Old Dogs, Old Tricks

I have written before of the extraordinary steps Oliver Kamm and his mysterious pseudonymous supporters have gone to to try to smear me and jeopardise my career, following my critical review of Kamm’s book 'Anti-Totalitarianism', which was published in the The Daily Telegraph on 31st December 2005.

A malicious email from a ‘Mr George Courtenay’, and cced to Oliver Kamm, was sent to the editor of The Australian, a newspaper which regularly publishes my work. I wrote to ‘Mr George Courtenay’ at the email address he supplied to The Australian, asking if he could identify himself as a ‘real’ person. I received no reply. Revealingly, the only two other traces ‘Mr George Courtenay’ has left on the internet was in defending Oliver Kamm on blog debates:
http://www.tom-watson.co.uk/archives/2005/12/oliver_kamm_vs.html
http://www.ministryoftruth.org.uk/2005/11/30/pot_kettle_fallacy/

Over a year on from my review of Kamm’s book being published, the vendetta shows no signs of letting up.

Three wikipedia editors, who go by the name of 'Elena Zam' 'Philip Cross' and 'Truth Professor' have been spending an awful lot of time and energy in maliciously editing my wikipedia entry.

According the trio, I am a not a journalist, but a ‘controversial’ journalist. ‘Controversial’ of course for opposing the US/UK war agenda and supporting peaceful democratic socialism- views I share with millions of people on this planet.

I am a ‘Stalinist sxxxt’ even though I have never expressed any support for Joseph Stalin or his policies.
I teach ‘A level retakes’ at a ‘cram’ college- even though I haven’t taught 'A' level for a few years now and Oxford Tutorial College offers a wide range of courses, not just retakes. (in any case, does a teacher of A Levels have less right to express his opinions than a hedge fund trader?)

I am, the trio claim, "a defender of mass murderers like Slobodan Milosevic". ’This is not only untrue, its also defamatory. Milosevic was not a mass murderer(after four years, the Hague show trial failed to come up with any evidence to prove that he was) and he went to his grave an innocent man. I defend him not because he was a mass murderer, but because he wasn't.

For ‘defending mass murderers’ I have ‘numerous detractors’ , such as (please don't laugh) 'David Aaronovitch, Stephen Pollard and (apparently- no doubt due to the Francis Wheen/Oliver Kamm link) Private Eye'. No mention is made of those who might happen to agree with my views on peace and democratic socialism (ie probably the majority of people on this planet).

I am ‘against gay rights and immigration': again both statements are untrue.
(I have written once that I did not think that support for gay marriages or an open-door immigration are essential preconditions for being a socialist)

All three editors are very keen to publicise my legal dispute with Oliver Kamm, but of course only giving his side of the dispute, not mine. In addition, references of my support for railway nationalisation, have been repeatedly deleted (that would make me look far too sensible).

All of the above, constitute an attempt to portray me as a wild-eyed extremist, someone completely beyond the pale. Someone who defends mass murderers and who sues poor defenceless journalists without reason.
At teacher at a 'cram college' who is not only a Stalinist, but homophobic and 'opposes immigration'
Someone whose views are 'controversial', unlike the views of Oliver Kamm and Stephen Pollard, who together wih their neo-conservative chums are doing all they can to propagandise for another illegal war, this time against Iran. Of course, that's not 'controversial'.

Who, I wonder, can 'Philip Cross, 'Elena Zamm' and 'Truth Professor' be?

Wikipedia has no mechanism for finding out people's real identities, but nevertheless the trail of our mysterious editors can be traced.

The trio have two other sites in common. In addition to editing my page, they all have edited (this time favourably), the biography of Oliver Kamm (to see the edit history of Kamm's biography, just click on 'history' on the top of his wikipedia page.

And all have edited ) again favourably, the page of the translator Anthea Bell.

Who’s Anthea Bell I hear you ask, and what connection does she have with Oliver Kamm?

Well, quite a strong one actually. She’s Oliver Kamm’s mother.


UPDATE
‘citylightsgirl’ has been fighting a heroic battle to remove defamatory, misleading and malicious info from my wikipedia entry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Clark_%28journalist%29 .
and if any of you feel like getting involved with her to put the record straight, and to keep an eye out for any further malicious editing, I would be enormously grateful.

FURTHER UPDATE:
I have just had a look at my wikipedia entry and see that the mysterious trio I mentioned above have been hard at work again. I apparently 'used to teach International Relations', that's news to me, as I'm still teaching it this semester! And once again, my support for railway renationalisation has been deleted!!