There are 2 wars currently being lead by Israel. One on the field in Gaza that will hopefully end up soon as tentatives for ceasire fire (vain so far) will convert. Another is in the air, in the communication field. And this time, probably for the first time in the history of Israel, i observe a significant change. Not only it is easier than ever to participate in the different activities to support your side or launch a debate thanks to the different web platforms, but for the first time Israel authorities have taken a step forward and are investing energy (not enough in my mind) to communicate better on blogs, twitter, youtube, facebook...
This is one of the reasons many of us feel it is important to participate even more. Initiatives like HelpUsWin or @QassamCount (covered yesterday by Fox News btw, just after my own interview) are becoming channels that agregate thousands of users to participate and increase the exposure to virtually millions of "friends" or better said connections.
Today the very popular french newspaper, LeMonde is dedicating a a note to that war of the web, where users become themselves soldiers (thanks for mentionning me btw). This is a war because on the other side you find 3 categories of fight
- people that are supporting blindly hamas thinking they support palestinians without enough open mindness and do not really understand the reality we live here. Make no mistake the palestinian people deserve peace and a country. But supporting palestinian and supporting hamas are 2 different things. One is supporting poor civilians, the other is supporting a terrorist organization.
- people that are true supporters of hamas by conviction of fundamentalism. There are MANY like those: sites of hate, sites of boycott, groups of hate, call to murder and jihad
- Cyber Terrorists: those hacking sites just for the sake of hacking. Ynet fell (picture top left), Bank Discount fell, a hospital website in Hadera fell...
Personnally i feel that i can contribute to this war by expressing my ideas, and bringing them to as much exposure as i can: a rating in youtube, a comment in facebook, a post on twitter, a note on friendfeed, a note on this blog, and many other simple tools... Very often i open a debate or participate in one. My purpose is not to convince but the raise the awareness of the situation and i believe that if all israelis and jews around the world were acting like this, the picture in the media landscape would really be different. And if only one message should be shouted out there here it is. Please read it twice
This war is not against Palestinians, but against fundamentalists/fascists of the Hamas.
Each computer is a weapon on both sides. Internet is the most efficient media out there. I get most of my news on the web first before it even comes to TV. Use it. Anyone can do it.
Winning a war on the communication is today at least as important as on the field. It supports better diplomatic efforts, in order to reach a truce and hopefully one day peace (opposite to hamas' tentative to destroy, kill and exterminate). This war is continuous. It is more visible in times of war because all media wake up and suddenly everyone feel compelled to take side. But true support happens continuously (special message to those demonstrating their "support" to hamas only when it is urgent), regularly. It eventually pays out.
I hope our government will understand that as well.
One day hopefully, the internet will become a major driver to peace by improving sharing and dialog with palestinians that under constant inner propaganda of their fundamentalist leaders. They also dream of a normal life, of having fun, and of a better life they deserve.
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