Dox Hunting Anti-Semites

Somebody SWATTED anti-antisemitic doxer Adam Guillette. Mr. Guillette earned that dubious distinction thanks to his work as President of Accuracy in Media

AIM exposed Harvard University students who signed a letter stating that Israelis were “entirely responsible” for Hamas’ inhuman attacks on Israeli civilians.

Initially, AIM’s campaign took the form of a single truck driving around Harvard’s Cambridge campus displaying the signatories’ names and photos on large electronic billboards.

And then AIM kicked it up a notch, running a similar name-and-shame campaign against “alleged” anti-semites at Pennsylvania and Columbia universities.

AIM was spoiled for choice.

Hundreds of students from the Columbia University Muslim Students Association, Conflict Resolution Collective, SIPA Human Rights Working Group, SIPA’s Palestine Working Group and the Arab Students Association and the Society for Immigrant and Refugee Rights signed a statement claiming…

The weight of responsibility for the war and casualties undeniably lies with the Israeli extremist government and other Western governments, including the U.S. government, which fund and staunchly support Israeli aggression, apartheid and settler-colonization.

“War and casualties” is a subtle way of glossing over the victims of Hamas’ unspeakable terrorism.

“Settler colonization” is academic jargon for the idea that Israel has no historic right to occupy its lands – a premise justifying anti-Israel animus.

Mr. Guillette reckons protesters are promoting a false equivalence between Hamas’ hatred, despotism, intolerance (e.g., executing Hamas leader Mahmoud Ishtiwi for homosexuality), disregard for civilian casualties (using their own population as human shields and launching thousands of unguided rockets at Israelis) and Israel’s declared war against Hamas in accordance with the rules of war.

In this, he’s not alone.

Regardless, Mr. Guillette’s real-world doxing represents a radical departure from “normal” online doxing. While protected by the First Amendment, the video trucks are a far more confrontational technique.

One key question: is this real world doxing productive or does it stoke the fires of anti-semitism?

On one hand, AIM’s trucks both attract and end-run the mainstream media, which reports Palestinian protests without an anti-semitic context.

On the other hand, the trucks position Jews, such as Mr. Guillette, as “the enemy” of pro-Palestinian demonstrators. Or do they?

If students and others declare their anti-Israeli/anti-semitic views via a publicly available document, why are they upset – not proud – when that opinion is seen by a wider audience?

Because the doxxing exposes them to real world consequences, such as companies declaring they won’t hire signatories to the offending documents.

The protesters have grown up in a world of Internet anonymity. Many have been “educated” by professors tolerating if not promoting anti-semitism on university campuses, also flying under the radar.

AIM’s trucks expose them in no uncertain terms.

Fearing lawsuits and other forms of retribution, the media has chosen a side. They’re blurring-out the signatories’ names in images of the trucks. AIM’s point taken?

Protesters have absolute right to protest, no matter how misguided or hateful their views. But it behooves them to remember that residents of Gaza, indeed residents of the states surrounding Israel, have no such right.

At the end of the day, the battle lines are clear: you’re either pro-Israel or support Hamas terrorism. Mr. Guillette’s organization believes that if you semi-publicly stand for the latter, we should know who you are.

Fair enough?

Would I support a truck identifying Jews, homosexuals, trans-athletes or other under-the-radar minorities in communities where they aren’t welcome? That’s another matter.

Or is it it? Thanks to the PR success of AIM’s doxing trucks, I suspect we’re going to find out.