It's truer than ever that finding facts among the multitudes of news sources on the internet has become harder than ever. The saddest notion that comes to mind these days is that no matter what the media blitzes into our living rooms via our internet pages or television screens no longer becomes a divining process of discerning its reliability and accuracy. It simply becomes a mission as to prescribing whether said story or item fits the version of the facts we would like to believe.
It would appear we have become a nation of 'sides': Your side, my side, their side. More and more it seems that even with the freedom the internet provides people seem to be actually inhibiting the freedom they choose. Meaning in essence, while the internet provides many sources on any one subject, plenty of folks seem to limit their own fact-finding to periodicals/writers they agree with, instead of seeking out the opinions or facts from a different perspective. Some do the opposite, searching for writings and theories that fit their curiosities such as to dismiss the need to check the actual providers background and previous writings.
Thus, the hardest thing for anyone to do is to admit when their side has it wrong, or more likely to be the case, doesn't have it all quite right.
Having watched the Gaza situation turn into a full-on conflagration, as an American-born Jewish man, my side of things has been clearly defined to me and for me. I grew up with a Jewish education. I was taught about Israel and the history of the State, and what led to the wars and the continual violence in the region. And as I Jew, I was taught about the rise of fascism and the shadow the Holocaust cast on the world as to why the need for Israel was more than pertinent.
This week has seen a massive explosion on Facebook (partially propagated by myself as well) about the Gaza conflict and who is right. Around the world, massive demonstrations, many of which have included the terrorizing of Jews while denouncing Israel, have perked the Jewish identities in all of us referred to by anti-Semites as 'secular Jews' to attention again. And while no doubt numbers play a huge part in the differences between Jewish demonstrations and Muslim ones, the propaganda on the issue comes from both sides, and often it is unpleasant.
Earlier this past week Jon Stewart, host of the Daily Show, had a segment on what it's like to speak about Israel when it comes to fellow Jews. Many Jews took umbrage when Stewart showed two war correspondents reporting on the Gaza conflict earlier last week as reported by CNN (one in Tel Aviv wearing a polo shirt, the other in Gaza dressed to the nines in bulletproof gear) and made a joke of it. He also made another comment regarding the Gaza's inability to flea designated bombing areas because of the crowded area Gaza is. Reminding people Stewart is a comedian and has a job to poke fun at the news of the day whether it affects his people personally or not seemed to have no bearing. Many Jews were offended and posted blogs going after him.
I, myself, have gotten into it with many people, many of them fellow Jews. And it is disturbing to see the huge amount of denial that does go into my side's thinking. It's not a dispute over whether the Hamas government (if you can call it that) elected essentially by the population in Gaza is a corrupt and shameless bunch of fanatics -- on that we agree. However, the idea that Jews always behave in a manner befitting the moral standards set before us in our Halacha (Jewish Law) is without question to way too many of us. That, after many writings including Thomas Friedman's FROM BEIRUT TO JERUSALEM, itself a rousing wake-up call for a New York Jewish man who witness first hand the invasion of Lebanon; That, after accounts in Newsweek and other magazines of abuses during many wars; that after having witnessed the American army abusing prisoners at Abu Ghraib, something that was just unheard of. Having met a paratrooper who went in with the invasion, I have heard of the horrors from this conflict and of the wrongs this soldier believed the IDF perpetrated. And yet so many of my side refuse to believe we ever do anything wrong.
Many of my Jewish friends have seen dissenting opinions to mine on my threads and recommended I 'unfriend' those that would speak out against Israel or its cause. Some of these dissenting opinions were ugly and laced with some basis of anti-Semitism. Others were the facts as the people on their 'side' of things see them. Yet few of the people I know are even willing to engage them in debate because they'd rather just disconnect and go into their corner.
But the most disturbing of conversation came not from any of those lacing their comments with hatred, but from fellow Jews typing their comments with denials and anger, particularly after they themselves stepped in the media trafficking of lies by the small but existent Jewish propaganda machine. Because much as I would like to deny that Jews partake of that kind of thing, we do, and we should be aware of it.
Like this one for instance which purportedly shows Hamas using children as human shields. Problem is, the video, if researched, appears to have been shot in Syria and isn't Hamas at all. Or this piece of lunacy that comes with the catchy headline, "when burying a terrorist you might want to remove the suicide vest first." (graphic video warning). Underneath the video is a Hebrew caption by the poster Yuval Friedman that speaks to Hamas terrorists having karma seemingly catch up to them... except that it isn't a Hamas funeral. It occurred in Syria and 85 people were killed in this graphic video when a car bomb went off. After I disputed the post I watched sadly as my Jewish friends attempted to justify their mistake.
The caption with the funeral procession is wrong on so many levels that it's hard for me and my morality to understand how a Jew posts this without checking it out first. First, the statement of burying a terrorist, assuming any Arab lying on a stretcher being paraded around must have been a terrorist. Second, the fact that it attributes the explosion to a bomb still on the body... and third, if it's meant as joke, which is possible, it simply is one of the most reprehensible jokes ever. I can't even imagine what would happen if an Arab posted that kind of video showing an Israeli IDF member or terror victim being buried and made a joke of it. The reaction would be vehement and laced with anger immediately.
It is a chilling reminder that when nationalism reaches a peek emotionally, we all need to remember to step back, take a deep breath, and not add more fuel to the fire.
I'm deeply disturbed at how much terror and fear Hamas has caused my Israeli brethren living in cities under constant rocket barrage. It is equally sad and disturbing at how many of our IDF soldiers have given their lives - young men whose lives were cut way too short. I am just as deeply disturbed by the innocent Palestinians injured in this conflict that it haunts me. It should haunt every Jew. The pictures of any child screaming, particularly a child who may have been forced into the position of being a human shield or simply was at the wrong place at the wrong time when an Israeli shell exploded is heart-wrenching.
While it is true, I have never heard an apology for the loss on the Jewish side from any of the Palestinians I know, it is also true that for any Jew to say we as Jews and furthermore Israel, have nothing to apologize for at all is a misstatement filled with narrow-mindedness and ignorance as well.
When any war breaks out and anyone dies, remembering who fired the first shot will simply be a choice for each mourner as to whether again they believe their own rhetoric or someone else's. It won't bring comfort to the bereaved and it won't undo the emotional and physical scars many will carry for the rest of their lives.
While I make no excuse for Hamas or for anyone who supports the Palestinian side of things by blaming Israel for everything that happens, I take greater umbrage at Jewish ignorance. Most Jews have had the privilege of growing up in households that allow and expect questions, provide free information for their kids to investigate and grants a strong education as a priority for their children. The same cannot be said for many Muslims, for which poverty and destitution is an inherently huge part of this problem.
My prayers are that the children of this conflict, Jew and Palestinian alike, remember it and take it to heart, so that neither ever wants to make war again. And that when they grow up, they remember these days and refuse to group each other in words like "them", "occupiers", "terrorists", "animals", "scum" etc. and refuse to instill in their children the hatred of their parents that continually breeds more war and more conflict. Instead, I pray they each learn to judge each person by what they do and their own character.
May we all learn to hold our tongues, reach out to the other side and talk, whether we agree or not, and find a way to look forward instead of back.
May this be God's will. Amen.
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