What was troubling this past year were not these good faith, if often fraught, efforts. It was the way online culture—which is an awful lot of our culture these days—demanded our politics be instantly clear, instantly share- able, and consumable in tweets and Tik- Toks. It was the lack of space for learning, for basic facts free of opinions, for uncer- tainty. Online seemed a place where only fully formed conclusions were welcome. This pressure risks producing a huge swath of content about the conflict that is either half- baked or regurgitated—tweets and posts whose tone and content are largely copied from others, so that we have something to say when we’re not sure what to say. Without enough spaces for expressing still-inchoate thoughts, for seeking com- plex analysis (and cited sources), for showing the embarrassing gaps in your knowledge without being shamed for them, awakening into politics can never
involve the deep education and mature reckoning that it should. I have become a different person, online and off. In person, I have conversations with people whose views are far different than mine and have felt open to hearing them. Online, those same views have filled me with disgust. The uncompromising all-caps opin- ions of social media have admittedly be- come comfort food in a nonsensical world. I feel my tangled, contradictory thoughts smooth out against the solid online edifice of declarations, callouts, and rage. These days, I try to stay aware of my reactions—the way I seek out the self-righteousness of so- cial media most when I’ve been torn apart by a new image of the warzone, when I feel the most helpless. I try to notice when I’m scrolling to make myself feel better, not to learn or discover anything new. And I remind myself that, in those moments, I don’t need to add my voice to the din. n
the diaspora in Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toron- to, Montreal, and other communities engage in political action this past year, some people for the first time. We have marched in pro- tests, joined massive organizing chats, called our politicians, moved money to escaping Gazan families, and even flown to Israel and Palestine to provide medical assistance, help kibbutzim bring in their harvests, or just show up : a mass activation of people with many sympathies for different sides. Much of it has inspired me: the current conflict shook me awake from a long, inattentive hibernation. I have tried to update my ignorance by read- ing and learning. I have engaged in various ways, though nothing I did ever felt remotely enough. I have offended my dad, who vol- unteered in the Six-Day War, and even more thoroughly offended a distant relative who lives in an Israeli settlement. I have found community online with other anti-war Jews who live as far away as Texas.
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