Using the blogosphere (and MEY) for political PR
This past weekend, I spent many hours (too many) going through heaps of e-mails concerning Mideast Youth. Most of the e-mails we get are about PR, where people give us links and basically ask us to promote this and that organization, mostly Israeli. I am very happy with our Israeli authors here who use this platform as a personal one to express their views and opinions as opposed to abusing their accounts merely for promoting certain organizations. We had only one problem with such an author, Yoni, whom we found out was a PR maniac who posted at least four or five times a week with nothing but MEMRI and other anti-Arab, pro-Israel sources which many authors here, including Israelis, found to be quite troubling. When we confronted him about this, he refused to reply and continued copying/pasting material from unreliable and seemingly racist sources (we also have a policy against the copy/paste style of posting.)
After removing him from the site due to popular demand, and his disregard for site policies, we discontinued his account. He later replied with death threats against me and my friend Lalith, who helps me administer this website.
Since then we have grown to be very cautious about propaganda on this website, making sure that no one resorts to it and that everyone uses this platform to promote dialogue and not to promote political ideologies (discussing them is fine, enforcing them is not.)
But it doesn’t stop there, and it doesn’t stop with certain Israeli authors. Here are some of the applications we received for Mideast Youth membership which were declined, and some general feedback.
Kurds are animals, there is no such thing as Kurdistan. You are threatening Turkish stability by allowing stupid authors to post on this website. Create for me an account immediately. I want to show you all the true side of Turkey, and the violent side of these animal Kurds.
hi im an israeli student, why only allowing palestinian side of story we are suffering much more. palestine propaganda already dominates internet you have to give us chance to win back our reputation.
This is the most despicable and hateful website I have ever seen, it is the product of the IRI. If you know what is best for you and your region, you will be promoting USA’s war against Iran. If you start an account for me, I will be happy to take care of this. Iran is the threat of the century.
Why don’t you give light to the Assyrian cause? You Arab pigs have been oppressing us for years.
All of your problems can be summarised in one word: Islam. Get rid of this filthy religion if you ever want peace with others. Traditional Catholicism is the Truth.
you stupid fucks, turkey is best country in world, kurds trying to steal this land so they can terrorise everyone else like the israelis. where are turkish authors in your site.
You pathetic Zionists include the voices of Israelis as if it’s a good thing. You’re sell-outs and are doing this under the pressure of Westernisation and propaganda.
Shame on you, homosexuality will be the downfall of our religion and countries. You are ruining our beautiful religion with this rubbish. Why do you claim they need “rights?” They need gun shots to their heads. These beasts need to learn how to control themselves. I support violence against homosexuals, and so does Islam.
Israel is the best country in the Middle East and your website should begin to reflect that. If you want to live in an ideal society, learn from Israel. No other country serves a better example.
Just by glancing at the authors of this site I can tell that you are pro-terrorism, pro-Hesbolla, pro-war, and I will never be visiting this stupid site again. Good luck in finding peace. There is no such thing as peace until the last Arab on Earth is buried.
Why are you promoting the cause of the PKK? Don’t you understand how many people they have killed in the past decade in Turkey? Why do you hate us so much? What did we ever do to you? Remove all Kurdish propaganda from your website.
There needs to be more positive news about what America is doing in Iraq. It is heroic and deserves praise, not condemnation. Be appreciative of what many of our soldiers are risking their lives for. It’s insulting because you people are not even worth it.
Bahais are backstabbing infidels. Bahaism is created to remove Islam from our countries. It has a history of supporting Israel and they hate our Prophet (pbuh.) You are committing many sins by allowing them to post on this website, which I thought was for moderate Muslims, and not infidels. This forum is not for interfaith, it’s for Israeli and Bahai propaganda.
The list goes on, these were some of the alarming and most recent notes. I made a graph of the type of feedback we get.
The calculations were as follows: I explored as many e-mails about MEY as I can gather, totaling up to 537 e-mails since last April. I made a list of the kind of responses these were and the results are demonstrated in this graph.
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I always wondered why there are Kurdish, but no Turkish authors for MEY (is there one? Then I’ve forgotten about him / her). Well, the quotes you posted explain quite impressively why certain people are not representing Turkey here. But haven’t there been any serious applications? (Well, Turkey isn’t really Middle Eastern, but so are most Kurds).
