Answer or ignore: What to do when someone online is wrong

I can’t tell you the amount of times I have wanted to scream at someone for saying something stupid online. A pro-Hamas Muslim spewing hate and lies and propaganda, a childish article written on this VERY website permitting horrible atrocities, a misinformed Jew quoting Rabbi Meir Kahane, HY”D, about Jews not heeding the call of Aliyah from the privacy of their home in the Diaspora, or a liberal, whose head is so far in the clouds about the reality of terrorism in and out of Israel that speaking to them is about as useless and banging your head into a brick wall.

Everyone has the same reaction as well. You get a little tense, your anger rises. “HOW CAN THEY SAY/DO THAT?!” “CAN’T THEY SEE HOW WRONG THEY ARE??!”

No, they can’t and you wont show them either. No matter how reasonable, logical, fact based you are, the answer is always the same: “Israel is a terrorist state.” “What about the 296 children killed in Gaza?” They’ll quote Norman Finkelstein or the UN and their “unbiased” reports. Their gut reaction will always be the same, Israel must be defeated.

Operation Protective Edge was different. Seemingly, we heard a lot of pro-Israel pieces, Facebook and Twitter were inundated with pro-Israel pieces and the voices on the other side seemed somewhat quiet. Only now, for myself at least, am I really seeing the vitriol of the anti-Israel crowd. Seeing this article though,Time to ask the question: Why Does Hamas Fire Rockets?, really pushed me over the edge:

I can’t explain why, but this article sent me into attack mode, wanting to prove the author wrong and answer the critics. They wont listen, I told myself, but at least I’ll feel better. Yet, the more I answer, the angrier I feel. How are they so blind to FACTS?!??!

The answer is this: They Hate. Hate is irrational. When someone is so filled with hate, it will make no difference if you are right in their eyes.

Some may choose to answer. Some may choose to not. Either way is fine. However, if you choose to answer, please do not sound like a bigger idiot then those you are responding to. Make a logical argument. Don’t result into name calling. Make sure you keep your emotions in check before you write or your name may be the next in the mouth of a Hamas spokesperson on al Jazeera.

We are the ambassadors of Israel. What we do reflects on our collective country. Make her proud.