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The IMC at Urbana-Champaign regularly not only just put under "Hidden" (if you're 'lucky') -- but *DELETE* -- any articles critical of Israel/Zionism:
THE UC-IMC OTHERWISE SEEMS TO MASQUERADE AS A REGULAR INDYMEDIA SITE.
BUT, IT'S A TAKE-OVER BY ZIONIST INFILTRATORS/HIJACKERS OF ONE OF THE IMC'S AND AN **ABUSE** -- IF NOT PARTIAL SUBVERSION -- OF INDYMEDIA'S MISSION AS AN ALTERNATIVE MEDIA INSTITUTION.
DAVID GEHRIG, and/OR his protege ARCH-ZIONIST friends, currently from Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, the hometown of the flagship campus of the Univeristy of Illinois, is heavy-handed with the CENSORSHIP -- DELETE -- button as is "nessie", of sf.indymedia -- whenever it suits either one of them.
And neither of them brook any criticism of "the editors" at their respective fiefdoms. (This so, while NESSIE's day job, and perhaps evening, night, and early morning job, seems to be to trash Indybay.org editors and pathetically try to redirect readers to his sf.indymedia site with his posts at Indybay.org)
David Gerhig is one of perhaps several ARCH-ZIONIST INFILTRATORS/HIJACKERS AT UC-IMC -- along with at least possibly another one, a.k.a., so-called, "Critical Thinker", also from thereabouts in Illinois: regular sf.indymedia and Indybay.org posters.
Most IMC's (especially in major cities or major university towns) have plenty of articles (and comment posts) critical of Zionism/Israel. So, why is it that at *UC-IMC* there is an absolute *dearth* of articles critical of Israel/Zionism: virtually *none*, except for the less than handful of articles posted by GERHIG -- virtually alone -- himself? (He has a few handpicked ones from the Israeli newspapers Ha'aretz and Ma'ariv, reflecting his is sometimes criticalness of the ultra-right-wing, arch-arch-Zionist militant, Ariel Sharon.) But, go to the "Hidden" articles -- and who knows how many were just DELETED without a trace -- and you yet comparatively see a lot more articles critical of Israel/Zionism!
And we dont know how many intelligent people were *dissuaded* or *discouraged* from trying to post articles critical of Israel/Zionism -- or just *GAVE UP* -- do the evident editorial hostility and censorship actions of arch-Zionist David Gehrig and his cohorts at UC-IMC!!
The FBI has attacked Indymedia -- even in England. So, it's no doubt that Zionists would try not only to attack Indymedia, but to try to INFILTRATE/HIJACK it. As some may know, some IMC centers, if not Indymedia in general, have been under attack and intimidation by Zionists and, indeed, organizations comprising the Zionist/pro-Israel lobby itself, claiming that Indymedia is "anti-Semitic".
David Gehrig himself is happy to spread his Zionist propangada screeds -- in support of the Israeli settler-colonial, U.S. imperialist-underwritten, apartheid oppression of an indigenous people -- all over several of the North American continent's IMC's and especially at Indybay.org. BUT, he and his Zionist cronies posthaste *DELETE* any articles or posts (even by prominent Israeli *Jewish* scholars or dissidents) critical of Israel/Zionism at UC-IMC. This so, with -- at best -- no other explanation that the imperious, vapid 'stamp': "Policy Violation" or, merely, "Deleted".
You *bet* it's Gehrig's "Policy Violation"! -- David Gehrig's *personal* Zionist policy of not permitting any criticism of Israel/Zionism at UC-IMC. (This, save but for Gehrig's relatively very rare Israeli press articles criticizing some of Ariel Sharon's sheer extremism, which even Gehrig knows, as the Israeli Foreign Ministry warned this very week in a leaked report, could one day cost Israel the whole matzo ball as a Zionist state, becoming -- among even *Western* nations, except, of course, for the U.S. government -- "an internationally-labelled pariah state rivalling the previously apartheid South Africa"!! After all, political Zionism is merely Israeli apartheid.)
The University of Illinois has a small, but strong progressive student movement, it's got its share of progressive, including pro-Palestinian human rights, demonstrations -- AND THE U/I HAS A LOT OF MIDDLE EASTERN AND SOUTHWEST & SOUTH ASIAN STUDENTS from undergraduate to graduate to doctoral students, especially who hang out, converse and study at the coffeeshop cafes. It's got students (like East & Pacific Asian or African students, American and foreign) from countries that were once colonized by other Europeans. It's got popular progressive faculty, both white and people of color. It's also got an international law professor champion of Palestinian human rights. So, even just in terms of Arab, SW Asian, South Asian, and Muslim students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the dearth of pro-Palestinian articles and articles/posts criticizing Israel/Zionism at UC-IMC is highly *dubious* to say the least.
