supporters of Israel
    Jewish supporters of Israel
    Arab countries that cooperate with Israel
    Israel advocacy groups
    Corporate entities who do business with Israel

    Since most of these entities are separate, the only way that I could plausibly explain your wrath against them all, is either from a tremendous coincidence, or that they are all tied to one vast, sophisticated and interconnected Zionist web who conspire to brainwash Americans and Europeans into supporting Israel. And you, along with a few of the sidekicks here, have managed to break through that web of lies and discover the truth.

    This inevitably leads you to make incredulous suggestions, such as your comment to prohibit journalists from being unaccompanied when with Israeli men. That you are blind to this statement as a breathtakingly crass and ignorant form of bigotry and over-generalization (at the same time you call me Islamophobic for just quoting a Pew poll) is truly astounding. Can you imagine somebody saying that here about, say, Egyptian or African American men?

    1. @ Yehuda:

      they are all tied to one vast, sophisticated and interconnected Zionist web who conspire to brainwash Americans and Europeans into supporting Israel.

      If you post such a false, defamatory claim here in the future you will be moderated. I do not allow commenters to concoct false claims about what I believe. Try it again & it may be the last thing you publish here. Consider yourself warned.

      THis topic is completely off-topic. Your comments must be directly related to the blog post.

      As for what American Jewish organizations will do with Israeli men whose events they sponsor, you will see that none of them will permit their female staff to work with them when they are unaccompanied or alone. It will no longer happen. If they don’t, they will be sued by female staff who are assaulted by these men (& that will happen in future just as it has in the past if no changes are made in staffing protocols). And there will be big judgments against them because they have these very public examples of what can happen unless precautions are taken.

      I’ll give you a challenge: call Jeremy Ben Ami and ask him if he will permit female staff unaccompanied to attend to Israeli men who visit the States on J Street’s behalf. Ask Rob Eshman, Jewish Journal editor, if he will permit his female reporters to meet with Israeli men alone in hotels at 10pm at night. I’ll bet you anything he’s devising new rules about this very subject in order to protect his female staff.

      Neither would probably be able to answer candidly. But if they did, this would confirm my view. Of this, I am certain. If they do permit female staff to continue doing such things they would be fools and very bad managers. Note also that thankfully there was a second female staffer involved in the Johns Hopkins trip who prevented Shavit from engaging in further mischief.

  2. Normally, I agree with most of your writings. But your last comment that suggests that ALL Israeli men are sexual predators is ridiculous. One might say that ALL men are the problem, but that is equally ridiculous.

    There’s no shortage of sexual predators in your country, good old US of A. This is the same country that gave Brock Turner a slap on the wrist after he was found guilty of raping an unconscious woman. Did you watch the Netflix doc “Audrie and Daisy”? Rape is as American as apple pie. Spare me your generalizations about Israeli men.

    Is there a culture of rape in Israel? No. As an ex-Israeli, I can tell you that in no way, shape or form is rape an acceptable norm there. A freaking ex-president is sitting in jail as we speak for rape.

    Are Israeli men more sexually aggressive than other men? No.

    Is Ari Shavit a despicable human being who deserved to get canned years ago for his propaganda pieces in the service of Zionism? YES!!!

    Finally, we agree about something!

    1. your last comment that suggests that ALL Israeli men are sexual predators

      In fact, my post says precisely the opposite. You clearly didn’t read the entire post. It warns readers just like yourself that if you are Israeli and haven’t done such things then you are not included in my comments on the subject. I realize you don’t choose to read or understand the words I wrote, but they very clearly indicate that not all Israeli Ashkenazi men are sexual predators. But the problem is that enough are that it ruins things for all the rest. Leaders of American Jewish orgainzations cannot & should not take a chance that one of their female staff would be molested or even raped in such circumstances. If they do take such a chance, they are fools.

