# Blumenthal's “Feeling The Hate In Jerusalem” (pls no censorship disc. here) **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 24, 2009, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blumenthals-feeling-the-hate-in-jerusalem-pls-no-censorship-disc-here/500804 "2009-06-24T05:40:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ambushed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3bc359/32.png) [@ambushed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ambushed)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2009, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blumenthals-feeling-the-hate-in-jerusalem-pls-no-censorship-disc-here/500804/1 "2009-06-24T05:40:09Z")
[Max Blumenthal](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Blumenthal), a leftist putative “investigative journalist and documentary filmmaker”, has recently edited and published a hit-piece video entitled [“Feeling The Hate In Jerusalem”](http://maxblumenthal.com/2009/06/youtube-bans-feeling-the-hate-in-jerusalem/#comments). Blumenthal apparently contradicts himself in his description of the purpose of the video: He first claims it was taken on the “eve” of President Obama’s Cairo speech, but then he goes on claim he’s filming their _reaction_ to the speech. I’ve watched the video, and it’s seems clear to me that the former is true; i.e., the people interviewed made no reference whatsoever to the content of the Cairo speech. The video has been taken down by The Huffington Post and YouTube as well as by a video site named “vimeo” that Blumenthal himself uploaded it to and linked to on his own site. Much of it can still be found at the moment I’m posting this [here](http://www.veoh.com/search/videos/q/Feeling+The+Hate+In+Jerusalem#watch%3Dv18568986EYam3Rcd) A complete version may be available elsewhere, but I did not perform an extensive search for it, so I’m afraid I can’t direct you to a location where it can still be seen in its entirety. A discussion of whether such censorship-by-removals is justified or not may be worthwhile, **but I do not wish to include that discussion regarding the censorship aspect in _this_ thread please!** I would be surprised to find much, if any, support for such censorship here at the Straight Dope, but in any case, **please start your own thread if you wish to debate that issue.** Thank you. If by the time you read this even that fragment has been taken down, I will summarize the full-length video’s contents: Blumenthal and an associate named Joseph Dana took to the streets of Jerusalem with a small video crew over an _ **unspecified** _ number of nights and “interviewed” an _ **unspecified** _ number of mostly drunk young people with improbably Midwestern American accents for an Israeli city. Just as improbably, every one of them voiced considerable hatred toward President Obama and excoriated him with ignorant, hateful racist epithets. To me, it’s quite evident that Blumenthal and Dana deliberately sought to attack and humiliate most or all Jews and especially Israelis as stupid, vicious, hate-fueled bigots in order to further the pair’s own political agenda. I’m a lefty (American) myself, and like many on my side of the political spectrum, I’m critical of certain Israeli policies such as squatting in and expanding the provocative settlements. But I hold that publishing pieces such as the grotesquely over-the-top “Feeling The Hate In Jerusalem” hit job are only going to provide justification for marginalizing and even mocking of genuinely thoughtful liberal criticisms of various overly aggressive policies of the Israeli Right. I think it’s incredibly foolish and self-defeating to provide such low-hanging fruit to Right-wing critics on the left. What are your views? ---
**Author:** ![ambushed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3bc359/32.png) [@ambushed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ambushed)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2009, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blumenthals-feeling-the-hate-in-jerusalem-pls-no-censorship-disc-here/500804/2 "2009-06-24T06:07:57Z")
A longer version of the video is available [here](http://www.veoh.com/search/videos/q/Feeling+The+Hate+In+Jerusalem#watch%3Dv18651748AdJeXYWH). NOTE: NWS! **Neither of the links to the video I’ve provided are work safe!** ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2009, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blumenthals-feeling-the-hate-in-jerusalem-pls-no-censorship-disc-here/500804/3 "2009-06-24T06:11:20Z")
> [@ambushed](#): > > If by the time you read this even that fragment has been taken down, I will summarize the full-length video’s contents: Blumenthal and an associate named Joseph Dana took to the streets of Jerusalem with a small video crew over an _ **unspecified** _ number of nights and “interviewed” an _ **unspecified** _ number of mostly drunk young people with improbably Midwestern American accents for an Israeli city. The people he interviewed were American tourists in Jerusalem. I agree with [Benjamin Hartman in his Haaretz commentary piece](http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1090967.html): > [@](#): > > Not to excuse the behavior of those in the video, I don’t believe this idiocy reflects the values of young American Jews or their opinions on Obama, but rather the way that Israel, in particular Jerusalem, can radicalize the young to the left or the right. It also proves (once again), that fools and alcohol and camcorders do not make a good match. > > . . . > > This video either proves that drunk Americans are starting to resemble Kahanists, or Israeli far-rightists have achieved the rhetorical brilliance of drunk American Jewish yahoos. Talking to drunken American Jewish 19-year-olds to gauge Israeli opinion on Obama is like using far-right conservatives to measure American public opinion on gay marriage. You’re speaking to the wrong crowd and at the wrong time of night, only in a country where there is no closing time or public drinking ordinances. One can only imagine what would be caught on film in an American college town under these circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2009, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blumenthals-feeling-the-hate-in-jerusalem-pls-no-censorship-disc-here/500804/4 "2009-06-24T06:21:25Z")