We have two recent accounts for Turkish authors, but neither have ever posted. We’ve been looking for Turkish authors for a very long time now. None of the applicants were serious, it’s all to promote Turkish nationalism, the kind that belittles other nationalities and minorities within Turkey, especially Kurds. We can’t have that kind of thing here. The Kurdish authors on MEY never resort to racism, they merely discuss Kurdish human rights, which many Turks have a problem with. We were hacked once by a Turkish student group who found our site via Facebook and were repeatedly threatening us. A few months ago they successfully attacked this site and KurdishRights.org, replacing all the pages and content with the Turkish flag.
This forum is open for everyone, the only rejected applications are the extreme kind demonstrated above, otherwise we have about 90 author accounts which were created but never used, including for Turks, Armenians, and others. So it’s not that MEY leaves people out, it’s just that people representing these nationalities and perspectives never post.
Well, I expected something like what you described, Esra’a.
Pretty sad, that a community which can really be proud of its liberal, decent way authors from so many countries, religions, political parties work together gets frequently attacked by nationalists, racists and other intolerant people.
PKK is not a terrorist organisation and EU court has aknowledged this last week. Turkish army and security police are no more than crimial thugs who are terrorising Kurdish civilian population please see this link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYvE7bm2cl0
PKK struggles for fight again the terror of Turkish state that imposed on ordinary Kurdish citizens.
My absolute favorite is the guy who says “This is the most despicable and hateful website I have ever seen,” and then proceeds by asking for an author’s account.
Over 60% of MEY mail is hate mail, with at least 10% being hack threats. 20% is just irrelevant mail where people express opinions about various stuff, promote conference/events, or try to promote their faith (mostly Christianity) and asking us to quickly accept Jesus as our Savior before it’s too late.
Ironically meyouth.com does that:
I hope no one confuses us with them.
@ dario:
Can you give a link for the EU’s decision? Thanks.
Simon, you can see a discussion of it here:
http://www.mideastyouth.com/2008/04/04/reaction-to-eus-pkk-ruling/
Thanks, Esra’a.
I have to say that I have to consider that post by Niroj as a rather weak one, as it doesn’t discuss the PKK’s activities which led to its former ban as a terrorist organization.
After all, it seems as if the court’s decision is based rather on the failures in the EU’s process than on the fact that the PKK doesn’t act like a terrorist organization.
The fact that the EU doesn’t consider the PKK a terrorist organization doesn’t make it innocent. The PKK has done bombings on both military and civil building and people, killing hundreds. It has recruited (PDF) child soldiers before, is involved in drug trafficking…
So, dario, Kurdish people should be proud enough to have a more honorable representation. Especially, as the PKK’s war on the Turkish government and people hasn’t been successful at all. In fact, the situation has become even worse due to it’s activities. Turkish authorities have to change their policies on the Kurdish minority for good, but they won’t be forced by threats and bombs.
Niroj is not endorsing the PKK, she’s just discussing some of the aspects that led to its formation in the first place. While the PKK killed thousands, and practices disgusting tactics, so does the Turkish government. People can’t just call one side “terrorist” and not the other just because some murders are state sanctioned and others are not.
A lot of Kurds don’t feel that the PKK represents them at all, and the PKK themselves apparently have abused and terrorised many Kurds who were in opposition to them. So Kurds are really being oppressed from all sides. I can’t help but sympathize with that. In addition to that, not a single Kurd here promotes terrorism in any form, so all of the criticism they face by certain Turkish readers who contact us are based on racial hatred, not factual misinformation (some deny Kurds face abuse, others claim they deserve it.)
Esra’a,
I never criticized Niroj’s sentiment towards the PKK. What I criticized was, that she first wrote about the decision of the EU, but then changed the topic to the Turkish suppression of Kurds (which lead to the founding of the PKK) and didn’t discuss about the PKK being a terror organization or not anymore. That’s what I call weak: Instead of discussing and possibly criticizing the Kurdish organization, she describes the Turks’ guilt. It’s not incorrect, but it looks as if she tried to avoid to seriously criticize the PKK.
I think it’s important though to understand why the PKK exists in the first place. It’s more of an information piece than an opinion one.
PKK like any other rebel groups or terrorist groups as some likes to call nowadays, start out as all angelic. When they get little bit of power, they start to abuse it, more power they gain the more abuse occurs. This applies to just about every single group out there. It’s called the human condition, none of us are immune to them.
