[mobglob-discuss] Web Warfare Comes to [North] America

[Macdonald Stainsby]

http://www.counterpunch.org/davidson0922.html 

CounterPunch   September 23, 2002 

Web Warfare Comes to America 

by Lawrence Davidson 

A new front in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has been opened in the
United States. This has not been done by Islamic fundamentalists, or radical
Palestinians. It has been done by American and Israeli computer hackers.
Action on this new front has taken the form of identity theft, harassment,
incitement to harassment, defamation of character, and malicious
misrepresentation through the misuse and misappropriation of computer e-mail
facilities and lists. In the process, the reliability of the web based
system of communication has been undercut, the integrity of some very
prestigious universities have been called into question, and the judgment of
law enforcement authorities made to look tainted with bias. Let me give a
number of examples. 

In early July a recent graduate of the University of Pennsylvania by the
name of Marc Dworkin, using a university e-mail account, sent a message to
recipients of his e-mail lists directing them to harass Professor Mona Baker
at England's University of Manchester Institute for Science and Technology.
His exact words, after giving Professor Baker's e-mail address and telephone
number, were "harrass (sic) the motherfucker." This was Mr. Dworkin's way of
expressing his disagreement with Professor Baker over her support of the
boycott of Israel. Soon Professor Baker was receiving hundreds of obscene
and threatening communications. When the University of Pennsylvania's Vice
President for Information Systems and Computing, Ms Robin Beck, was informed
of this incident her reply to Baker was that a "careful assessment based on
what we currently know, does not reveal either a violation of University
policy, nor a violation of law." When it was pointed out to University of
Pennsylvania officials that Dworkin's actions had indeed violated Penn's
policies on "Acceptable Use of Electronic Resources" and "Guidelines on Open
Expression" (his behavior is also a possible violation of the Pennsylvania
law on "harassment and stalking by communication or address") they still
refused to take any action. Why should the University of Pennsylvania refuse
to move against someone using their e-mail accounts in a fashion that
undermines its educational purpose, violates its own policies, and possibly
constitutes criminal behavior? 

In late August Professor Shahid Alam at Northeastern University in Boston,
Massachusetts wrote a piece in CounterPunch, later reprinted at Al-Ahram
Weekly On Line, in which he made a case for the boycott of Israeli academia
as one example of a non-violent alternative to the increasingly desperate
violent resistance of the Palestinians. In the process he explained the
conditions of Israeli occupation that had resulted in the various forms of
violent Palestinian struggle, including suicide bombings. The piece was
reconstructed and misrepresented in the Jerusalem Post to make it appear
that Alam "justified terror attacks against Israelis." On September 4th the
Boston Herald, apparently not checking the accuracy of the Jerusalem Post
report, announced "Professor Shocks Northeastern with Defense of Suicide
Bombers." Almost immediately Professor Alam began receiving a large number
of harassing e-mails. In addition, in an act of identity theft, e-mails
misrepresenting his position were forged and sent out under Alam's name.
Northeastern University's response to the Boston Herald report was to
"distance" itself from Alam. The professor's remarks were his alone and the
University did not "condone or officially recognize them." The impression
was left that Northeastern assumed the Herald piece accurate. Why should
Northeastern University react in such a timid fashion to an incorrect report
that threatened the reputation of one of their own faculty members? 

Throughout July and August, numerous organizations and individuals who
support the Palestinian cause, oppose war in the Middle East, support human
rights, and are just generally critical of Israel, were harassed and
interfered with. Among the victims was Monica Terazi, Director of the New
York office of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC). She
was harassed and her identity stolen by hackers with the result that, for a
time, Yahoo Groups took her account off line. When she reported this assault
to the FBI, their response was that no law had been broken: no money stolen,
no computers physically damaged, public safety had not been endangered. The
entire hacker operation, according to the FBI, was simply an exercise
protected by the First Amendment. Why should the FBI take such a dismissive
position on activities which, in many states of the Union, are now
recognized as a form of, to quote the Pennsylvania statute, "harassment and
stalking by communication?" 

Ultimately, it was not the law enforcement agencies or university
administrators that investigated the hackers who had harassed, abused, and
misrepresented so many people over the summer months. It was private
individuals such as Professor Bassam Shehadeh of Iowa State University. He
managed to track down some of the sources of abuse to sites in Israel and
its West Bank colonies. The Israelis had committed their acts of harassment
by accessing an ISP called Palnet.com on the West Bank. When the Israeli
army went about systematically destroying the electronic communications
facilities on the West Bank they spared Palnet. To what end? Well, the
result has been its misappropriation in the manner described here. 

This form of harassment via electronic communications is on-going. It is
being used to intimidate and emotionally punish American and British
academics, as well as many others, who are critical of Israel and its
policies. Yet nothing of significance is being done about it by authorities
capable of curbing such behavior. For all intents and purposes, the inaction
of academic and law enforcement authorities has created legal space for what
are ordinarily illegal acts: harassment, incitement to harassment, identity
theft, and malicious misrepresentation. At least this seems to be so when
these assaults are directed against those critical of positions favored by
influential and powerful interest groups. One can ask the question--would
the FBI or the administrators at the University of Pennsylvania or
Northeastern University have taken the positions they now do, if such
organized and extensive harassment and identity theft had been directed
against American Zionists by supporters of the Palestinians? 

The implications of this episode of "web warfare" goes beyond the present
situation. The hands off position taken by the FBI and university
authorities sets a precedent for the future. While critics of Israel are now
the main targets of web based harassment and misrepresentation, there is no
reason why the circle of victims cannot become much larger. After all it is
a "virtual world" now and thus it is impossible to keep such behavior
"local." It seems we have found a new technological way of assaulting each
other on a worldwide basis. It was Ortega Y Gasset who once observed that
"hatred is a feeling which leads to the extinction of values." The present
campaign of intimidation is certainly hate filled and it is likely that
others who hate will learn of these techniques and use them. Those who can
stop this behavior now, but have chosen not to, ought to think again before
the future of communications becomes "extinct of values." 


Lawrence Davidson is a professor of history at West Chester University in
Pennsylvania. 



-------------------------------------------
Macdonald Stainsby
http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/rad-green
http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/leninist-international
--
In the contradiction lies the hope.
                                     --Bertholt Brecht