It’s been clear that the folks at WikiLeaks are not the white hats they’d like you to think they are. For one thing, Julian Assange’s idea of transparency means putting innocent third parties in danger of identity theft. On numerous occasions–including the latest dump of Democratic National Committee emails–WikiLeaks released unredacted Social Security numbers and credit card numbers. This is absolutely disgusting behavior, and would be no less disgusting if Republican emails had been released.
Well, add another strike to the list. On Saturday–just hours after the DNC leak–Kelsey Atherton of Popular Science discovered this on the WikiLeaks Twitter feed.
There were so many dog whistles in this tweet that I’m surprised that every dog within a mile of the Ecuadorian embassy in London wasn’t barking. For one thing, “tribalist” is a longtime snarl word for the supposed worldwide Jewish conspiracy. “Establishment climbers” is another term used by white supremacists to smear Jews. Woody Allen is best known for wearing black-rimmed glasses.
But the loudest dog whistle of all is the reference to how most of WikiLeaks’ critics had brackets around their names. It’s a reference to “echoes,” a tool used by anti-Semitic Twitter trolls to flag Jewish-sounding last names and harass them. Several of them even created a disgusting Chrome app to make it easier to bombard Jews with harassment, but Google took it down.
A few minutes later, Atherton discovered this equally loony tweet.
https://twitter.com/AthertonKD/status/756993918726709248
Word to the wise, Julian. When you’re in a hole, quit digging.
Just minutes after Atherton called them out, WikiLeaks deleted both tweets. When Anshel Pfeiffer of Ha’aretz and The Economist called them on it, WikiLeaks actually tried to defend those tweets–and failed.
No. We deleted it because it was been intentionally miscomprehended by pro-Clinton hacks and by Neo-Nazis.
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) July 24, 2016
Come off it, Julian. Anyone who’s followed politics knows exactly what those tweets meant–particularly those echoes. If you think that those who are calling you out “intentionally miscomprehended” them, there’s a bridge in Brooklyn we’d like to sell you.
It turns out that this isn’t the first time that WikiLeaks has sunk into anti-Semitism. Back in 2011, British magazine Private Eye noticed that WikiLeaks’ main spokesman in Russia was a raving anti-Semite. Assange called in to complain, and claimed that Private Eye had been hoodwinked by a gaggle of reporters from The Guardian who are “all Jewish.”
I look at this, and I find myself shaking my head that I ardently supported WikiLeaks at the outset until learning that they leaked the unredacted Social Security numbers of soldiers. But now we know that Assange and friends not only have no respect for privacy, but are stone-cold anti-Semites as well. Disgusting. Just plain disgusting.
(featured image courtesy screenshot from WikiLeaks feed)
