Activism and BDS Beat 25 June 2011
One of the first people to disseminate a mysterious YouTube video condemning the upcoming Gaza Freedom Flotilla has confirmed to The Electronic Intifada that he works at the office of the Israeli Prime Minister. Guy Seemann denied strongly however that he disseminated the video as part of his work for the Israeli government.
The video appeared on YouTube yesterday from a previously unknown “gay rights” activist named “Marc.” Benjamin Doherty pointed out some unbelievable elements of the video and described it as “pinkwashing.”
“Marc” claimed to be a gay rights activist who wanted to join the flotilla but was disillusioned to learn that the organizers would not welcome him because he’s gay, and then goes on to describe the flotilla as little more than an effort to support virulently anti-gay Islamist organizations.
Max Blumenthal investigated the earliest instances of the video being shared through social media and noted the connection to Seemann and to a Neil Lazarus, a communications consultant who has worked for the Israeli prime minister’s office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“Marc’s” Israeli accent, the professional production of the video, and other elements suggest that rather then being a genuine video blog from an activist, it is a piece of carefully designed Israeli propaganda designed to coincide with both the flotilla and the observance of gay and lesbian pride month around the world.
Seemann confirms he works for Israeli prime minister’s office
The Electronic Intifada reached Seemann by telephone. Seemann confirmed that he tweeted the video from the Twitter account @GuySeemann, which he had opened on 15 June 2011. Although it was the only item to appear in his timeline, Seemann denied that he opened the Twitter account expressly to disseminate the video.
Seemann explained that he received the video from a “friend” and decided to share it: “I was sent an email by this person [containing the video] and I sent it out as well.” Seemann said he did not know who “Marc” was. Seemann told The Electronic Intifada that he had watched the video and approved of its message.
Asked about online biographical information that he works in the office of the Israeli Prime Minister, Seemann at first refused to confirm or deny, but when pressed stated:
“Yes I work at the prime minister’s office, and no this video has no connection. It happens to be that I’m Jewish and I work in Israel. I’m sure that you get a million videos sent to you, just because you work for The Electronic Intifada.”
Seemann deletes his tweet
Shortly after The Electronic Intifada spoke to Seemann he deleted the tweet which he had ackowledged making:
The Government Press Office of Israel had also promoted the video and referenced Guy Seemann’s Twitter account.
The Government Press Office also promoted Seemann with a “follow Friday” tweet. From the record, it seems like an extraordinary coincidence that Seemann would spontaneously decide to open a personal Twitter account, and that within a short time the Israeli Government Press Office would be aware of it and then reference him as a source for the video, without some offline communication.
Comments
Ha
Permalink Asa Winstanley replied on
And it seems like Guy Seemann has deleted his twitter account already! In any event, link leads to "Sorry, that page doesn’t exist!" now
Seemann
Permalink AngelaJerusalem replied on
And do we yet know if this guy is related to the ex-head of the GPO, Daniel Seaman? Or am I getting paranoid trying to keep track of these conspirators?
Ridiculous!
Permalink Liz replied on
That's amazingly ridiculous !
It does really show how we need tools to trace the origins of what we read - memes, news, and so on. This is such an obvious fake, easy to spot, but future efforts or other efforts at "authenticity" might be better engineered. So tracing the sources might become quite important so we can tell what's PR or propaganda.
Key Stone Cops
Permalink Deborah replied on
What I find interesting is that the more Israel cannot defend its actions legally, politically, let alone logically, the more its propaganda is ham-fisted! If there weren't lives at stake, one could laugh at how much the IDF and Israeli govt. are like the Key Stone Cops! Inane, inept pinkwashing, stupid, pasted together videos with an obviously heavy editorial hand, bizzarre and incoherent rhetoric at every turn. Frankly, the only less capable propaganda I can think of is from the US State Dept and US Ambassador to the UN.
Why would anyone ultimately be afraid of these people who have lots of money to blow and cannot even muster the most basic tools of public diplomacy and who do not even try to be manipulative but just blast away like every single thing they see is a nail that to which they have to apply a hammer. And tanks, political assasinations, drones, bombs.
When I listen to the US and Israeli govts on the Gaza flotilla, I keep thinking I'm watching "Stupid Human Tricks" on SNL.
Confirmed. 100% hoax
Permalink Froy replied on
Busted!
"Did the prime minister's office distribute a fake anti-flotilla video?"
"the man who appears in it was actually an Israeli entrepreneur and public relations expert named Omer Gershon."
In Haaretz http://www.haaretz.com/news/di...
Another episode
Permalink stevieb replied on
that demonstrates the fanatical nature of Zionism. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. Prepare for more violent episodes the more pressure is brought on facist Israel...
Guy Seemann bio
Permalink adri Nieuwhof replied on
More info on http://presentense.org/guy-see...
(...) and moving to Israel, Guy was awarded a fellowship to work with international journalists and diplomats at the Prime Minister’s Office and then served as the international director for Lev Echad, an organization which deals with crisis management. Guy currently is working to improve Israeli international strategy and tactics with the USA and other English speaking countries.