ALL ONE HAS TO DO IS TO LOOK DOWN THE UC-IMC NEWSWIRE AND COMPARE THE VIRTUAL, IF NOT LITERAL, LACK OF ANY ARTICLES (besides the few token ones posted by Gehrig) CRITICAL OF ISRAEL -- AND *NONE* CRITICAL OF ZIONISM!
COMPARE THIS TO THE POLITICAL AND ETHNIC DEMOGRAPHICS DESCRIBED ABOVE, AND OTHER BIG CITY AND MAJOR UNIVERSITY TOWN IMC NEWSWIRES!
('Dossier' on David Gehrig forthcoming in follow-up comments post later at
http://www.indybay.org/news/2004/10/1699643_comment.php#1699706 .)
TO THE NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL INDYMEDIA ORGANIZATION: I HOPE THAT YOU TAKE NOTE!
--BEFORE ZIONISTS INFILTRATE OR HIJACK ANYMORE IMC'S!
The last thing Zionists believe in is free speech: it's like light to mold!
__________________________________________________
[for more on nessie, see comments at:
http://www.indybay.org/news/2004/09/1696992_comment.php#1699703]
David Gehrig is *kinda* a mainstream centrist Democrat
http://www.newsmeat.com/fec/bystate_detail.php?city=SPRINGFIELD&st=IL&last=Gehrig with enough money to have donated $300 while in school.
I think this is him too:
http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/AboutUs/People/Contacts/people141.html http://www.neesgrid.org/workshop/ Most of the time he tries to take a political stand that is probably "pro-Labor" and slightly left of center for Israel. He has his low points like GERHIG'S BLAMING OF THE ISM (INT'L [PRO-PALESTINIAN HUMAN RIGHTS] SOLIDARITY MOVEMENT) FOR RACHEAL CORRIE'S DEATH, and his tendency to enage in flamewars with wingnuts, and his use of rather SEXIST LANGUAGE during these flamewars.
Whats weird about Gehrig is how he is part of the Indymedia network but HE DOESN'T SEEM TO HAVE ANY POLITICAL VIEWS OTHER THAN OPPOSITION TO SUPPORT OF THE PALESTINIANS:
Looking him up...
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&q=zemblan%40earthlink.net&btnG=Search http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&q=%22David+Gehrig%22+Urbana&btnG=Search
One gets that he isn't a far right supporter of Israel but ONE DOESN'T REALLY GET A SENSE OF A POLITICAL OPINION ON ANYTHING EXCEPT THIS *ONE* ISSUES.
To be fair he is a supporter of "Rational Examination Association of Lincoln Land"
http://www.reall.org/newsletter/v04/n03/masthead.html and much of his work against anti-Semitism on usenet seems genuine:
http://groups.google.com/groups?q=zemblan%40earthlink.net&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF- 8&scoring=d&start=540&sa=N
and he is currently also posting about James Joyce and used to post a lot about Pink Floyd
http://groups.google.com/groups?q=%22David+Gehrig%22&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&scoring=d&as_drrb=b&as_mind=12&as_minm=5&as_miny=1981&as_maxd=28&as_maxm=9&as_maxy=1997&start=80&sa=N
and he does seem to hate Ayn Rand
http://groups.google.com/groups?q=%22David+Gehrig%22&start=50&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&scoring=d&as_drrb=b&as_mind=12&as_minm=5&as_miny=1981&as_maxd=28&as_maxm=9&as_maxy=1997&selm=3323190F.6E7B%40cnsnet.net&rnum=59
Probably the best way for people to see Gehrig is a Midwestern computer programmer with LITTLE politics who found the Nazi usenet groups in the mid-'90's and never gave up arguing with them for over a decade. His arguments tended to be good and he didn't start focusing on Palestinian supporters until a few wingnuts on the left started adopting 9/11 conspiracy theories that borrowed from the far right.
The main problem with GERHIG'S POLITICS IS THAT IT'S NOT REALLY BASED ON THE REAL WORLD: ANYONE LIVING IN AN ONLINE WORLD OF NEONAZIS FOR THAT LONG IS BOUND TO BE A LITTLE OUT OF TOUCH.
David Gehrig's views on Israel were shaped by anti-Semites whose motives he *PROJECTS* on Palestinians and their supporters.
David Gehrig: "I haven't discussed my other political beliefs here because they're what you'd expect."
Except if you search google's archives you will see you have rarely if ever discussed your political opinions about anything else on any forum for the past ten years. That’s a long time to be obsessed with one issue when there are so many other issues closer to home.
It’s not like you talk about environmentalism online also, argue against Bush (outside of trying to vaguely say, "I’m one of you", to leftists), or even have some middle class pet issue you have argued about.... it’s always the same issue... The issue of *PROJECTION* seems to me a good explanation how you jump from dealing with neonazis to demonizing the ISM (the Int’l [pro-Palestinian human rights] Solidarity Movement) which is composed of many people who are Jewish, as you know.