Time to stop preaching to the converted

Every week since this war began and anti-Semitism returned to its front-row seat on the world stage, Jews around the globe who are emotionally invested in Israel have read or watched countless pro-Israel videos, Instagram posts, emails, and news articles. Every new message gets a quick skim while you decide if it conforms to your thinking.  And then what do you do? Don’t be coy. We all do it. You send the worthy items to every like-minded Jew you know and await their thumbs-up emojis. You feel so good because you just shared the post that is going to bust this whole information crisis wide open.

In case it’s not already obvious, here’s the problem with our Global Mutual Admiration Society: We are so busy telling ourselves and our friends that Israel is in the right and our haters are either uninformed or manipulative, that we forget we are speaking to the converted.

What about the people we really need to get to? The ones who respond to facts and logic; the ones who are willing to entertain different points of view. Those are the people we need to convince. But not many Jews want to go there. We don’t have enough knowledge to confidently debate and frankly, our bullies are very scary. Our haters are loud, intimidating and will go to any length. In reality, many of them have no idea what they are talking about.

This creates a vicious circle. The haters are not bound by facts. And most of us don’t have enough facts at our fingertips to fight back. It’s well past time to break the cycle. Here are a few things any pro-Israel person can do if they want to:

• If you don’t know much about our long-term and short-term history, for heaven’s sake, Google it! Don’t go to social media for a quick fix. In fact, be cautious with all media. Everyone has an agenda. Look for legitimate sources with information that makes sense to you. Ask questions to real authorities. And don’t take their word for what they say either. Even the pro-Israel ones. Use your head.
• Do not listen to your favourite actors or musicians. They are not authorities on anything other than singing, dancing and performing. Okay, maybe woodworking or painting, but definitely not realpolitik. There are no serious students of world politics out there who are moonlighting on your favourite sitcoms and movies-of-the week. Ignore them.
• Get it through your head that we are not colonialists or oppressors. It doesn’t make sense. Israel accepted the 1947 partition plan even though it was far from ideal because we knew one thing: it was a place where Jews could be safe from madmen (that was a serious miscalculation) and it was better than a kick in the head. Israel ended up with Gaza because its original rulers in Egypt couldn’t get rid of it fast enough. They didn’t want the headache. We soon realized what the problem was but didn’t get out of there until 2005. We ended up disrupting the lives of our people living there. When it was finished, we tidied up and locked the gates behind us.
• Understand that there has never been a Palestinian State in Gaza. Oh there is definitely a Palestinian state. It’s called Jordan. Approximately 60 percent of Jordan’s population has Palestinian ancestors who identify as Palestinian. Of course the Jordanians don’t want to talk about this. Why would they?

The idea of a Palestinian State in Gaza is, in my best guess, is one of the best scams ever perpetrated. After the first few wars with the newly created Jewish state did not turn out in their favour, the Arabs decided to try something else. They rewrote the history of Gaza and set about convincing the world that they were victims of Israel and Jews. Anti-Semites were all too happy to jump on that band wagon and support the new truth.

You are now ready to speak to people outside your comfort zone. Nothing major, just a little informed chitchat. And if you want an easy win when speaking to pro-Palestinians, make sure you know what river and what sea they are all ranting about. Most of them don’t know. You should. If you don’t already know, I am not telling you. Google it.