Sensible Jew and AJN Watch

A rkind eader has informed us that there has been some mention and discussion about the our blog on "The Sensible Jew" site. In case you have forgotten (or a recent arrival you can see the earlier posts about that blogger here,  here and here . And you may even be interested to read what she wrote about us here,  (Not very friendly, is it?)

So we were somewhat surprised to read her recent piece (here) where she used far milder language than previously. We were also not unhappy with some of the comments. To save our readers trawling through it all, we bring you the relevant bits:

CLICK TO ENLARGE

Alex Fein responds

A Very Dirty Business: AJN Watch Gets Personal
Posted by sensiblejew on September 25, 2009

AJN Watch is a nasty little site, run by people who have some serious issues with the Jewish News, homosexuals, and now me, among others. What makes their latest post so special is that they feel they have stumbled upon some extremely hot, breaking news.
What these people do not realise is that their, “latest scoop” is already known to everyone who has a passing acquaintance with me. They allude to various dark secrets in my past, using suspiciously similar language to the Sensible Jew’s troll (who has now taken to writing gay bashing emails of late – he is clearly unwell).

As AJN Watch is written by one or more anonymous cowards, they don’t make any concrete revelations because they clearly fear legal retribution and, I suppose, exposure.
If their identities were exposed, it would be interesting to see what various legal remedies any number of people in the community might seek.

As for those of you who don’t already know the deep, dark secret they want to reveal about me, it’s very simple:
My ex-husband and his family come from a repressive Middle Eastern country.
Though nominally Muslim, they are utterly secular and repudiate any show of religiosity. Their views on any political topic would be very welcome at pretty much any Shabbat dinner table. Indeed they graced our table at numerous Shabbatot and chagim and some of my warmest memories involve their joining in the singing at family Seders.
All these people – both family and friends – are our well-wishers. They are people with identical sentiments regarding liberal democracy, and would surprise the uninitiated with their admiration of Jews and Israel. One of them asked me how he could make his family more, “Jewish.” It took a while for me to work out what he meant. His view was that there was nothing stronger than the bonds of a Jewish family, that education was highly valued, and that community was also very important.

For a number of political reasons, my ex-family and my circle of friends really didn’t need to be publicly associated with a Zionist blogger. That is why I began this site anonymously. When I came out, it was under the naive assumption that Jews in our community would not actually want to drag the names of some of the only friends they have in the Middle East through the mud, and potentially compromise their well-being.

AJN Watch believes that if more Jews knew about my ex-husband, they would be revolted enough to abandon this site in droves.

From comments, emails, Facebook activity, and the people I actually know in person, I know that most Jews are better than that. Most Jews are smart enough not to be repelled by someone’s ethnicity or religion. Most Jews are smart enough to know that when you have few friends in a region, you don’t make their lives as unpleasant as possible all in the name of running a cowardly vendetta.

So, AJN Watch, please know, if you continue in this grubby campaign, there are increasing numbers of us who might enjoy the opportunity to expose you and your sources, to gather some legal advice, and to see which government departments would take an interest in such a malicious and vindictive hate site.
http://sensiblejew.wordpress.com/2009/09/25/a-very-dirty-business-ajn-watch-gets-personal/

Who is Alex Fein?

Thank you to all who sent us some personal background material re Alex Fein. Very interesting stuff indeed which we would be more than happy to publish. But at the moment these would only be classified as 'allegations' - and we prefer to do the responsible thing and await appropriate verification.

On the other hand, maybe Fein, who seems to be following this blog, is prepared to do the right thing - by her readers and the Jewish community in general - and reveal all voluntarily. No doubt she comprehends what we are alluding to. If not, here is a hint given by Fein herself to a journalist from the Sunday Age:

The Return of the Sensible Jew
TOM HYLAND - August 23, 2009
http://www.theage.com.au/national/the-retu...90822-euho.html

The blogger, Alex Fein, says she has been surprised by the level of intolerance to debate within the Jewish community. .....The Sensible Jew is a blog set up in May to stimulate debate among Melbourne Jews about what its author perceives to be failings of Jewish community leaders. Until recently, it, too, has been anonymous..... and she's outed herself: she is Alex Fein, 34, ....

She says her initial decision to remain anonymous and then to temporarily close the blog are linked to serious and sensitive family issues....Ms Fein says her own decision to initially remain anonymous, and then to temporarily silence the Sensible Jew, had nothing to do with fear of intimidation - at least not in Australia, and not within the Jewish community. Instead, a family member was concerned that the safety of relatives living overseas could be jeopardised if Ms Fein was publicly identified with a blog related to Jewish issues. Ms Fein won't go into details of what she says are sensitive family issues, but the relatives are non-Jews, living in the Muslim Middle East. If her blog was ever a danger to them - something Ms Fein doubts - the danger has now passed....

I am sure all of us who have seen Fein's writings and statements would welcome further details about those "relatives..non-Jews, living in the Muslim Middle East". And if and how such relatives impact upon her views regarding matters pertaining to Jews and Israel.

A pertinent comment by Sensible Shikse":

"...Neither of those things would normally be relevant to an argument, and pointing them out might be derided as a "personal attack". However, Fein's ongoing demands for "transparency" does ring a little empty when she comments on certain issues and doesn't disclose her own background to them. As they are such an obvious trump card apropos her credibility, I suspect they are the reason she originally cowered behind a pseudonym until it was impossible to do so..."

Over to you, Alex Fein.

Sensible Jew blog unhappy with AJN Watch

Sensible Jew or Superkvetcher Jew blog ?

From Sensible Jew blog

Strange Connections: Communal Diversity Under Threat?

This is not a story for a single post.
It’s a story about trying to work out exactly what is going on in some of our communal organisations. It’s a story about how sectional interests can so easily override mainstream Jewish opinion. It’s a story about intimidation.
I recently wrote to Deborah Stone at the Anti Defamation Commission to ask her what her organisation was doing to combat vilification of gays and lesbians in the community.
There are some very unpleasant sentiments coming out of a minority sector within Jewish Australia that indicate a problem, and I was curious about whether the ADC had any plans to tackle the issue. After all, on their website, their mission statement says that, “[they]seek to secure justice and fair treatment for all people.” http://sensiblejew.wordpress.com/

It would be pure waste of time debating this supremely arrogant know-all, who represents about as many members of our community as does Antony Loewenstein. Full of herself and regarded by most as a serial kvetcher about almost everything in the community, the last thing she is interested in is a differing POV.

However, we welcome unbiased and reasonable readers to check out our observations and see for themselves if we are guilty of 'vilification' or actually made some fair and rational comment.