What Hamas did this weekend and continues to do is reprehensible. For me, in these moments, I try to practice saying less and learning more. And someone I always turn to and have referenced often is Yair Rosenberg. His piece yesterday in The Atlantic is “a firsthand account of tragedy and heroism from the slaughter that left more than 900 Israelis dead”, and the death toll is mounting. I hope those of you who are reading this will click on it immediately to read about Amir Tibon and his family’s experience and also his perspective on a very complicated and volatile situation. Again, I strongly encourage you to bookmark this link and share it if you can. This is a conversation between two thoughtful and informed people who have devoted so much of their time and energy to helping people fully understand extremely complex issues with devastating consequences.
In addition to writing that piece, Yair is using his platform to advance the truth. Because, as you can imagine, there is so much misinformation out there. This thread is a good example:
There's nothing wrong with a Palestinian flag. Palestinians are not collectively responsible for what Hamas, a theocratic regime that murders and jails its Palestinian critics, does. People of any background who defend, obfuscate or celebrate what Hamas did are another story. https://t.co/zlZcqgXJMc
— Yair Rosenberg (@Yair_Rosenberg) October 10, 2023
As Yair said in another tweet this morning, Hamas has committed “the worst anti-Jewish violence since the Holocaust”. And he made the point that misinformation and propaganda were also hallmarks of the Holocaust. So please check in with reliable outlets and journalists, like Yair, who are leading with facts. It is one of the ways we can honour the victims.
Speaking of misinformation and disinformation, the EU has issued a warning to that f-ck, Elon Musk, over alleged disinformation that his platform is not adequately monitoring.
On that note, Vox has been posting updates on the Israel-Hamas war and there are several excellent background pieces in that link about the history of the situation in the region.
And here’s a link to organisations where you can donate if you are able to help.
UPDATE: Innocent Israeli and Palestinian civilians are being harmed by the despicable acts of Hamas in Israel and in Gaza and I regret not being more clear about that when I posted the above earlier today. I appreciate the feedback that I have received from readers and will be sharing more about their thoughts in tomorrow’s open. Thank you so much for your understanding. I am grateful for the opportunity to learn and apologise for the error.