I can’t believe how some poeple can be ignorent and don’t want to see the facts.
I understand some of the positions and try to listen to their views…
but if I hear people saying “Kurds are animals etc…”
such things are just ignorent and stupid.
I am guessing they do not want to see the true, because it always hurts.
I wish the best for this website and for the people who are working on it and hope you accomplish with your goals.
Ignoring wont help sometimes, sometimes you got to act, to prevent the worst.
I’m surprised generic religious propaganda didn’t make a bigger chunk of the pie.
That graph shows the amount of people who would have most internet connection in the ME.
As usual, Esra’a is stirring the pot, and polarized as the rest of the bloggers visiting this site. That’s ok, it provides talking points and creates the forum.
Bottom line, this blog is all about PR. Everyone has there own agenda in sharing there opinions. Supporting there cause or beliefs in front of a public audience. This is a good thing as long as we don’t engage in name calling and spewing derogatory language. By doing so, it just becomes a forum of verbal violence.
So, stop mocking people. Let them express there opinions without belittling them. If you don’t agree with people, than simple state it and give the reasons why. I am not saying we have to be politically correct. I am saying the forum should be open to opinion without allowing one to hijack the topic or advocate violence of any kind.
Yes, lets give all the neo-Nazis and holocaust deniers a forum to engage in without mocking them… right… get real.
Jina,
What are you talking about? What is gained in mockery? If someone is posting offensive and abusive material, than just ingore or cut them off. We need to illuminate the targets of such radicals by exposure. Dont you see.
Actually,
I have now read about Esra’a and I am impressed with her bravery. However, she has her opinions as well as others.
Agreed with Jina that the graph probably indicates internet access. Esra’a, I wonder if you have / can publish any stats about the visitors to the website. It could be really interesting to see who is reading it except for a handful of people who leave comments.
Also, i do wonder, what’s wrong with promoting events and initiatives that are in line with the philosophy of the website? Or you are saying that there were no such offers? Thanks!
Esra’a dear,
The posts you have reflected here are really horrible. I can see how hard it is to maintain this website, thank you honey for your efforts. From different countries people with different opinion might post, what I can see in the ones you shared with us here is that the person is very young, talking about what he/she heard and that is very common among the youth, being passionately an affiliate of an idea that maybe some years later when they gain some years of more maturity they naturally reject it.
What I like very much about your website is that you are trying to voice the youth whom otherwise wouldn’t share their views with us all in the same place, and efforts as such promotes the integrity of Middle East.
I hope for the day we have a Middle East of peace and happiness and integrity
There would be another one for the religious stuff. We get an equal amount of both Islamophobic mail and the extreme “death be upon you” kind. These are mostly about the Free Kareem campaign and the Baha’i Rights one, so I didn’t include it here. I will go through those carefully when I got the time, not for another few weeks though.
Elinor, thanks for your kind words.
I use several stat sites but none seem to be really reliable as they all show different data. We have at least 30% of our visitors from the USA, the rest being mostly Europe and the Middle East.
Ahan.. so atleast its not only the Muslims who give e-death threats
and I really think that the everyday Israeli’s deserve the 41% coverage.. cuz they are judged by the actions of their military..
which is not right
keep it up
Well you won’t like the type of e-mails they send regarding this. These are right-wing Israelis who want us to promote Israel and their stance on the conflict (pro-IDF, against policy criticism.) I don’t think that sort of propaganda has a place in this site.
Pro-Israel, pro-IDF people are more than welcome to post here, but not if they want to turn this whole site into a PR strategy that many Israeli organizations are committing to, to beautify the image of Israel despite its ugly sides. They also want us to remove a lot of content, as if we can give in to this kind of pressure and censorship, they have absolutely no right to claim editorial control of this site just because they are “loyal readers.”
Death threats can’t be fun.. at least u know what ur doing is making a difference, regardless of the ignorant and harmfully subjective minority that post on ur site.. gives the regular MidEastYouth readers a little insight as to what u guys get subjected to just to keep this site running.. Admirable, Keep up the good work, and I’ll continue to be an avid reader..
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if you have the guts to publish this link, then go on and do it. but i know it: you don’t. you Kurds never had the guts. the whole Middle East knows it.
READ BOTH SIDES OF THE STORY:
History does repeat.