I’ve failed myself to protect the community

I found myself more than a little annoyed last week with the unadulterated arrogance of an old rival who for five years has been trying to use me as a platform for his dogmatic beliefs (which he very strongly believes are the only beliefs that anyone has the right to hold)!

As I get older I find myself becoming increasingly intolerant of intolerance. And yet, at the same time, I seem to find myself increasingly surrounded by others who become ever-more dogmatic as they age.

I was brought up to believe that nobody should question the Torah but that everybody should question everything else – and never judge others for their beliefs.

His beliefs are quite horrible

And here I am, five years later, arguing for the same rights of fellow Jews with the same dogmatic and arrogant person who has tried to get me to publish some of the most horrible slander, hate-speech, racism and even calls to murder others. I guess I have, very conservatively, spent a thousand hours over the past five years trying to convince him that what he “thinks” is only his “opinion” and other people are allowed theirs.

I have protected users from this abuser. He hates Chabad. He despises any Rabbi who lives in the Galut – for whatever reason it may suit them. Even while he and his family made Aliyah and returned to SA for a reason that suited them. I understand why they did. I get it.

I get him. He only gets himself!

Both he and his wife are highly intelligent people, frum (taken there by the same Chabad he now despises) and his wife is one of the most charming people you could meet. They are fervently Zionist, as they define Zionism. I get what they believe. But they can’t, or won’t, get what anyone else believes.

Previously, as the publisher of MyShtetl, I was forced to censor this person’s rants against everyone from the Chief Rabbi to anyone else who made living a better Jewish Life in SA more comfortable, giving people more care and welfare.

Now, as I assume the role of online editor at sajr.co.za – I have neither the time nor the inclination to have to continue taking tea with a bigot to explain that other people have rights too, that we cannot propagate murdering people and that we are not the judges of our peers.

I can’t speak to someone who won’t hear

In just one week he has insulted, castigated and belittled either authors or innocent people being written about. I have learned that other Jewish media has experienced their own problems with keeping him under control.

But now, the time has come… (Frankie?) and I have taken the decision that he is far too intelligent a man to not get the things I have told him over and over – for five years! I cannot continue to censor him for breaking SA and Israeli laws and protect our fellow community-members from his misguided abuse.

This is a very sad time for me, maybe the saddest in years. I admit defeat. I have failed. I can’t instil decency in him and can’t risk him knowingly abusing others. And so, with deep regret and a sense of abject failure, I have to bid farewell to anything he may wish to post on this website.

I have managed (without having to ban) members of groups opposed to the existence of Israel. I have never suffered such defeat as this. But I am defeated. As comments are moderated by numerous people, I have no doubt that he will try and slip through as “Anonymous” as he has done in the past. But I will have to deal with that.

This website was always planned to have an open forum in the form of a “shout-box” where any user can post any comment live and then get moderated subsequently. Its launch has been held up for four weeks due to the time-consuming need to create a way to keep out a single individual who has proven himself over and over again unworthy of such a right.

Insults & illegality must become the past

Who would use it to unfairly insult people in our community and make comments which would be illegal in SA and Israel (and other countries) and cause us to risk being taken off the air.

He doesn’t deserve the time and attention that he has been given for five years and, after editing over 300,000 users in five years (and many more in print before that), I feel I have failed – but I have to put a stop to this – I have to protect the community, it’s leaders, the Jewish Report, its readers and its users.

I shall not name the person, of course, but shall send him this blog in a personal e-mail.