RE: mastodon.ar.al/@aral/117036096…
Dear @Codeberg,
According to the anonymous Linux-Is-Best account, I am a scammer and Gaza Verified (gaza-verified.org), which I made and help run, is a scam, and every person from Gaza we verified using video calls – all 303 of them, by last count¹ – is also a scammer.
(Please see: codeberg.org/Codeberg/Communit…)
This presents a problem because I am also a part of the Codeberg organisation as an active member with voting rights.
And the Gaza Verified source code is hosted on Codeberg:
codeberg.org/small-web/gaza-ve…
(We’re clearly a very transparent scam operation that believes in FOSS, etc.)
So, if Linux-Is-Best is right, you are harbouring a known scammer in your organisation. Furthermore, by allowing the source code of the scam on your site, you could be held liable if you know of the scam but do nothing about it.
So, please:
1. Either remove me as an active member (and give me notice so I can cancel my direct debit and have time to migrate my account and projects elsewhere), or
2. Take down the libellous claims by this anonymous troll who is causing real harm to people facing genocide in Gaza (and who is thus, himself, complicit in genocide).
So I’m either a scammer and I should not be allowed to be part of the Codeberg organisation or the anonymous Linux-Is-Best is a libellous, genocide-complicit troll and should not be welcome at Codeberg. Because both of these cannot be true at the same time.
I’ll leave it to you to decide who you would rather want associated with Codeberg.
It shouldn’t be a very difficult decision to make.
#Gaza #GazaVerified #genocide #libel #LinuxIsBest #fediverse #mastodon #Codeberg
Racism and defamation / ToU violation / Misuse of Codeberg as a file hosting site
### Comment The project "[Linux-Is-Best / Personal-Fediverse-List](https://codeberg.org/Linux-Is-Best/Personal-Fediverse-List)" is harboring, despite the word "personal" in its title, an account blocking list `BLOCK_gaza_verified_scam.Codeberg.org
Dear @Codeberg,As an active member, I’d like to know what action will be taken against LinuxIsBest – the person mentioned below – and his account.
He is using Codeberg to spread Zionist lies about Gaza Verified (gaza-verified.org) and attempting to get people to mass block verified accounts of people on the fediverse facing genocide in Gaza at the hands of Israel.
As an anti-fascist organisation, I can only assume this goes against what we hold to be acceptable behaviour on our platform.
Thank you.
#genocide #Israel #zionism #hasbara #Gaza #GazaVerified #codeberg @katzenberger tldr.nettime.org/@katzenberger…
Gaza Verified
We’ve personally had video conversations on Signal with the people from Gaza whose Mastodon accounts on the fediverse are listed here and we verify that their accounts are genuine. – Joy & Aral Balkangaza-verified.org
Aral Balkan
Unknown parent • • •Sozan
in reply to Aral Balkan • • •Aral Balkan
in reply to Aral Balkan • • •It appears that Linux-Is-Best’s libellous blocklist of “Gaza Verified scam accounts” has been removed from Codeberg.
I appreciate your taking action @Codeberg; thank you.
#Gaza #GazaVerified #genocide #libel #LinuxIsBest #fediverse #mastodon #Codeberg
Rania rizq
in reply to Aral Balkan • • •Aral Balkan
in reply to Rania rizq • • •Michel Patrice
Unknown parent • • •@_elena
Des théories du complot à ton sujet?
Que tout ton activité en ligne n’est qu’un prétexte pour des placements de produits pour Lego?
Aral Balkan
Unknown parent • • •@_elena Thanks so much, Elena. 💕
And I’m so sorry he targeted you too. Unbelievable, really. What’s wrong with these people?
Aral Balkan
in reply to Aral Balkan • • •I just received this email, titled “Your recent Mastodon post” from @dpk on behalf of the Codeberg “Presidium”:
***
Dear Aral Balkan
In your Mastodon post at <mastodon.ar.al/@aral/117041803…> you publically criticized a repository that was hosted on Codeberg, despite linking to an issue thread in which it was made clear that the content should be reported through our usual internal channels for moderation. The repository in question was reviewed by the moderation team and removed. We understand that you suffered reputational damage as a result of this repository’s content, but this does not justify damaging the reputation of Codeberg e.V. in turn. The moderation team is still a volunteer operation and sometimes it takes a few hours for someone to be available to deal with reports or to ensure that consensus exists.
