Why I Refused to be Interviewed by Arutz 7

אסרו חג השבועות תשע"ד

I was recently approached by the host of an Arutz 7 radio show who asked me to be on his show. I never asked his permission to make our communication public, so I have edited his side of the conversation, in order to protect his identity.

Arutz 7/Israel National News
...an excellent idea gone horribly, horribly wrong

Hi, my name is Ploni and I am interested in having you on my show. Can you please email me at XXXX@XXXX? 

Be well and speak to you soon. 

*********

Hi Esser, thank you for getting in touch with me.

...I .... host a show on israelnationaradio.com called XXXXXXX

....

Your blog is very popular to the point the director of IsraelNationalRadio, Tamar Yonah, asked me to contact you.

Can you come on for a 15 minutes interview this Thursday at 7:30 P.M.

It should give great exposure for your blog.

*********

Ploni,

Thank you for the offer.

Tamar Yonah and I firmly agree on several issues, and have exchanged information with one another over the years, for which I am very grateful.

I hope to be in touch with Tamar again in the future regarding how we can help each other with our common goals.

However, I must decline.

Yes, I do still cite Arutz 7, as there are definitely occasions when it provides the most accurate reports.

I find Arutz 7's relationship with various Christian groups to be very disturbing and damaging to Am Yisra'el, as well as to our sovereignty over Eretz Yisra'el, and I believe very strongly (though I cannot prove) that these relationships have tainted Arutz 7's objectivity.

I am unable to associate myself, or my website with such an operation, no matter how much exposure I would gain, and I believe that I would gain a lot.

Let's be honest. My site is a drop in the barrel, compared with other blogs, and thus has only a drop of the importance and influence which others have. Nevertheless, I am surprised that Arutz 7 approached me, given the anti-Christian, anti-Esau, anti-Avodah Zarah content I have written.

Feel free to be in contact with me in the future, in the event that you believe that we can assist each other on a one-on-one to further any common goals we may have.

Thanks again!

Esser Agaroth (2¢):
Well, Ploni never responded to my decline of his offer. Quite frankly, I am hardly surprised.

Since then, I have also suggested that Ploni approach the father Moriah Goldberg for an interview. This certainly up Arutz 7's alley, an issue upon which we agree, and whether Ploni thinks so or not, an issue quite relevant to the theme of his particular show. Tamar Yonah, herself, has been quite open about her daughter's own arrest for keeping to her principles.

I was also planning on suggesting another interview, but now I am now so sure that I should bother.

I have also been made aware of the treatment of Jews on Arutz 7's discussion forums, Jews who dare to express opinions too distant from its own, yet will defend non-Jews..

I think that overall Arutz 7 is hopelessly lost, and beyond anybody's help, certainly mine.

ערב שבת קודש פר׳ בהעלותך תשע״ד

Update:
I receive a nice e-note from Tamar Yonah offering to address my concerns about Arutz 7 by phone or Skype, as she was currently too busy to write. However, the link to this post was deleted not once, but twice from the Arutz 7 - Israel National News Facebook Group.

Banned From The JTF Forum!

8 of the Twelfth Month 5769

The posting of What The Goyim Think About Jews on the Jewish Task Force [JTF] Discussion Forum got me banned from that forum.

Apparently, I hit a nerve, daring to point out how halachah (Jewish Law) does not necessarily match the apparently Christian-loving sentiment on that forum.

When an administrator posted to the string in question that I should refrain from post such divisive material, I respectfully replied with a query as to which part of the terms of use I had violated.

I agreed that the owner Chaim Ben-Pesah has every right to make whatever rules he wants on his forum, and that I should choose to follow them or leave.

I sent a personal message to Chaim as well, to which he has yet to respond. As a side note, I was being confused with another resident of K'far Tapu'ah with the same initials. I thought that was odd. So I mentioned to Chaim that I am, in fact, Ya'aqov Ben-Yehudah, a real person. I could not care less if anyone thought I was a real person or not. However, I did not like the tone being used by one of their beloved Christian participants against my friend with whom my identity was being confused.

Instead of receiving any reply to my query, the string was removed, and tonight, when I tried to log on to the JTF Forum, that I had been banned.


(Click image to enlarge and clarify)
Now, when I was banned from the Revava Forum (Don't get me wrong. I don't make a habit of going around, trying to get banned from discussion forums), I did not even receive a "you've been banned" message, let alone a warning from any of the forum's moderators. I simply tried to log-in one day, I could not.

My sources tell me that there was not even an entry regarding my having been banned in the forum's moderation log. It was as if I had never existed as a member.

The only "crime" which any of us could discern was that, even though I had never caused any trouble, I had primarily been posting announcements for a rival group's events and activities. Thus, I was apparently removed by the forum's owner, who could no longer tolerate such "insolence."

Go figure.