Welcome to CiF Watch, dedicated to monitoring and exposing antisemitism on the Guardian newspaper’s ‘Comment is Free’ blog.

What is ‘Comment is Free’?

‘Comment is Free’ is the online home of the Guardian and Observer that carries articles designed to engender debate and discussion through a post-moderated comment thread. The Guardian is one of the most influential media outlets in the world and the ‘Comment is Free’ blog is among the most popular blogs on the internet.

In the 2008 Webby Awards for the best political blog, ‘Comment is Free’ came in as runner-up second only to the Huffington Post while in the 2009 Webby Awards, the guardian.co.uk, the platform upon which ‘Comment is Free’ resides, won the category of best newspaper ahead of NYTimes.com.

The Guardian newspaper is a respectable and mainstream news outlet. How is it possible that there is antisemitism on ‘Comment is Free’?

Despite the fact that the Guardian is a mainstream news outlet, it has allowed ‘Comment is Free’ to become a platform where antisemitism thrives.

Antisemitism manifests itself most frequently on the section of ‘Comment is Free’ known as “CiF Middle East”.  There Israel is the subject of regular rebuke and moral opprobrium in a manner quite out of proportion to any other country in the Middle East or the world for that matter.

Contributors to ‘Comment is Free’ regularly engage in one-sided anti-Israel diatribes that fuel what inevitably devolves into an anti-Jewish hate-fest on the comment thread, through the invocation of antisemitic memes and tropes. Coupled with this is a post-moderation policy, relying by and large on users to flag abusive comments, that consistently fails to delete large numbers of antisemitic comments (see CiF Commenters) despite in many cases the report of abuse. To add insult to injury, in some instances the moderators delete the comments of users who attempt to refute antisemitic comments without deleting the antisemitic comment itself.

The Community Security Trust, a British charity established to ensure the safety and security of the Jewish community in the UK, in both its 2007 and 2008 reports on Antisemitic Discourse in Britain, singled out ‘Comment is Free’ as one of the main purveyors of antisemitic hate in the mainstream media.

Moreover, in Antisemistism on Guardian Comment is Free Jonathan Hoffman authored a 57-page report dedicated to exposing examples of antisemitism on ‘Comment is Free’ which was submitted to the UK Parliamentary Committee Against Antisemitism.

In short, ‘Comment is Free’ has become a platform for the expression of antisemitic  hate-speech and the proliferation of such speech in such a widely respected mainstream news outlet lends credence to such extreme views, poisoning the public debate. As Andre Oboler eruditely pointed out in  Online Antisemitism 2.0, “[w]hat in the mainstream-media era was clearly viewed as offensive is now so prevalent that it is increasingly gaining acceptability.”  As we know all too well from experience, acts of antisemitic violence are always a step or two behind the vilification of the Jews in the print and online media.

How do you determine if something is antisemitic?

We use the EUMC Working Definition of Antisemitism to determine whether an article, editorial or post on ‘Comment is Free’ is antisemitic.

The EUMC Working Definition is the most widely used definition of antisemitism and has been relied upon by the UK All Party Parliamentary Inquiry into Antisemitism and the US State Department.

Please visit How We Define Antisemitism for more on the Working Definition.

By labelling something antisemitic are you not shutting down debate on what is perhaps a legitimate subject of debate?

Absolutely not. We support vigorous and open debate about Jewish related issues, including issues of controversy, as long as such debate does not violate the EUMC Working Definition of Antisemitism.

In particular, it bears emphasizing that we support open and honest debate about the Israel/Palestinian conflict including harsh criticism of Israel as long as the criticism of Israel is similar to that leveled against any other nation of the world.

What is CiF Watch’s Mission Statement?

We at CiF Watch hold the Guardian directly responsible for openly facilitating and encouraging such a platform in which antisemitism can thrive.

As one of the most popular mainstream news sources in the world, the Guardian has an elevated responsibility to ensure that it presents a balanced picture of the Israel/Palestinian conflict in accordance with prevailing journalistic standards and to implement a zero-tolerance moderation policy to identify and remove antisemitism from its comment threads.

By documenting and exposing antisemitism on ‘Comment is Free’, we at CiF Watch are committed to holding the Guardian accountable for its complicity in spreading hate-speech. Specifically, we demand that the Guardian adequately confront and address the problem of antisemitism on ‘Comment is Free’ by taking, at the minimum, the following actions:

  • cease with the obsessive focus on the Israel/Palestinian conflict in CiF Middle East;
  • present a more balanced perspective on the Israel/Palestinian conflict – rarely do we ever hear the perspective of moderate Israelis and Palestinians;
  • permanently ban users that consistently post antisemitic comments to ‘Comment is Free’ and permanently delete their comments from all archives;
  • do not delete the comments of those that refute antisemitism on ‘Comment is Free’ unless the antisemitic comment itself and all subsequent references thereto are deleted in their entirety;
  • do not rely on users to flag antisemitic comments (which disproportionately falls on Jewish commenters) – this is squarely the responsibility of the Guardian moderators and if the task is too burdensome due to the volume of comments, either employ more moderators or implement a pre-moderated comment thread;
  • ensure that moderators are not exercising bias for either side of the conflict in the exercise of their duties;
  • employ the EUMC Working Definition of Antisemitism as the standard for identifying antisemitism and ensure that moderators understand what constitutes antisemitism and in particular that certain criticism of Israel is antisemitic; and
  • appreciate the pain and suffering that antisemitism on ‘Comment is Free’ causes to Jews and non-Jews alike and its poisonous influence upon public discourse.

Who is CiF Watch?

We are a grassroots, unaffiliated group that is neither left wing nor right wing, religious nor secular, that is dedicated to exposing antisemitism on ‘Comment is Free’.

Yes but this does not tell us who you are.

Due to intimidation suffered by those that have spoken out about the very issues that we raise, we have regretfully decided to remain anonymous. As the Electronic Frontier Foundation points outs “anonymous communications have an important place in our political and social discourse”. As the much cited  United States Supreme Court ruling in McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission states:

“Anonymity is a shield from the tyranny of the majority. . . . It thus exemplifies the purpose behind the Bill of Rights, and of the First Amendment in particular: to protect unpopular individuals from retaliation . . . at the hand of an intolerant society.”

How can we get in contact with you?

If you wish to contact us “offline”, please email us at contactus@cifwatch.com. We welcome your comments and suggestions.

Check back frequently at CiF Watch for the latest!