An intricate neo-Nazi plot has involved a Jewish Melbourne lawyer in a nasty ISIL threat and a swirling controversy over his alleged claims for genocide for Palestinians has been revealed.
The odd twist of events involved Australian neo-Nazis who wrote in an online forum about “all out war” against ISIL and the lawyer, Josh Bornstein, was targeted because of his open immigration and strong hate crime stance.
However the plot to implicate Bornstein became more elaborate as the neo-Nazis created a fake identity for a blog in Israel under Bornstein’s name.
The perpetrators went to extraordinary lengths to ensure the credibility of their phony blog until on April 10 Bornstein found himself in the midst of a major controversy with calls made on the fake blog for genocide against Palestinians, supported by Talmudic law.
The article, which Bornstein described as “a graphically violent and racist diatribe,” was rapidly spread on social media and decried by many, including author Naomi Wolf, resulting in an online vigilante mob hunting Bornstein.
“I felt like I was standing in an amphitheatre surrounded by a hostile and highly multicultural audience who were baying for my blood. And the crowd kept growing – minute by minute,” Bornstein said in a Guardian article describing his experience.
Some immediately suspected Bornstein hadn’t been behind the article, but others were less trusting of the Times of Israel. An article published on the website in late-July 2014, claiming genocide against Palestinians was permissible, had drawn outrage and was eventually retracted. In a public apology, the publication’s editors claimed their trust had been abused, and that they would “take steps to prevent a recurrence.”
Despite these claims, the Times of Israel staff found themselves issuing another public apology less than a year later after becoming aware of the post published under Bornstein’s name.
Editors retracted the article within hours of its publication, and claimed they had been the victims of “a malicious and hateful hoax” but had “no reason to suspect this was a hoax … given that half a dozen posts were published on this blog in subsequent days, all on topic and perfectly reasonable.”
Source: National Post
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