Human Rights Watch fires Nazi fan
I read about the incident last week on Weasel Zippers in which Human Rights Watch senior military analyst Marc Garlasco was dragged out of the closet as a Nazi memorabilia collector. At the time, Human Rights Watch said that it was no big deal;
This accusation is demonstrably false and fits into a campaign to deflect attention from Human Rights Watch’s rigorous and detailed reporting on violations of international human rights and humanitarian law by the Israeli government.
Well, this morning, the New York Times and the BBC reports that he’s been fired.
On Monday night, the group shifted course and suspended him with pay, “pending an investigation,” said Carroll Bogert, the group’s associate director.
“We have questions about whether we have learned everything we need to know,” she said.
Remember how the US media went out of their way to tell us that folks who used “88” in their screen names were Neo-Nazis during the Southern Poverty Law Center’s accusation that the military and militias were racist hate groups? Well, guess what was Marc Garlasco’s screen name was on memorabilia sites; “Flak88”.
So I just knew that the Southern Poverty Law Center and Mark Potok would be all over this – but I was disappointed. They’re still busy chasing “nativists” – whatever that means today.
Of course, the New York Times blames the Israelis;
The administration of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also weighed in, but its views on groups like Human Rights Watch were already clear. Mr. Netanyahu’s policy director, Ron Dermer, told The Jerusalem Post in July, “We are going to dedicate time and manpower to combating these groups; we are not going to be sitting ducks in a pond for the human rights groups to shoot at us with impunity.”
Other groups say they have felt more heat from the Israeli government and its allies. “Recently we have seen a new attitude, a stepping up,” said Sari Michaeli, press officer for the group B’Tselem, which recently came under harsh criticism from the Israeli military for a report that concluded that civilians made up more than half of the Palestinian casualties in the Gaza offensive.
Yeah, the Israelis convinced him to use the Nazi-lover “88” in his screen name.
Thanks to TSO and Blue Cyclone for the tip.
Category: General Whackos, SPLC, Usual Suspects
Being a person that collects Nazi artifacts doesn’t make one a Nazi.
Did he make statements to the effect that he is a fan of Nazi ideals, or how they ran Germany into the ground?
OldTrooper; No, you’re right, it doesn’t. But the SPLC said that using the “88” suffix on screen names was enough to prove that John von Brunn and members of the military are Neo-Nazis. It’s supposed to have some Nazi significance that I forget at the moment.
I always thought of 88 as the lesbian version of 69. I better be careful.
H is the 8th letter of the alphabet, thus 88 is the equivalent of “Heil Hitler”.
H is the 8th letter of the alphabet, thus 88 is the equivalent of “Heil Hitler”, Jonn.
And we’re just going to ignore that little posting double-tap so I don’t have a grammeurysm, k? 🙂
The thing is, though, that “Flak88” usually refers to the German FlaK 88mm gun of WWII.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/88_mm_gun
I am happy to see this idiot removed from Human Rights Watch, however, regardless of the pretext. HRW is about as hypocritical an organization as the Southern Poverty Law Center, or whatever it’s name is nowadays. Both exist to hide their own virulent anti-semitic actions with a veneer of respectability. Anything that weakens either group is fine by me.
I agree with you Jonn. I guess I should have put the “sarcasm” alert on first. To kind of show the idiocy employed by such orgs as SPLC.
“Being a person that collects Nazi artifacts doesn’t make one a Nazi.”
Yup, I collect Soviet medals, my Defenders of Stalingrad is my favorite, and I definitely ain’t no commie!
H is the 8th letter of the alphabet, thus 88 is the equivalent of “Heil Hitler”.
True.
“The thing is, though, that “Flak88? usually refers to the German FlaK 88mm gun of WWII.”
True.
The “88” is commonly known to be nio-notzi code, so I am inclined to believe this person has Zyklon-B fantasies… There is a small chance he might have meant the Luftwaffe connotation, so more evidence would be warranted before a notzi, white-stupidicist meaning to his screen name is a given.
So, does that make all the Dale Earnhart Jr. fans nazis?
Sponge, no, just idiots. Dale Jr. is the most overrated driver in NASCAR.
And for the record, Larry Shaffield let me wear his fur hat with a Soviet Naval Infantry insignia on it for a few days one Spec Op back in the day. Does that make me a communist now?