Is this what we're doing now?

Here’s something obvious that still seems worth pointing out in 2024: 

Every person I know  - including every Jewish person in my community - is devastated about the war in Gaza. Each one of us is enormously distressed by the plight of innocent civilians AND about the civilian casualties AND about the fate of the hostages AND about the atrocities committed by Hamas against Israelis on October 7th. 

Grief and empathy can contain multitudes.  Distress rarely swims in a single lane.

The details of sexual violence and horrific torture committed against women and children in that massacre and the fate of the remaining hostages are beyond comprehension, as are the images of the innocent children, women and men in Gaza who have tragically been killed in this conflict. 

Terrorism, war, sexual violence and the death of civilians are always tragic and we must never stop being shocked and appalled by the loss of human life.

It’s what happens next that presents us with a choice.

On Friday morning, it was first reported that a list of 600 ‘Jewish Creatives’ has been compiled and shared on social media, including by one of Australia’s most prominent feminists. The spreadsheet included their names, the names of their employers and helpful links to their social media accounts to assist anyone who wished to abuse them. Which they immediately did and continue to do in vast, vicious numbers.

Some individuals on the list were part of a Whatsapp group of Jewish people in creative fields while others were simply….. Jewish. Sharing information like this for the express purpose of harassment is called doxxing and it is a well known tool of intimidation and abuse. You can read about the experience of some of the people on that list here.  Most though, are far too terrified to share what they are currently enduring. 

Thanks to certain high profile individuals who shared it, this list of Jewish Australians has now gone globally viral. This twisted belief that Jewish people or Israeli citizens are somehow responsible for this war and even the massacre that sparked it  - and deserve to be punished accordingly - has been ignited and then amplified in the name of ‘activism’.

Apparently, this is what we’re doing in 2024. I must have missed a meeting where it was agreed that this is now an acceptable form of social justice activism; doxxing Jewish people to encourage their persecution. 

To anyone who has ever read a history book, this feels disturbingly familiar. Generational trauma runs deep in the veins of every Jewish person in the world; we all lost family members in the Holocaust, murdered by Nazis whose mission was to ‘exterminate the Jews’. 

What’s confusing is that this new wave of anti-semitism isn’t coming from Nazis or the far right, it’s coming from the left; including many individuals who hold significant power and influence in sections of our culture and who have hundreds of thousands of followers they can unleash against anyone they choose to target. And they are currently targeting Jewish people.

I wasn’t part of the WhatsApp group in question and I don’t think I’m on that list of “Jewish creatives” however my family and I have been doxxed on social media by some of these same individuals since October 7th, as have many other Jewish people, particularly women. There are social media accounts devoted to ‘outing’  businesses run by Jews and calling for boycotts; many of these are small businesses run by women. The justification for these boycotts are that their founders have ‘connections to Zionism” as though being Jewish or believing that Israel has the right to exist is deserving of shame and ruin.

It is deeply disconcerting to be Jewish in Australia right now. How did we suddenly become the enemy of so many people we considered friends and colleagues, co-workers and allies? How did we become ostracised, reviled, shunned and condemned by these people? How did it become acceptable to use social media to dox us and call for the boycott of our businesses and the persecution of our families? 

And above all: how is any of this helping the civilians in Gaza for whose benefit these ‘activists’ claim to be fighting?

While Jewish people quietly speak amongst ourselves of our shock at the sudden rise of anti-semitism since October 7th and sometimes exercise our democratic right to push back against anti-semitism, the very fact we are speaking with one another or trying to defend ourselves and our community from bigotry is framed as sinister, conniving and even evil. 

These are more familiar tropes: they’re so sneaky, those Jews. Untrustworthy. Just look at their tentacles.

One more thing: The person who posts the most about an issue on social media does not ‘win’ compassion or activism.

Posting aggressively or incessantly does not make you braver or more morally virtuous than someone who chooses to process a devastating, complex situation differently. The number of times you post about something is neither a barometer of your activism nor a measure of its success.

It is, however, a highly effective way to pull focus, gain algorithmic attention and thus increase both your engagement and followers. 

Equally, social media silence is not violence. Nor is it complicity or even ambivalence. Silence can be fear. Or intimidation. Or confusion. Silence can be wanting to process your feelings privately. Silence can be choosing not to centre yourself in a conversation that is really not about you.

Silence can be understanding that social media is a polarising cesspit when it comes to certain topics and deciding not to add to that noise.

Doxxing Jewish people and blaming an entire religion for this war is not going to help innocent civilians in Gaza. It won’t bring back the dead or hasten a ceasefire or remove Netanyahu from power. It will not change government policy in Australia or Israel. And it will certainly not end this war. It will simply propagate hate, abuse and anti-semitism.
If, as you say, what you truly want is peace for the people in Gaza and Israel, rethink your strategy. And have a read of a history book.