Ah, to be young and drunk again. _en vinis veritas_ (Did I spell any of that right? I am not too concerned about what drunken kids say. I would be concerned if one of them was my kid I sent on a tour of the Holy Lands. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2009, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blumenthals-feeling-the-hate-in-jerusalem-pls-no-censorship-disc-here/500804/5 "2009-06-24T06:32:06Z")
_in vino_… ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2009, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blumenthals-feeling-the-hate-in-jerusalem-pls-no-censorship-disc-here/500804/6 "2009-06-24T07:29:40Z")
More like _in vino bovine excreta_, in this case. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2009, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blumenthals-feeling-the-hate-in-jerusalem-pls-no-censorship-disc-here/500804/7 "2009-06-24T11:50:20Z")
Fucking tourists. ---
**Author:** ![ambushed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3bc359/32.png) [@ambushed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ambushed)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2009, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blumenthals-feeling-the-hate-in-jerusalem-pls-no-censorship-disc-here/500804/8 "2009-06-24T11:53:44Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > The people he interviewed were American tourists in Jerusalem. I agree with [Benjamin Hartman in his Haaretz commentary piece](http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1090967.html): Thanks, **Captain** , for bringing those comments to our attention. I understand clearly that you’re not defending Blumenthal and Dana in any way. But I can’t help thinking that even Hartman’s analysis is a bit too kind; I condemn Blumenthal’s motives much more strongly. What’s the purpose of a video showing such a blatantly selected group of hateful drunken non-Israelis _ **in Israel** _ except to smear and deliberately misrepresent the country as a whole and the Jews as a people? I’ve found a number of sites that praise the video to the skies as if it’s somehow “revelatory”. There’s nothing newsworthy in “revealing” that there are ignorant and hateful people in Israel or any other country, especially when no effort is made to determine and report how widespread such views are. It would only be newsworthy and worth noting if someone found a country that did _not_ contain any hate-fueled, bigoted ignoramuses. Blumenthal and Dana are thus, in my opinion, nothing but despicable hate-mongers, and I think it is important for more people to know this about them when evaluating their other projects. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2009, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blumenthals-feeling-the-hate-in-jerusalem-pls-no-censorship-disc-here/500804/9 "2009-06-24T17:05:20Z")
Well, Dana’s answer as to their purpose in making the video was: > [@](#): > > Max and I went on to the streets of Jerusalem at ten o’clock on a Wednesday to ascertain the feelings of the young population about Obama’s upcoming speech in Cairo. As is often the case, the streets of central Jerusalem were not filled with native Israelis but American Jews. Doubtlessly anyone who has visited Jerusalem has encountered the droves of American Jewish kids that are sent to Israel to study for a period of time from Teaneck or Westchester. We asked people a simple question, “What do you think of Obama and Israel?” Most of the people that we talked to were dual American Israeli citizens. The answers in this video reflect the education and worrisome perspectives that many American Jews harbor towards Israeli politics. The sense of entitlement that the American Jewish community has when it comes to Israeli policy is on full raw display in the words of these young adults. > > Based on our interviews these people were from high socio economic backgrounds and had developed thoughts about current Israeli politics. The question is why more journalists are not covering this story. All you have to do is walk the streets of Jerusalem and you will find dozens of people that harbor the same beliefs. As a resident of Jerusalem, I can say that the people represented in this video are not members of a fringe group or simply drunk college kids. These people reflect the sentiments shared by many people in this country and this city. These people and their families are the core of the opposition to meaningful peace between Israel and her neighbors. This is what Obama is up against. So, you know, that’s what Obama is up against…a bunch of drunk college aged tourists. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2009, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blumenthals-feeling-the-hate-in-jerusalem-pls-no-censorship-disc-here/500804/10 "2009-06-24T17:14:52Z")
In case anybody’s curious, student Lahav Harkov, in response to the Blumenthal/Dana video, made her own, where she asked some of her fellow students at Bar-Ilan University what they thought of the speech. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/HEdlvqClwpw/hqdefault.jpg "What hate? Young Israelis discuss Obama's speech in Cairo") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEdlvqClwpw) ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2009, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blumenthals-feeling-the-hate-in-jerusalem-pls-no-censorship-disc-here/500804/11 "2009-06-24T17:15:21Z")
The kids are probably just parakeeting their parents. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2009, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blumenthals-feeling-the-hate-in-jerusalem-pls-no-censorship-disc-here/500804/12 "2009-06-24T17:32:23Z")
I like the chicks who don’t know who Benjamin Netanyahu is after saying they know their shit. What happened to the Israeli accents? Everyone in that video has American accents. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2009, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blumenthals-feeling-the-hate-in-jerusalem-pls-no-censorship-disc-here/500804/13 "2009-06-24T17:37:02Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > What happened to the Israeli accents? Everyone in that video has American accents. Why would Americans have Israeli accents? ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2009, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blumenthals-feeling-the-hate-in-jerusalem-pls-no-censorship-disc-here/500804/14 "2009-06-24T18:12:43Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > Why would Americans have Israeli accents? Yea good point. So the real question is, “Why didn’t he interview any Israelis?” ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2009, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blumenthals-feeling-the-hate-in-jerusalem-pls-no-censorship-disc-here/500804/15 "2009-06-24T18:19:24Z")
