Friends,
You might have seen the raging debate about whether social media is to blame for the backlash among young people against Israel.
You won’t find me disagreeing with the corrosive impact that algorithms have had on our society, our mental health and our democracy itself.
But the effort to scapegoat TikTok feels a lot more like an attempt to shift responsibility than grapple with it – to deny reality rather than reckon with it.
TikTok didn’t greenlight thousands of settlement units. Facebook didn’t turn a blind eye to settler violence. Snapchat didn’t block food and medical supplies from families in Gaza. Instagram didn’t veto Security Council ceasefire resolutions. Twitter didn’t provide a blank check for Netanyahu’s war, long after it became clear that the civilian toll was unjustifiable.
The hard reality is this: we’re living with the consequences of decades of right-wing Israeli policy – and decades of US policy that enabled it. The Israeli government doesn’t have a PR problem, it has a policy problem – it’s just more visible than ever.
If you want to focus on the hard work of actually changing policy and building a better future, please consider a donation to support our work today. Together, we’re fighting for a truly just and truly democratic Israel we can all be proud of >>
Friends – I would also be remiss if I didn’t share that at J Street, we’re also working to ensure our voice is breaking through the morass of social media and other spaces.
In the year ahead, we’re making a major new investment in digital communications to ensure we’re meeting people where they are and doing what we do best – injecting nuance, empathy and action into debates driven by partisanship, anger and fear.
Together, we need to pull ourselves back from the extremes, confront the painful realities some seem determined to ignore, and press forward toward a better future for Israelis and Palestinians alike.
If you want to be a part of that work, please consider an end of year donation today. Unlike our opponents, we don’t have right-wing mega-donors funding this work >>
Thank you, sincerely, for your consideration.
Becka Wall
Director of Multimedia Strategy, J Street
