Comments on: Jewish groups clash in South Berkeley

By: RfaelMoshe

RfaelMoshe — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 20:28:30 +0000

Far more revealing about the nature of the “Jewish Voice for Peace”, has been their internet campaign mis-characterizing and “spinning” the incident while libeling the victim. It seems that with full awareness of their guilt over what they had done ( suppressed a persons first amendment rights, attacked a middle aged, disabled women, and acting hypocritically about being disrupted when celebrating the JVP disruption of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s speech, etc), the “Jewish Voice for Peace” immediately must have decided that the “best defense is an good offense.” As the Berkeley Police responded with half a dozen police cars, it would not be surprising if the campaign of deception began with the JVP’s fist call to the police, wildly exaggerating the magnitude of the incident. Within hours, the internet was full of the JVP’s carefully “spun” but deceptive description of the incident, along their own carefully selected video clips which did not depict anything relevant to the incident. All of this arises from an apparent deeply held desire on the part of the “ Jewish Voice for Peace”not to be photographed in combination with an arrogant belief that the JVP is specially privileged not only to disrupt others without ever being disrupted themselves but also apparent belief that they can tell others what to do, and, then to punish dissenters on the internet if they don’t comply.

By: not exactly a peace group

not exactly a peace group — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 19:32:49 +0000

Why didn’t anyone intercede is a good question.
Why didn’t the 50 or so Jewish voice for peace members stop this fight? Maybe they aren’t so much for peace after all?
Did they think it was amusing to watch a 58 year old woman man-handled and accosted in this fashion? Or was it simply ok, because she was on the other side of them, politically?

By: Elwood

Elwood — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 23:18:33 +0000

Who cares?

By: Robert Jenkins

Robert Jenkins — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 19:34:44 +0000

You are all very confused. The video clip showing Robin draped with a Israeli flag was AFTER she had gotten her assailants off of her. JVP didn’t post any clips that actually show anything important, they must have edited those parts out. Like bullies every where, if you stand up to them, they back off. When the JVP bullies decided that if they said ,”no photos”, that was an ORDER and that everyone had to jump to. When this person didn’t obey the JVP commands, the JVP’er decided that they were privileged to try to use force to take away this person’s camera. When their victim resisted, they went to their next level, lying to the police. I bet that when they called the cops, they didn’t too much of an excited response,so they must have used the word “riot” to get that many police there that fast. It seemed to me that the one called,”Cecelie” was the “shot caller.”

By: Peter

Peter — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 08:31:36 +0000

Rita Anderson: “It was a frightening thing to watch. I was also there, and I heard the victim scream “Leave me alone” about a dozen times- with no one coming to her aid”

Robert Matthews: “I was at the meeting. Ms. Dubner was attacked by multiple persons”

Anna Wesser: “I was seated near Ms. Dubner and I saw everything that happened to her. Her account is correct. Two JVP members attacked her by grabbing her arms and trying to wrestle her camera out of her hands, which by the way is an attempted robbery.”

This does sound frightening. So why did none of you come to her aid or call for help?

By: Josh Richman

Josh Richman — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 07:39:15 +0000

Ms. Dubner told me her camera, which she had borrowed from someone else, malfunctioned and so she has no video of the event; she said she was carrying a separate audio recorder which made a complete record of the evening, however.

Also, no video from that evening has been posted to the SFVoice4Israel YouTube channel.

By: Peter

Peter — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 07:35:35 +0000

There are comments here posted by several people who say they were at the meeting, and some of them confirm Robin Dubner’s account. I’d like to ask Rita Anderson, Robert Matthews, and Anna Wesser: Is the video fake? Obviously the video leaves out a lot, but:
“Dubner said she didn’t don the Israeli flag until after she had been attacked, had pepper-sprayed the two JVP members, and was trying to leave.”
Yet the video shows her wearing the flag while standing in the middle of the room, reading her text, with nobody else within 10 feet of her, for at least 45 seconds. She doesn’t appear to be trying to leave, or to have been harmed. Something is inconsistent here.

Did the reporter ask for video from Ms. Dubner or from any of the “SFVI/SWU activists” who we are told were recording this event? It looks fishy that we get to see a video from only one side while we’re also told that people on the other side were also recording videos.

Wallace Smith writes, “I suspect that the JVP began the exageration with their first call to the police, or why else would SO MANY police cars have arrived?” I don’t think the JVP caller had much say in that, judging from my own personal experience living in South Berkeley. Last month someone was mugged outside my building: one victim, two assailants. We called 911, and within a few minutes, I counted six (yes, six) squad cars on the scene as well as a fire truck and a paramedic truck.

By: Golda

Golda — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 02:12:13 +0000

I’m another JVP member who was at the meeting Sunday night. Robin’s account is not true. You can believe your eyes and what the video shows or you can believe what Robin and her friends purport here.

By: Anna Wesser

Anna Wesser — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 01:29:58 +0000

I was seated near Ms. Dubner and I saw everything that happened to her. Her account is correct. Two JVP members attacked her by grabbing her arms and trying to wrestle her camera out of her hands, which by the way is an attempted robbery. They body-slammed her against a wall several times while Ms. Dubner kept yelling at them to let go of her. The JVPers are lying. If Ms. Dubner had not used her pepper spray, she would most likely be in the hospital, injured by the “peaceful” JVPers.

By: LaShaniqua

LaShaniqua — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 00:20:21 +0000

If the incident had actually occurred the way the JVP propaganda press release states, then they would have posted the FULL film of the incident. Its clear that they only released their own carefully edited clips that don’t show JVP people acting out. That’s yet another reason that there were no arrests. They ganged up on this woman while photographing and now they are ganging up on her on the internet. First bullying, now cyber bullying.