We therefore w
... Show more...I just received this email, titled “Your recent Mastodon post” from @dpk on behalf of the Codeberg “Presidium”:
***
Dear Aral Balkan
In your Mastodon post at <mastodon.ar.al/@aral/117041803…> you publically criticized a repository that was hosted on Codeberg, despite linking to an issue thread in which it was made clear that the content should be reported through our usual internal channels for moderation. The repository in question was reviewed by the moderation team and removed. We understand that you suffered reputational damage as a result of this repository’s content, but this does not justify damaging the reputation of Codeberg e.V. in turn. The moderation team is still a volunteer operation and sometimes it takes a few hours for someone to be available to deal with reports or to ensure that consensus exists.
We therefore warn you not to make posts of this kind that could damage the association’s reputation in future. Acting against the interests of the association can be grounds for exclusion from the membership (§5 (5) of the by-laws). If you have issues with content posted on our site in future, please report it to our moderation team at abuse@codeberg.org. In general, reports sent to that email address will usually receive a reply describing what action was taken once the moderation team has considered how to deal with the reported content.
Kind regards
Presidium
***
So, I have a problem with this.
My post in no way damaged the reputation of Codeberg. It publicly asked them to do something about it and to state, publicly, where they stand on an issue. An issue, may I add, that has to do with real people facing actual genocide as we speak. Not to mention I thanked them for making the right decision (mastodon.ar.al/@aral/117043586…). If anything, until this email, it made the organisation look better. Unless, of course, opposing certain genocides is something that damages reputations in Germany.
I do not agree with the public issue being closed either. An issue was reported and the response was not “oh, this is serious, we’ll look into it”. It was, rather, “you reported it wrong. Report the same thing at this other place instead.”
And that other place is an entirely opaque internal system where no one gets to see what decision-making process is employed.
This is not the transparency that should exist in a member-run organisation.
So at the end of the day, I am the one being threatened with being removed from membership while the person who is actively trying to harm genocide victims (codeberg.org/Linux-Is-Best/) is still welcome on Codeberg?
This is a very insidious form of bothsidesism and, I can only imagine, is to ensure that I keep quiet in the future and to create a chilling effect where we cannot discuss certain things publicly for fear of reprisals.
Well, that won’t be happening.
I am sick and tired of people who cannot provide a proportional response when asked to choose between people harming genocide victims on the one hand and those trying to protect them on the other.
If this means I cannot be a member of Codeberg, so be it.
Let me know if I’m not welcome there and I will leave.
And you can show the world that Linux-Is-Best is welcome and I am not. If that’s who you are.
#codeberg #israel #germany #zionism #genocide #ethnicCleansing #apartheid #settlerColonialism #fediverse #mastodon #transparency #ethics #morals
Linux-Is-Best
Codeberg.orgAral Balkan
2026-08-05 07:49:52
Adrian Egger
in reply to Aral Balkan • • •Daphne Preston-Kendal
in reply to Aral Balkan • • •Daphne Preston-Kendal
in reply to Daphne Preston-Kendal • • •Aral Balkan
in reply to Daphne Preston-Kendal • • •@dpk I claimed no such thing. I thanked you for making the right decision so people were updated on the outcome.
On the issue of public shaming (which this wasn’t, it was a public call for accountability and raising awareness of someone who is actively harming genocide victims), this you?
Have you received an email from the Scheme steering committee yet?
So I guess in my defence I was trying to protect genocide victims, not my own chair.
Maybe we should take a class together in whatever it is we apparently need to learn.
Daphne Preston-Kendal
in reply to Aral Balkan • • •Nothing in those toots was private. All that information, including those questions, is on the public mailing list of the Scheme WG. I know there are people following me because they’re interested in Scheme progress, so I gave an update here.
