Published: 14 September 2021
Last updated: 4 March 2024
Shocked by the intensity of online vitriol on both sides after the violence in May, NOA ABRAHAMS searched for forums that valued nuance and empathy. Here’s what she found
AT OUR WEEKLY Netzer leadership meeting on Zoom, our shaliach (Israel emissary) ran a discussion about sport and politics, and how we could connect Israel at the Olympics with so much of the Reform Zionist discourse we engage with in our programs. It was a reminder of how important it is to have a space for this kind of conversation.
Each of us in our own way navigates the layers of connection to Israel, for some, considered a homeland, an intrinsic part of identity - for others, a country far away that is as important as visiting other places in the world.
It became very clear during the violence in Jerusalem and Lod in May that grappling with ethics and morals, while still fundamentally believing in Israel’s right to exist, is not a standard widely shared. Having grown up in the ‘Melbourne Jewish Bubble’, this was an incredibly sobering and upsetting experience.
I was stuck between the age-old Australian Jew/Jewish Australian dilemma and felt bookmarked by this in every interaction both within and outside my community. I felt surrounded by polarised rhetoric during those weeks around the 11-Day War, that harmed everyone, regardless of their persuasion.
These included ~aesthetic~ Instagram “infographics” that delicately argued “Israel never existed”, anachronistic anti-Semitic tropes, as well as posts denying Palestinian sovereignty and ignoring their humanity. It’s not new. But the format and the power of this online vitriol was unlike anything I have seen before.
In this setting, where Zionists were “faschists” and pro-Palestinians were “self-hating”, I called my cousins in Tel Aviv to check that they were okay having spent a night in a bomb shelter. I called our shaliach to check that his family, too, was okay.
I listened to Hebrew and Arabic pop music on the train to and from uni and wondered how the people around me were processing and engaging with this issue, seeing as everyone now seemed to have an opinion.
