# Mr. Arafat, Context, and Board Rules

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-arafat-context-and-board-rules/678696>\
**Category:** About This Message Board\
**Created:** [January 13, 2014, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-arafat-context-and-board-rules/678696 "2014-01-13T19:43:47Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 6

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**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\
**Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-arafat-context-and-board-rules/678696/101 "2014-01-21T19:19:05Z")

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> [@Stink Fish Pot](#):
>
> …the charges dished out by **jackmanii**

Too bad **SFP** has left the building, because I’d love to know what these “charges” were.

When a poster makes a to-do about their alleged objectivity on an issue, it is difficult not to observe that they have expressed strong feelings related to that issue before. It may be “bad form” to bring up someone’s pro or anti-Israel stance, but it is not an insult to do so, unless we’re expanding the definition of insult beyond all reason.

And before I leave in a huff (the deluxe model with spoiler and racing stripes) I would like to mention a phenomenon I’ve observed in online discussions. When the consensus in such discussions goes strongly in one direction, it is not uncommon for a poster who finds him/herself in the minority to ignore or gloss over all the well-reasoned, civil responses from adversaries in favor of zeroing in on the minority of posts that are overtly disrespectful. This enables the person to change the subject to how mean the opposition is.

That’s what happened here. The overwhelming majority of posts in the original thread were entirely appropriate and contributed towards understanding of the issues - yet we now have bogus claims that the discussion was “derailed” by a limited amount of snark engaged in by some posters (including the OP).

All GD threads get “derailed” to some extent when views are dogmatically held to the point that contrary evidence is automatically dismissed. Flaming out with a barrage of insults in an attempt at suicide by mod is the icing on the cake.

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**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\
**Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-arafat-context-and-board-rules/678696/102 "2014-01-21T20:55:04Z")

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> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#):
>
> Your first post to this thread conflated the two issues. ISTM that you were predisposed to see this as part of what you believe to be a general issue of bad behaviour by pro-Israel partisans on this board.

More - seems to me he’s saying that the board itself leans pro-Israeli, to such a degree that honest debate on the topic of Israel is impossible. Specifically, that "… ANYTHING that a poster says that can be remotely construed as anti-Israel … " leads to gratuitous accusations of anti-Semitism.

That contention strikes me as nonsense, personally; and making that contention, as poisoning the well.

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**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\
**Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-arafat-context-and-board-rules/678696/103 "2014-01-21T21:27:55Z")

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Allow me to quote from one of the masters:

"'Send us hoors! T’ousands and t’ousands of hoors! I marry ‘em, I betcha!’

Was most sensible thing said all afternoon."

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