Drunk stupid kids are drunk, stupid. More at eleven. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2009, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blumenthals-feeling-the-hate-in-jerusalem-pls-no-censorship-disc-here/500804/16 "2009-06-24T18:55:19Z")
> [@](#): > > All you have to do is walk the streets of Jerusalem and you will find dozens of people that harbor the same beliefs. As a resident of Jerusalem, I can say that the people represented in this video are not members of a fringe group or simply drunk college kids. These people reflect the sentiments shared by many people in this country and this city. In that case, why did you make a video featuring drunk American college kids, instead of one featuring the dozens of ordinary citizens of Jerusalem who apparently feel the same way? If you’re trying to argue a point, why use drunk college kids as your sample, except of course if it isn’t quite as easy as you maintain to find these opinions being expressed on the streets of Jerusalem? ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2009, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blumenthals-feeling-the-hate-in-jerusalem-pls-no-censorship-disc-here/500804/17 "2009-06-24T19:03:15Z")
> [@](#): > > Max and I went on to the streets of Jerusalem at ten o’clock on a Wednesday to ascertain the feelings of the young population about Obama’s upcoming speech in Cairo. As is often the case, the streets of central Jerusalem were not filled with native Israelis but American Jews. Doubtlessly anyone who has visited Jerusalem has encountered the droves of American Jewish kids that are sent to Israel to study for a period of time from Teaneck or Westchester. We asked people a simple question, “What do you think of Obama and Israel?” Most of the people that we talked to were dual American Israeli citizens. The answers in this video reflect the education and worrisome perspectives that many American Jews harbor towards Israeli politics. The sense of entitlement that the American Jewish community has when it comes to Israeli policy is on full raw display in the words of these young adults. > > Based on our interviews these people were from high socio economic backgrounds and had developed thoughts about current Israeli politics. The question is why more journalists are not covering this story. All you have to do is walk the streets of Jerusalem and you will find dozens of people that harbor the same beliefs. As a resident of Jerusalem, I can say that the people represented in this video are not members of a fringe group or simply drunk college kids. These people reflect the sentiments shared by many people in this country and this city. These people and their families are the core of the opposition to meaningful peace between Israel and her neighbors. This is what Obama is up against. Oddly self-contradictory. Is this person’s target “The sense of entitlement that the American Jewish community has when it comes to Israeli policy”, or " … the sentiments shared by many people in this country and this city"? Somehow they are claiming that the same cherry-picked interviews represent both. My own opinion is that this is hate-mongering trash, serving only to discredit themselves to the exact extent that they attempt to have it be mistaken for either the opinions of American Jews or Israelis in general. ---
**Author:** ![ambushed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3bc359/32.png) [@ambushed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ambushed)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blumenthals-feeling-the-hate-in-jerusalem-pls-no-censorship-disc-here/500804/18 "2009-06-25T03:32:51Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > Oddly self-contradictory. Is this person’s target “The sense of entitlement that the American Jewish community has when it comes to Israeli policy”, or " … the sentiments shared by many people in this country and this city"? Somehow they are claiming that the same cherry-picked interviews represent both. > > My own opinion is that this is hate-mongering trash, serving only to discredit themselves to the exact extent that they attempt to have it be mistaken for either the opinions of American Jews or Israelis in general. I strongly agree. To me, the contemptible Blumenthal and Dana are _themselves_ the real story rather than their “interview” subjects. **Captain Carrot** got the headline wrong; it’s not “drunk stupid kids are drunk, stupid”, it’s “Blumenthal and Dana hate-fueled, lying, anti-Semitic cherry-picking bigots: See their video at 11 and despair.” ---
**Author:** ![ambushed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3bc359/32.png) [@ambushed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ambushed)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blumenthals-feeling-the-hate-in-jerusalem-pls-no-censorship-disc-here/500804/19 "2009-06-25T03:37:11Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > Well, Dana’s answer as to their purpose in making the video was… What a surprise: Ugly American bigots seek to justify their hateful bigotry with mind-bogglingly specious reasoning and absurd disinformation. I’d have never seen _that_ coming… ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blumenthals-feeling-the-hate-in-jerusalem-pls-no-censorship-disc-here/500804/20 "2009-06-25T03:44:30Z")
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > In that case, why did you make a video featuring drunk American college kids, instead of one featuring the dozens of ordinary citizens of Jerusalem who apparently feel the same way? Duh! Because it’s easier to hit on drunk American college kids, just like why the producer of “Girls Gone Wild” hangs out in Daytona Beach and Ft Lauderdale and stays away from that Mecca of Spring Break poontang, Salt Lake City. :rolleyes: 😉 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blumenthals-feeling-the-hate-in-jerusalem-pls-no-censorship-disc-here/500804.md?page=2)