10 | APRIL 28 • 2022

PURELY COMMENTARY

SOCIAL MEDIA continued from page 6

everything that’s happening right
now, war is happening in two dif-
ferent areas: The battle of the real
people, fighting for their homes,
health, family, safety and lives,
calling for help and begging for
salvation, aside from the battle
on our screens, the dreaded fake
news war that’s threatening to
detract from the value of what’s
out there.
I want to believe that we all
try to look at the bigger picture,
doubt what we read, check the
sources or the background and
stick to the facts we know. And
yet, why am I so intrigued by
what’s going on on social media?
Well, it seems like we forgot how
to talk.

MY PERSPECTIVE
I’m an 18-year-old teenager, who
was born and grew up in Israel.
Growing up, I remember better
and worse times in my country.
We have never lacked for prob-
lems, fighting operations, dangers
or criticism around us, but we
kept living our lives because this
is the story of all of us. We live
our routine, and no matter what,
when something happens, even
my dad, with a family, will put on
his IDF uniform from 10 years
earlier and go out there. What
else can you do?
But the first time I realized
how bad social media could
affect what’s happening out-
side was in May 2021 during
Israel’s Guardian of the Walls
operation, the last fighting oper-
ation between the IDF and the
Palestinian terror organizations
in the Gaza strip. I constantly
followed the news as I was sitting
nervously in my home in Jezreel
Valley. Seeing on the side of the
screen rockets siren alarms, one
after another, at such a rapid
pace on the TV that before I had
time to read the name of the city,
another name pops on the screen
in big, bold letters.

I followed nervously the IDF
battalions that were entering
the battles, the names of those
who came back injured, trau-
matized or hurt, aside from
those who didn’t come back at
all. Thousands of rockets were
fired into Israel, with friends and
family from the south and the
center running back and forth
from their shelters or escaping up
north to find refuge, leaving their
homes behind.
The chaos, the danger, the
pain, I’m sure not just us Israelis
felt those feelings; perhaps the
Palestinian people did, too. But
the world out there sharing,
posting, typing and hashtag-
ging didn’t help the situation.
Hundreds, thousands, hundreds
of thousands of social media
pages covered what was hap-
pening. Pro-X, Pro-Y, everyone’s
opinions suddenly became facts.
Users were fighting in comment
sections, insulting posts, TikToks
and tweets everywhere. But
mostly, fake news and twisted
reality that increased the rage and
frustration of the people in the
shelters, of the soldiers outside
still trying to do the right thing
after the whole world is criticiz-
ing Israel until it seems that peo-
ple forgot that there are people
on both sides, homes, families
and dreams. For me, it was har-
rowing.

THE MEET PROGRAM
Last May, when everything hap-
pened, was a few weeks before
my graduation from one of the
most meaningful programs I’ve
taken a part of: MEET — a lead-
ership program for Israeli and
Palestinian high schoolers. I feel
this program has greatly influ-
enced me, opened my horizons,
and taught me how to design
my identity as an Israeli Jew who
strives for peace and a peaceful
life together. I learned to be
aware of my story and look for

the people around me, even if we
have different points of view.
Through the three years of the
program, in which we created
entrepreneurship projects, lead-
ership workshops and computer
science classes, I made genuine
friends through DU — Deeper
Understanding sessions. This
place proved to me that it was
a safe space where you could
listen, share and talk your honest
thoughts and opinions no matter
what was happening outside.
Those were the moments I
thought I was building some-
thing bigger. Until this single text
message one night in the middle
of May that popped on my screen
from my MEET’s cohort group
chat from one of the most prom-
inent students. Right after some
exciting messages about our
upcoming graduation ceremony:
“On behalf of the Palestinian
students, We would like to ask
you to give us our certificates
without having events with the
other side.
”
No one responded for a long
time, but obviously, it aroused
the interest of us all. It did not
matter what would happen next,
whether we would graduate
or not. At this moment, I felt a
failure. I’ve known these people
for the last three years. We came
together, 50% Israelis and 50%
Palestinians, to create something
unique. Not just social startups
to help create a better future for
the Middle East, and not just
comforting vocabulary in leader-
ship studies. I’ve always believed
there is an added value to this
program that brings Israelis and
Palestinians together and perhaps
gives us the only opportunity to
get to know each other from such
a close view.
I did not understand when I
became the “other side.
” What is
even the “other side” and wheth-
er, after three years of such deep
connections, there is a place for

titles like “Palestinian” or “Israeli”
students? Before I even had a
chance to share my views, the
opportunity to listen to honest
opinions, real people, not the
ones hiding behind posts and
hashtags, I became the other side.

Why? Because some people,
celebrities, actors, musicians,
athletes and influencers who hsve
a following, and have probably
never heard a siren in their life,
decided that my friends and I
were on two different sides.
Beyond the frustration of the
lack of understanding, opacity
and ignorance of those giant stars
who write to their millions of
followers beautiful words about
what’s going on from their safe
homes on the other side of the
world, my friends and I could no
longer speak.
We are neighbors for the long
term, and if we want strongly
enough, we can also be good
neighbors, but the war on social
media continues to separate us,
even more than the real one, it
seems.
Why do I still think about
it, almost a year later? In these
very days, when a big part of the
world is in the midst of a war of
survival, think about what you
read, see or hear and always ask
yourself: Should I comment in
public or maybe start talking to
this one person with the opinion
I care about? Should I share it
because it’s something I agree
with or maybe I just like this
guy’s music? Should I keep
scrolling, look around and talk
to someone with an opinion I
appreciate?

Ron Harel is a young israeli emissary in

the Jewish communities of Metropolitan

Detroit and Ann Arbor. Here in Michigan,

you can find her volunteering at Frankel

Jewish Academy, Temple Israel, Hebrew

Day School of Ann Arbor, Washtenaw

Jewish News and JFMD, among other

places.