ZGram - 3/13/2004 - "Is that paranoia - or what?"

Sat Mar 13 09:14:34 EST 2004

ZGrams - Where Truth is Destiny:  Now more than ever!

March 13, 2004

Good Morning from the Zundelsite:

We have all for years lived with the knowledge that it is socially 
more acceptable to say "Jewish..." than "Jew."  Bob Countess once 
wrote an essay, as I remember, on this very topic.   It is telling of 
our times and the self-censoring we have allowed that perfectly good 
and useful words get shelved.

Similarly, many within our own ranks have chided me when I used the 
word "Aryan."  I think it is a nifty term, kind of multi-cult 
inclusive - more, certainly, than "German" because Colonel Klink 
springs to mind.

But have you ever known a German who thought of blocking "German" as a word?

Will it soon be forbidden to say "White?"

So afraid of socially offending somebody somewhere are people even in 
my circles that I have even been chided for using the word 
"rednecks", describing a sub-set of "White."  I hate to say it, but I 
know one or two who don't wash and use filthy language, and if I 
describe them as "rednecks", I am really speaking euphemistically.

The other day, a friend and I were having a discussion about diet.  I 
was telling a very mild ethnic joke, perfectly within our topic, but 
I could see my counterpart cringe.  My little story went like this:

Mrs. Weinstein and Mrs. Mrs. Blumenthal were having coffee.  Mrs. 
Weinstein said to Mrs. Blumenthal:

"Have another cookie."

"Thank you," said Mrs. Blumenthal.  "I've already had two."

"No, you had three," sniffed Mrs. Weinstein. "But who's counting?"

Now you can tell this harmless little clip about Scots, Italians, 
Eskimos or even Bavarians, and no one would take offense.  It's 
telling that the very Jewish-sounding names would make somebody's 
social radar beep.

As a passionate stylist, I have always objected to sloppy language 
because, to me, language is holy.  "Jew" is a perfectly acceptable, 
widely recognized word and should be a neutral as "Spaniard".  But 
more is involved when political correctness makes cowards out of us 
because the people we all know prefer to be invisible for reasons 
best known to them.

The story below is a marker for the year 2004:

[START]

http://tinyurl.com/3bed9
CBC WEB SITE BARS USE OF WORD 'JEWISH'

(National Post, March 10, 2004)

by Brian Hutchinson

Internet users who post messages on a CBC Web site have
launched complaints that the Crown corporation routinely
removes the words "Jew," "Jewish" and Israel from network
chat rooms devoted to online discussion of news events.

Meanwhile, vulgar expletives frequently appear on the
same CBC discussion Web site. So do the words "Nazi"
and "rabid Zionist."

Even the incendiary phrase "red-neck greedy selfish
Albertocentric money grubbing pig" passes muster with
CBC censors, who use special software to seek and destroy
postings containing words they have deemed "inappropriate."

People wishing to discuss Israel and issues that relate to the
Jewish culture must disguise their messages, complains Roy
Wilson, a Peterborough-based realtor who regularly visits
the CBC's message boards.

"It's disgraceful," Mr. Wilson said. "If I want to initiate a
serious dialogue about Israel, I have to modify the word.
I have to type in "Isr*el or some such nonsense. If I don't
change the word, my message won't go through. It is
immediately filtered and it vanishes."

The word "Palestinian" is also auto-filtered from the CBC's
message boards, but the words "Arab" and "Muslim" are not.
"Christian" is not filtered. Neither are the words "Buddhist"
and "Hindu."

No one at the CBC was available yesterday to explain.
The person responsible for monitoring the CBC's message
boards did not reply to e-mail queries. Those complaining
about the censorship say their concerns have been ignored.

A New York-based attorney who posts frequently said that
the CBC began filtering the words "Jew," "Jewish" and
"Israel" last year, after one of its message boards, devoted
to Middle East issues, was deluged with anti-Semitic and
anti-Palestinian comments.

But such postings have not ceased entirely. "I've been
called a "rabid Zionist," said the attorney, who posts under
the handle JBG. "But if I decide to respond, even in the
nicest, most polite way, I can't use the word "Jew." And
I am a Jew. I have to make up a word instead. It's absurd."

To prove his point, JBG attempted yesterday to post the
following message on a CBC message board:

"As the Jewish festival of Purim closes, I believe it is
essential for the world to understand what it means. It is
a joyous holiday, celebrating the triumph of the Judeans
over Haman, an evil dictator. Israel has on numerous
occasions [sic] supplied the world with what should be
occasions for rejoicing. It has triumphed over tyrants
such as Hafez Assad of Syria and Idi Amin of Uganda.
Those triumphs, rather than being celebrated, are roundly
condemned."

The message did not make it past the CBC's auto-filtering
system. JBG then substituted "Juwish" for "Jewish," and
"Isr at el" for Israel. His post was accepted immediately.

According to the CBC's own guidelines, posters may not
launch personal attacks against others; ethnic and racial
slurs are expressly forbidden. "Posts containing inappropriate
words will be caught in an automatic word filter for screening,"
the guidelines note.

But even a cursory search of the CBC's message boards turns
up dozens of violations. Some offending posts have sat on the
CBC's Web site for months. For example, the word "frog" is
frequently used on CBC message boards to describe French-
Canadians. In December, a poster using the handle of QCLIBRE
wrote that "Canadian will not paid [sic] for bilingualist and
Quebec French frogs again."

The word "dyke" is regularly used on the CBC forum to
dismiss certain prominent Canadian women, among them
a senior CBC television personality. The racial slur "Chinaman"
has also been successfully posted. "What do you get when you
cross a Chinaman with a Rabbi?" one frequent contributor
joked last May. His post is still contained in the CBC message
board files. Anti-Americanism is common. Masturbation comes
up now and then. The full range of curse words appear, from
"prick" to much worse. Almost anything goes, said Mr. Wilson.
"Someone can log on to a CBC board and accuse me of being
a child molester, which has actually happened, and that will
get posted," noted Mr. Wilson. "And unless I launch a complaint,
it will stay posted."

No one will explain why the CBC tends to filter words related
to Israel and Judaism have gone ignored, the Web site posters
say. [sic] "It seems to me that the CBC is using technology to
bias the message boards against literate, pro-Israel opinion,"
said JBG. Roy Wilson senses a bias as well. A person can use
the boards to discredit another person, and say the vilest things,
"and yet I can't post the name of one specific country, and one
specific religion? I pay for this service with my tax dollars,
and I don't like the way it's being run. I'm incensed."

[END]

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