Israel Matzav

Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we set out to deceive

Gabriel Matthew Schivone really wanted to be a Jewish anti-Semite. So he tried to learn from the best of the best. He tried to pass himself off as a Chicano Jewish-American. He interviewed Noam Chomsky, one of the most prominent Jewish anti-Semites of our time. And then he tried to pass himself off as a Jew on the flotilla of fools, thinking that his Jewishness would make Israel look worse.

But alas, it was all for naught. Schivone didn't even have a ten-minute conversion. He was born a goy (non-Jew) and remains a goy. He's finally been outed by someone else who apparently hates Israel nearly as much as he does, but at least does so honestly. Gabriel Matthew Schivone is just a plain old anti-Semite.

On Aug. 1, Valerie Saturen of Tacoma, Wash., who personally knew Schivone, penned a letter-to-the-editor in Ha'aretz, writing:

In his editorial about joining the flotilla to Gaza, Gabriel Schivone represented himself as a Jewish college student. I feel I must point out that this not his true identity, but one he has created in order to generate insider credibility, shield himself from accusations of anti-Semitism, and resonate with a target audience.

I met Gabriel in 2004 while attending the University of Arizona, where we became very close friends. I am a strong supporter of Palestinian human rights and agree with Gabriel that the blockade of Gaza has caused great humanitarian suffering. However, readers have a right to know the facts and reach their own informed conclusions.

Gabriel is not Jewish, whether in terms of ethnic ancestry, religious belief, or cultural identity. He has never identified as a Jew until it became useful in advancing his political agenda. During the High Holiday season of 2007, Gabriel told me that he discussed Israel with campus representatives of Chabad, identifying himself as a Jew. When asked why he did this, he explained that he has a distant Jewish relative and that "you use what you have."

In all the time I've known him, he has never expressed feeling morally conflicted about Israel, nor has he succumbed to pressure to be "silent." The editorial's narrative is not Gabriel's story, but one crafted to lend moral and emotional weight to his argument while appealing to the young, college-aged Jews whose participation is so vital to the pro-Palestinian movement.

The aim of this letter is not to discredit that movement or the flotilla, or to take a political side, but to alert readers to specific distortions in this editorial. It is a shame that the war of narratives so readily eclipses and manipulates the truth.

Ha'aretz uncharacteristically gives Schivone the opportunity to reply to Saturen's letter. Aside from attacking Saturen, he confirms having known her, and does not deny that his sole connection to Judaism is one distant relative.

And you wondered why while we Jews accept converts, we don't recruit them.

Read the whole thing.

Labels: fake Jews, flotilla of fools, Gabriel Matthew Schivone

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 4:35 PM