      As I wrote in an earlier comment (which you seem to have missed as well), sexual predators are much more likely to be caught, prosecuted & imprisoned in this country. Our police & prosecutors are much more sensitive to such crimes, and willing to prosecute them. Not so in Israel. Certainly you don’t like to hear this fact. But it is a fact and you can’t denounce your way out of it.

      And as I wrote about Katsav (another comment you seem to have missed), he is only in prison because he stupidly refused to accept a plea for a lesser charge that did not involve rape. If he had accepted the plea he would probably not have served any prison time. But he was a fool & so went to prison. Not to mention that the investigation almost failed to result in any charges till Israeli women united to demand justice. Only this united resistance brought Katsav to be charged at all. So don’t use this case as an emblem of Israeli fortitude regarding violence against women. It isn’t. And don’t ever raise this issue again. It’s the tenth time I’m having to repeat myself which bores the shit out of me.

      Why is it that Israeli men tell us there is no culture of rape or violence against women in Israel, when Israeli women say just the opposite? Why is it that Israeli men tell women anything about their experience as women? Why is it that Israeli men have the colossal chutzpah to think they know about the female experience in these matters? Why is that they can’t look at the ridiculous words and claims in their comments on this subject & say: “Gee, I’m being a colossal douchebag. What was I thinking?” Ah the ego of the Israeli male. It’s a site to behold.

      You & I don’t agree on anything. Don’t fool yourself.

      1. Did you hear about the Brock Turner case? The judge sentenced him to 3 months in jail after he was found guilty of raping an unconscious young woman in the street! Turned out the judge was a Stanford alum, just like good old Brock.

        Did you hear about “Audrie and Daisy”? I highly recommend it (Netflix). It will be an eye-opener for you about how ingrained rape culture is in small-town America.

        You are kidding yourself about your country’s sensitivities to sex crimes. As with everything in America, race plays a pivotal part. If you are white and privileged, you can easily get away with it. Brock Turner’s father pleaded with the judge to go easy on his son because he said his boy had suffered enough. The judge agreed.

        Also, you confuse me with someone who defends Israel and Israelis. I don’t. I am simply correcting your gross generalizations about rape culture in Israel vs. other countries. Israeli men are sexually aggressive, that’s true. So are American men, French men, Italian men, Spanish men, British men, etc etc.

        You are being unprofessional by singling out Israeli men as sex predators. I suggest you correct the record.

        1. @ Danny: Did you hear the Brock Turner’s judge was removed from hearing criminal cases after his ruling in this one? Did you hear there was a statewide recall campaign against the judge & that he’s likely to be removed from the bench? You didn’t, did you? Can you point to any Israeli judge who’s been removed from the bench after freeing a rapist or offering a slap on the wrist sentence. And since so few rapists are even tried in Israel, can you name a single police commander removed from their job for refusing to press charges against a rapist? No, I didn’t think you could.

          Not to mention, that you’re offering single anecdotes about a country of 365 million. While the statistics and overwhelming preponderance shows that Israel as a society condones rape & the subjugation of women.

          If you are white and privileged, you can easily get away with it.

          Easily? I think not. But at least you will be tried. In Israel if you are Ashkenazi & privileged, the police won’t even press charges or mount a full scale investigation.

          Israeli men are sexually aggressive, that’s true. So are American men, French men, Italian men, Spanish men, British men, etc etc.

          Simply not true. The percentage of Israeli men who abuse women is far higher in Israel than in other western democracies. Partly, because there is no serious effort to prosecute crimes of violence against women.

          As for “defending Israel” you are indeed doing that, contrary to what you claim. And you are an Israeli male to boot. Which suggests you have a self interest in the matter. You are but another one of those Israeli males who feels wounded that his gender is blamed for things you refuse to acknowledge. Things which Israeli women experience virtually everywhere & every day. You, like many Israeli men, are morally obtuse & gender-insensitive.

          I suggest, indeed I direct you to stop commenting in this thread. You’ve said your piece & are repeating yourself. Move on.

          1. “The percentage of Israeli men who abuse women is far higher in Israel than in other western democracies.”

