Open Letter to the Squad and Left Wing Activists

To the Squad and left-leaning activists issue of Israel.

I care so much about the Israeli hostages and victims and Israel’s right to defend itself to the point that I got so engulfed in it and became careless by allowing this sensitive issue to cloud my judgment and make comments based on my own emotions, particularly anger. I was making generalizations that alienated people instead of having reasonable discussions. I should have used compassion and empathy for people on the other side. At the same time, I firmly believe in Israel’s right to defend itself; I could have also condemned any war crimes that Bibi Netanyahu carried out. Instead of making this a one-sided issue, I will try to find common ground so people on both sides can have a better understanding of where each of us are coming from. I feel that can help beat the hate that is growing in our country.

Much like Rashida Tliab, who has family in Palestine, I have family in Israel who I care about deeply, and I think, what if it was them who were kidnapped by Hamas? I could have done more to empathize what she was going through since I was going through a similar thing, and even found common ground, but instead my anger got the best of me and called for her to be censured where in reality all she was doing is exercising her free speech right.

I felt that people didn’t understand the situation that Israel is in, having to defend itself from all sides, and believed that the people who wanted a cease-fire didn’t quite understand war or how vile terrorism is, which puts the country in a bind. And because of that, Hamas takes advantage of the situation by using civilians as human shields and, with no regard, it puts Israel in very tough situations on how it should defend itself, which Hamas takes full advantage of  with the PR war and turns the world against Israel.

Instead of taking things at face value, we need to confirm actual facts.  Twitter is such a cesspool right now and people jump the gun before stuff is verified. Reporting that is not fact yet usually says stuff like “sources have suggested” or “some reporting says” and very rarely state “we have not independently verified this yet” – so people run with it as fact which adds to all the confusion and arguing.

I want to invite any member of the Squad or left-leaning activists if they are willing to have this conversation because I believe something good could come out of this, at least show people that can have civil discussions without falling into tribalism through their echo chambers.

I also was wrong to assume that the far left doesn’t care about Israeli lives and Jewish lives, because I haven’t seen enough to condemn the rise of antisemitism. I hope you accept my apology, which by no means you are required to, and I hope you will accept my invitation to have these discussions when I return to Twitter.