Why Did Valerie Plame Tweet an Anti-Semitic Conspiracy Theory?
Valerie Plame Wilson, the former CIA spy best known for being unmasked in retaliation for her husband's criticism of the Iraq War, is under fire for posting an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory on Twitter — and on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, no less.
America’s Jews Are Driving America’s Wars https://t.co/oUH7b0QPMt
— Valerie Plame Wilson (@ValeriePlame) September 21, 2017
Here is a passage from the article that Plame retweeted.
It was a question combined with a comment that I have heard many times before and my answer is always the same: any organization that aspires to be heard on foreign policy knows that to touch the live wire of Israel and American Jews guarantees a quick trip to obscurity. Jewish groups and deep pocket individual donors not only control the politicians, they own and run the media and entertainment industries, meaning that no one will hear about or from the offending party ever again. They are particularly sensitive on the issue of so-called “dual loyalty,” particularly as the expression itself is a bit of a sham since it is pretty clear that some of them only have real loyalty to Israel.
This conspiracy theory is taken straight out of "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion," a debunked early-20th century tract which claimed to prove that Jews secretly control various political, economic, cultural and media-based institutions in order to run the world. While it is not anti-Semitic to criticize specific individuals and institutions which happen to be Jewish (such as the State of Israel or Steven Mnuchin), it is anti-Semitic to identify their Jewishness as part of the problem, such as Plame tweeting that "many neocon hawks ARE Jewish."
1) First of all, calm down. Re-tweets don't imply endorsement. Yes, very provocative, but thoughtful. Many neocon hawks ARE Jewish. https://t.co/m5oGgKPo2a
— Valerie Plame Wilson (@ValeriePlame) September 21, 2017
2) Just FYI, I am of Jewish decent. I am not in favor of war with Iran, or getting out of the Iran nuclear treaty. There are simply https://t.co/AR3Jsl1yml
— Valerie Plame Wilson (@ValeriePlame) September 21, 2017
3) too many who are so ready to go to war. Haven't we had enough for awhile?
— Valerie Plame Wilson (@ValeriePlame) September 21, 2017
4) Read the entire article and try, just for a moment, to https://t.co/wyd3uJ06nt
put aside your biases and think clearly. https://t.co/dHsVF8ZCH6
— Valerie Plame Wilson (@ValeriePlame) September 21, 2017
Her defense didn't work that well, and she immediately was chastised online.
Oh come on. This is nothing but blaming a race/religion for starting wars. Definition of discriminatory bullshit.
— Tom Coates (@tomcoates) September 21, 2017
No, no, no. I am an American Jew, and I am not driving any wars. I detest war. I detest how badly we treat our veterans of war.
— ✡(((Shona Keir)))☪️ (@ShonaKeir) September 21, 2017
By the way, it was highly insensitive of you to post this link on Rosh Hashanah.
— ✡(((Shona Keir)))☪️ (@ShonaKeir) September 21, 2017
You obviously endorse it or you wouldn't be defending it. It's gross. You should be ashamed of yourself.
— ☀️Imani Gandy☀️ (@AngryBlackLady) September 21, 2017
im also of jewish descent & our shared heritage doesn't undo the fact that you tweeted a link to an extremely anti-semitic article, val
— amy brown (@arb) September 21, 2017
Oh you're of Jewish descent, that makes everything better. http://pic.twitter.com/K03rU9LqF3
— Sarah Smith (@sarahsmithva) September 21, 2017
Valerie, I’ve been a big supporter of you. And I read the entire article. It’s bad. Jews should recse themselves? How about Mexican judges?
— John Aravosis (@aravosis) September 21, 2017
Yes, there are a lot of Jews in foreign policy circles. And there are a lot of Jews in nyc, in Hollywood, in the arts. And?
— John Aravosis (@aravosis) September 21, 2017
Psychiatrists? You left that out. Why are we making this list again?
— Josh Gerstein (@joshgerstein) September 21, 2017
I think he was backing up your point; i.e. that there are a lot of influential Jews in many circles. There are many Jewish warhawks
— Nadia (@nadiacomanetchy) September 21, 2017
As some were quick to point out, Plame's defense has one major flaw: She's tweeted out some pretty anti-Semitic stuff in the past.
There's also this from 2014. Doesn't appear to be a mistake.https://t.co/rorIcT3B7p
— Ed Morrissey (@EdMorrissey) September 21, 2017
For example, in 2015, she tweeted a link to a discredited conspiracy theory about "dancing Israelis" cheering the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
I never heard this story about 9/11: The Dancing Israelis https://t.co/jtATGOMTta
— Valerie Plame Wilson (@ValeriePlame) December 6, 2015
But after two hours of trying to defend her stance, the former agent admitted defeat, sheepishly admitting that she "skimmed the piece."
OK folks, look, I messed up. I skimmed this piece, zeroed in on the neocon criticism, and shared it without seeing and considering the rest.
— Valerie Plame Wilson (@ValeriePlame) September 21, 2017
I missed gross undercurrents to this article & didn’t do my homework on the platform this piece came from. Now that I see it, it’s obvious.
— Valerie Plame Wilson (@ValeriePlame) September 21, 2017
Apologies all. There is so much there that’s problematic AF and I should have recognized it sooner. Thank you for pushing me to look again.
— Valerie Plame Wilson (@ValeriePlame) September 21, 2017
I’m not perfect and make mistakes. This was a doozy. All I can do is admit them, try to be better, and read more thoroughly next time. Ugh.
— Valerie Plame Wilson (@ValeriePlame) September 21, 2017
The Jewish day of atonement is next Friday night.
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