Well said. A poignant comparison indeed. However, saying that the rise of social media cannot explain the difference and saying it's a cop out is not quite right. We may still be the 'same' but then again we aren't. You say the 'speed' of Comms is the only difference. I would say that that the increased speed has been enough to amplify the messaging saturation - the brainwashing, especially for the cohort born since that time or too young to remember. I suspect their brains are wired up very differently. One plus one does not equal two. Social media has contributed a great deal imo to so much that is bad these past few decades. I was hopeful it would be more positive than negative but it seems not to have been the case. Toxic people and entities have used it to devastating effect to mobilise sentiment shift perspective dumb down and downright propogate lies here there and everywhere. Even so I don't want people's output censored but SOME people's speech has been censored and there's the rub. Social media as far as communications go exerts a double whammy. It's a hugely important factor - unfortunately.
I went to university during the Second Intifada (and so also right after 9/11). I am sad and angry about what's happened at universities, but I am no way surprised. It started then and now we are seeing the results of two decades of work towards this.
I'm reminded of an insensitive & flippant saying that circulated in military amongst the smart-assed & has become a t-shirt saying now: "It's never a war crime the first time". Seems rather apropos in light of the points you've made..... not to make light of it, but maybe offer a small bit of insight from someone who was there. (Side note: I didn't commit any war crimes, I just feel like the entire "us just being in Iraq" was kind of a crime. War or not.)
People are more likely to protest and make noise on social. You’ll have the first wave of Maga heroes launcing a gung-ho attack on the invaders. They’ll be wiped out first due to stupidity and macho bravado. Then America will cave in and complain about free speech and wanting to not harm the invaders feelings.
Eventually everyone will wake up and fight back and then come begging Isrealis for tech and training to destroy the invading army.
Did you also spend 500 years working on that name? How does it feel to be openly mocking Jews? You want to throw accusations of racism while larping as a mohel eating foreskins?
The only murderous people I seem to see and hear about are the ones terrorizing everyone while holding a red, green and black flag and usually wearing a Keffiyeh. Doh! Talk about blind.
What about murderous Hamas, how about the murderers on a global scale behind the plandemic, who murdered all the Syrians, the people in Yemen, who murders all the babies before they leave the womb, the list could go on.
I've also been thinking about 9/11 in regards to recent events, but a bit differently.
I was very glad to see Hersh Goldberg-Polin's parents on the stage at the DNC, yet cannot ignore the refrain of "I fully support Israel's right to defend itself, BUT . . ."
Its not only the "but" that's problematic. Why is the conversation about Israel's right to defend itself rather than about Hamas needing to be defeated?
Defeated like al-Qaeda, like ISIS.
. . . and also like Boko Haram, which continues and gets little attention, although, not the sympathy Hamas gets.
One obvious difference. On 9/11, AMERICA was attacked. On October 7, Israel was attacked. And again you didn't see anyone with Hamas flags on the Israeli campus.
To be fair many of these awful protestors did protest on July 4 because they hate the US that much.
Just recall that almost every decision the U.S. made after 9/11 turned out to be a bad one. A half hearted effort to eliminate Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. We know how Afghanistan ended and where it is now. An absurdly misguided invasion of Iraq at a cost of trillions, hundreds of thousands of deaths, no WMDs, etc. The creation of DHS, FISA courts and laws that assaulted the civil rights of Americans. And now an Iraq where Iran has immense influence.
Yes there is a lesson - when a war is "out of sight out of mind," as the ones in Iraq and Afghanistan were for the majority of Americans, the level of outrage for it doesn't seem to be as high as when Jews are at war with their neighbors who massacred them.
And now the massacre ratio exceeds 20 to 1. More if you factor out those killed by the IDF on 10/7.
Someday the killing has to stop since the tribal strife in Palestine/Israel is starting to look worse than the Hutus and Tutsis. How far will Netanyahu go to save his own skin?
We’ve learned that as many as half of the 2,000 killed on 10/7 may have been slain by the panicked IDF. And the number of indigenous Arabs killed doesn’t include those killed in the West Bank, usually by the squatters. That’s approaching 700 and now the IDF has embarked on a West Bank killing spree separate from Gaza.
Never forget that the West Bank and East Jerusalem are outside Israel’s borders.
Sorry to hear everyone needs to pay to read you.
I’ve enjoyed reading everything submitted by you, and certainly hope for the best in your future writings.
Thank you, David. Couldn't have done it withou the help of the wider JPF Family. All the authors are exceptional writers!
No argument there!
