You’re fired!

There is a first time for everything. Yesterday was my first time being fired. From an unpaid position. For reasons unclear.

Before I tell you my story of woe, I want to tell you about bees. You probably know this, but bees apparently do a little dance to communicate to other bees where they will find a sugar source.

The dance is called the Waggle dance and is a particular figure-eight dance of the honey bee. By performing this dance, successful foragers can share information about the direction and distance to patches of flowers yielding nectar and pollen, to water sources, or to new nest-site locations with other members of the colony.

What you might not know is that whereas 80% of bees follow the instructions to the letter (or to the movement), there are 20% of bees who don’t. They fly off in all directions and do their own thing. They are the ones who either find it hard to listen to instructions, forget the instructions or choose not to listen to them.

Evolution, discipline and basic common sense might have us believe that these bees would either die out or learn to conform. We would think that after all this time there would be a higher level of compliance and that more than 80% of bees would have learned to follow the instructions.

I am no dancer. But for some years I have written a weekly column for News24 in South Africa. The publication is the most read online news site in the country and tries to maintain a balance of views. Until October 7th, 2023, I largely shared my thoughts on South African and social issues. I deliberately did not want to be the “Israel guy” and only addressed that when I felt it to be important.

October 7th changed that. With Israel supporters in short supply, it became vital for me to be of those voices. And so, I morphed into “The Israel guy” and faced the onslaught that predictably followed.

News24 allowed me to write, largely as I wanted to. Words like “alleged” were added (with my knowledge) to the claim of October 7th rapes and I was not to refer to Hamas as a “Terror” organization. And whereas I had no doubt that the “fact checking” was applied unequally to my articles in comparison to the anti-Israel ones, I still felt that the large reach was worth the compromise. Which is why I continued to write for them.

All this changed yesterday. Following the success of the “Pager Operation” I received the following:

“Dear Howard,

I trust you are well.

In light of your recent tweets about the pager explosions in Lebanon, I have decided to terminate your column on News24. News24 can in no way be associated with writers who glorify violence, which you did in my opinion.

I would like to thank you for your contributions over the years and wish you all the best for the future.

Regards,
Adriaan

ADRIAAN BASSON | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF”

Had I “glorified violence”? His mail did not indicate which tweet offended his sensibilities. I might have been that I tweeted “From the liver to the knee” or that I had jokingly asked followers if “Anyone has checked in on Naledi Pandor?” Pandor was the Minister (now retired) responsible for taking Israel to the International Court of Justice. I am not a fan of her.

Nor she of me.

There is a great chance, however, that this was the offending missive, “The genius of the Pager attacks on #Hezbollah can’t be overstated. It’s tantamount to having membership cards explode. It’s targeted, personal, and doesn’t allow for the claim of civilian deaths. It removes operatives from the field and disables communication. It also reestablishes Israel’s dominance and gives supporters a win that is so desperately needed. More than that it’s outrageous and very cool (unless you owned a pager.)”

I am not a comedian but I can be funny and edgy. I host a daily radio breakfast show, I write for several publications and I tweet and say provocative and outrageous things. I do so because I enjoy it, but also because it is my way of engaging some challenging subjects in a way that is palatable.

Like other writers and provocateurs, we skirt the edges of conformity. We annoy, we entertain and provoke. We do it because we are passionate and believe in having courageous conversations.

We are the 20% of bees that don’t listen to instruction.

What has been learned is that these “renegades” play a critical role in the longevity and the success of the colony. They fly off in all directions and in doing so, they discover new areas, new sources and a new supply of energy. They are the ones who risk failure, who put themselves at risk and who shun the safety of conformity.

According to business strategist Rory Sutherland, we need to learn from bees. 80% of our focus should be on systems and protocol and 20% devoted to risk, creativity and free flight. Both are critical for the functionality and for the future.

I cannot say for certain that I was fired because of my support for Israel, that the pressure to get rid of me because I am Zionist became too much. I can’t say that the final straw was that Israel had a victory, and I celebrated that.

But what I can say is that News24 and others like them err when they remove the uncomfortable voices. They risk reporting only on the 80% of the swarm and who blindly fly from hive to nectar and back. What I can say for certain is that they should be very careful before exterminating the bees.