            Again this is a significant claim. If I were to post something like that about any group you would demand “links and proof etc or you will be moderated posts need evidence if you want to continue posting here etc.”

            You will probably say “this has been discussed before” or “go google it” but this is a blog with new people coming in all the time and you should respond with evidence from time to time instead of demanding people look for it themselves. It’s like on TV or a live internet show from time to time the hosts say “if you’re just tuning in we’re talking about XYZ…” so too for new readers who come in

          2. @ John F.: Nope, buddy sorry. You don’t earn mercy for being “new.” I’ve written thousands of words on violence against women in Israel including links to Israeli NGO sources & statistics which prove everything I’ve stated. You’ll have to find them & do some work for a change.

            This is your last comment in this thread. Move on.

          3. This will be my final comment in this thread: You really confuse me for an “Israeli macho”. I’m an ex-Israeli who despises Israel for its decades-long crimes against Palestinians. I am quite possibly the last person you would accuse of being an Israeli chauvinist.

            Be that as it may, I think you are mistaken about men in other western democracies being any better towards women than men in Israel. I believe that the rate of complaints by women may be higher in Israel than in other countries. Also, Israel is a much smaller country where such news travels faster than in other, larger countries.

            I’ll end this thread with a recent anecdote by Tippy Hedren, who claims that Alfred Hitchcock sexually harassed her on multiple occasions and even punished her for rebuffing his sexual advances. There are similar stories about other famous men throughout the decades – all of whom never paid any price for the transgressions.

            Don’t confuse my debating you on this subject as standing up for Israel in any way, shape or form. Israel is a horrible place for women and children, with lots of sexual predators lurking about potentially on every street corner. But my point is that this is not a singular phenomenon exclusive to Israel. Sex crimes are prevalent everywhere. Male sexual aggression is the problem, going back to the dawn of time.

            Now – let us rejoice that the scumbag Ari Shavit is finished!

          4. @ Danny: I don’t care what you call yourself: “Israeli macho,” “Israeli chauvinist,” Ashkenazi male, etc. But your defense of Israeli male supremacy is unconscionable given the sorry status of women in Israeli society. You also seem to be confusing politics and gender. You can be an enlightened, liberal-minded person on I-P politics and still hold reprehensible views of gender politics, which is true of you.

            I am not saying that the status of women in other western societies is perfect and exemplary (except perhaps the Scandanavian states). There remains sexual abuse, violence, etc. against women. But the status of women in Israel is proportionally lower than those other nations.

            The “rate of complaints” by women in Israel is only one relevant metric. Others would be the number of complaints investigated, the number prosecuted, & the number of convictions compared to the overall incidence of sexual violence (not the overall reporting, but overall incidence). YOu will find that Israel’s record in many, most or all of these categories is disappointing.

            Alfred Hitchcock is, I daresay not a representative of all American men. He was a film director in Hollywood where the casting couch was the norm, not the exception. Nor were men prosecuted in those days generally for debauching younger women. Thankfully, that’s mostly gone these days here (though there are pockets of privilege like Cosby, Trump, which are throwbacks to darker era). This isn’t true at all in Israel. For yet another example, read my profile of Gandhi, who serially raped IDF women due to his exalted status as an IDF general. His habits were known everywhere in the army & elsewhere. Yet he got away with it till his death.

            You certainly are ‘standing up for Israel’ in the context of the status of women there. That is an important snapshot of the status of Israeli society as a whole. When you dismiss the epidemic you whitewash a critical element of the society.

            You are done in this thread. Move on.

  3. BTW, a great subject to write about now would be Bibi fiasco with the Israeli Public Broadcast Agency which is disgraceful.

  4. “Israeli Ashkenazi male”? How are you able to narrow it down to Ashkenazi like that. Do you have evidence or studies for this distinction of ashkenazi vs sefardi sexual harassment inclinations?

    Your rules require evidence correct. And this is also a significant claim that should be accompanied by empirical data.

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