Well said. A poignant comparison indeed. However, saying that the rise of social media cannot explain the difference and saying it's a cop out is not quite right. We may still be the 'same' but then again we aren't. You say the 'speed' of Comms is the only difference. I would say that that the increased speed has been enough to amplify the messaging saturation - the brainwashing, especially for the cohort born since that time or too young to remember. I suspect their brains are wired up very differently. One plus one does not equal two. Social media has contributed a great deal imo to so much that is bad these past few decades. I was hopeful it would be more positive than negative but it seems not to have been the case. Toxic people and entities have used it to devastating effect to mobilise sentiment shift perspective dumb down and downright propogate lies here there and everywhere. Even so I don't want people's output censored but SOME people's speech has been censored and there's the rub. Social media as far as communications go exerts a double whammy. It's a hugely important factor - unfortunately.
I went to university during the Second Intifada (and so also right after 9/11). I am sad and angry about what's happened at universities, but I am no way surprised. It started then and now we are seeing the results of two decades of work towards this.
I'm reminded of an insensitive & flippant saying that circulated in military amongst the smart-assed & has become a t-shirt saying now: "It's never a war crime the first time". Seems rather apropos in light of the points you've made..... not to make light of it, but maybe offer a small bit of insight from someone who was there. (Side note: I didn't commit any war crimes, I just feel like the entire "us just being in Iraq" was kind of a crime. War or not.)
The question is if there was a real direct war in America today, would we have the will to fight it?
People are more likely to protest and make noise on social. You’ll have the first wave of Maga heroes launcing a gung-ho attack on the invaders. They’ll be wiped out first due to stupidity and macho bravado. Then America will cave in and complain about free speech and wanting to not harm the invaders feelings.
Eventually everyone will wake up and fight back and then come begging Isrealis for tech and training to destroy the invading army.
lol. You’re a delusional POS. There are way too many genocidal, racist, bigots on your Substack. Y’all are some sick people.
Did you also spend 500 years working on that name? How does it feel to be openly mocking Jews? You want to throw accusations of racism while larping as a mohel eating foreskins?
I’ll mock murderous Zionists. If they happen to be Jews, then that’s their problem.
The only murderous people I seem to see and hear about are the ones terrorizing everyone while holding a red, green and black flag and usually wearing a Keffiyeh. Doh! Talk about blind.
What about murderous Hamas, how about the murderers on a global scale behind the plandemic, who murdered all the Syrians, the people in Yemen, who murders all the babies before they leave the womb, the list could go on.
I've also been thinking about 9/11 in regards to recent events, but a bit differently.
I was very glad to see Hersh Goldberg-Polin's parents on the stage at the DNC, yet cannot ignore the refrain of "I fully support Israel's right to defend itself, BUT . . ."
Its not only the "but" that's problematic. Why is the conversation about Israel's right to defend itself rather than about Hamas needing to be defeated?
Defeated like al-Qaeda, like ISIS.
. . . and also like Boko Haram, which continues and gets little attention, although, not the sympathy Hamas gets.
Exactly...why always the but.
Thank you for sharing my article, Rueben!
My pleasure Jill
One obvious difference. On 9/11, AMERICA was attacked. On October 7, Israel was attacked. And again you didn't see anyone with Hamas flags on the Israeli campus.
To be fair many of these awful protestors did protest on July 4 because they hate the US that much.
...and the response from Hamas and their supporters in the Palestinian territories was exactly the same after both of those events.
They celebrated both but they were more enthusiastic about 10/7.
Well sure, it's always more exciting when it's your own countrymen pulling off a pogrom.
Just recall that almost every decision the U.S. made after 9/11 turned out to be a bad one. A half hearted effort to eliminate Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. We know how Afghanistan ended and where it is now. An absurdly misguided invasion of Iraq at a cost of trillions, hundreds of thousands of deaths, no WMDs, etc. The creation of DHS, FISA courts and laws that assaulted the civil rights of Americans. And now an Iraq where Iran has immense influence.
There a lesson to be learned from this.
Yes there is a lesson - when a war is "out of sight out of mind," as the ones in Iraq and Afghanistan were for the majority of Americans, the level of outrage for it doesn't seem to be as high as when Jews are at war with their neighbors who massacred them.
And now the massacre ratio exceeds 20 to 1. More if you factor out those killed by the IDF on 10/7.
Someday the killing has to stop since the tribal strife in Palestine/Israel is starting to look worse than the Hutus and Tutsis. How far will Netanyahu go to save his own skin?
All the way apparently
Sadly I think you’re right. Hopefully he will do it without the continued charitable support of US taxpayers.
Hi, can you please explain the massacre ratio?
40,000 to 2,000.
We’ve learned that as many as half of the 2,000 killed on 10/7 may have been slain by the panicked IDF. And the number of indigenous Arabs killed doesn’t include those killed in the West Bank, usually by the squatters. That’s approaching 700 and now the IDF has embarked on a West Bank killing spree separate from Gaza.
Never forget that the West Bank and East Jerusalem are outside Israel’s borders.
Wait, is this reply satire?
Just the facts, Ma’am!