Larry Derfner, over on +972, is SHOCKED that anyone could possibly doubt Greta Berlin’s explanation for tweeting links to florid Holocaust revisionism on the Free Gaza twitter account.
So Berlin’s full explanation, which Mayer and the writers of those news stories chose not to report, is that her tweet was not a statement of her views, but a headline for the video she was sending to a discussion group on “propaganda and racism” as an “example of the terrible propaganda that could be spewed on websites.”
In other words, Berlin’s explanation, available for all to see, is that the tweet and video don’t represent her views – they represent views she considers extremely dangerous.
Do you believe her? I do, absolutely.
Meanwhile other bloggers are more dubious. One, in particular, felt that Berlin’s version of events – that she had and others had been invoking the clip as an example of “terrible propaganda and racism”- needed more investigation.
In order to dispel any doubts, many people, including me, asked Berlin to publish screenshots of the discussion from Facebook to show the context in which the video was posted. Berlin, who controls the @freegazaorg Twitter account, refused.
Ali Abunimah from Electonic Intifada goes on to describe how he managed to find out more about this crucially important context:
This evening I had an opportunity to spend several hours with full access to a private Facebook group of which Berlin is an administrator, and where the video was first posted by another administrator on 28 September with the comment “This will be a real thought provoker for some.”
When the video was posted on 28 September it was neither preceded nor followed by any interactions that would fit the description that it “was shared with a group of people who were discussing propaganda and racism, and this link was an example of the terrible propaganda that could be spewed on websites.” This context does not exist.
I have no doubt that other members of the Free Gaza Movement took Berlin’s explanation in good faith. Now is the moment for them to demand proper accountability.
Indeed.
Hat Tip: @CifWatch