And, no, I am not trying to re-take the chair. The WG’s decision to ask for my reinstatement was made without my involvement except my confirmation I would still be willing to serve. That is also visible in the public log of the meeting of 28 July.
om mohamed
in reply to Aral Balkan • • •Esraa Alatar
in reply to Aral Balkan • • •Please, I don't know how to verify my account. I'm from Gaza and I want you to promote and share my account. chuffed.org/project/178300-esr…
Esraa in Gaza
ChuffedMalak1999
in reply to Aral Balkan • • •Quasit
in reply to Aral Balkan • • •@dpk
That's a very •German• email! "Follow orders or you vill be PUNISHED!" Makes me wonder how much Nazism is a matter of nature vs nurture.
And that I'm turn makes me wonder to what extent our ethnic backgrounds influence us. In my case, I suppose it would make me a 'natural' victim. Which is pretty much what I am. 😞
kmq
in reply to Aral Balkan • • •@dpk I was following this situation and I didn't see any damage to Codeberg's reputation. Situation was ongoing, things take time. Normal.
But this thin-skinned, presumably consensus-based response is actually the thing that harms Codeberg's reputation.
Threatening a member with exclusion over some harsh criticism ?
Pretty lame.
Daphne Preston-Kendal
in reply to Aral Balkan • • •Aral Balkan reshared this.
Aral Balkan
in reply to Daphne Preston-Kendal • • •Aral Balkan reshared this.
Daphne Preston-Kendal
in reply to Aral Balkan • • •John Ulrik
in reply to Aral Balkan • • •MuhammadFree🇵🇸
in reply to Aral Balkan • • •Amelis
in reply to Aral Balkan • • •@dpk
Aral, they simply don't have the time.
Codeberg is a code repository, I believe your expectation is a paid moderator committee having the time to drive into this. You do understand that's not the core of a (mostly free) hosted code repository?
Sven Slootweg, ("still kinky and horny anyway")
in reply to Aral Balkan • • •Aral Balkan
in reply to Sven Slootweg, ("still kinky and horny anyway") • • •Sven Slootweg, ("still kinky and horny anyway")
in reply to Aral Balkan • • •well, that would be part of the 'struggling to understand'. I am well aware of the ongoing genocide. it is not clear to me how or why this leads to seemingly immediate escalation of what looks like a trivial moderation issue.
like, surely you understand as well as I do that demanding of arbitrary people (not involved with said genocide) that they immediately drop everything and put *this specific issue* (which is not part of their core competency) at the top of their priority stack at a moment's notice, is not a sustainable way to organize or campaign in the long term?
pressure should absolutely be put on not just those who perpetuate said genocide but also those who choose to (passively or actively) support it. but making such demands of people who have taken no position, while leaving no room for them to figure things out, just makes enemies of allies
Aral Balkan
in reply to Sven Slootweg, ("still kinky and horny anyway") • • •@joepie91 Their initial response was to close the issue that was opened and scold those opening it for not following the proper channels.
If I told you that someone was harming hundreds of genocide victims right at this very moment, would that be your reaction?
Heyam Yousef 🍉
in reply to Aral Balkan • • •Aral Balkan
in reply to Heyam Yousef 🍉 • • •@heyamgaza Heyam, please don’t worry yourself. It’s nothing.
My love to you and your family.
Hilal
in reply to Aral Balkan • • •You are a truly kind and compassionate person. Thank you for everything you have done for Gaza. Please stay by our side—we need honorable people like you now more than ever. Your support gives us hope. 🍉❤️🙏
Aral Balkan
in reply to Hilal • • •Hilal
in reply to Aral Balkan • • •I was a human rights education teacher in Gaza for years and helped develop those curricula. Sadly, I witnessed a painful contradiction: we taught justice and dignity, yet we became people seeking help in a world of silence and indifference. After three years of suffering in Gaza, the reality has shown that many human rights promises remain only words. 💔🍉
Aral Balkan
in reply to Hilal • • •Hilal
in reply to Aral Balkan • • •jipexu
in reply to Aral Balkan • • •Pas la peine de rajouter une couche de communication désastreuse visant à avertir et mettre en garde @aral ... En aucun cas le post de aral en question nuit à votre réputation mais votre communication oui !