How to fight antisemitism anonymously
It's a sad indictment on society when people are scared to express a view because of fear for their physical or economic safety.
Over the past few months I’ve had a big increase in the number of private messages that I’ve received through social media. Most have been very supportive, others have brought new information to my attention, but there have also been many from people who wanted to tell me that they agree with my stand on Israel but are unable to do anything because of concerns about their career or fear of other repercussions.
It’s a position that I completely understand but it’s also a sad indictment on society when people are scared to express a view because of fear for their physical or economic safety.
This is compounded by the fact that many conservatives shun confrontation – probably as a side-effect of being taught Judeo-Christian values as children – which is why it is so difficult to mobilise them in support of important social causes. While antisemites and left-wing activists will take to the streets in support of patently stupid ideas, often without any knowledge of the facts of an issue – conservatives would rather make an anonymous donation or offer ‘moral’ support of their causes from the safety of their own home.
But here’s the problem. There were conservatives in 1930s Germany too – people who looked on in horror while the Nazis, the German media and a growing section of the German public became more and more extreme in their portrayal and treatment of the Jews. No doubt these people also chose not to draw attention to themselves by voicing their opposition to the growing evil because of concerns for their jobs and their safety – and that ended in the destruction of many of the cities of Europe and the death of 6 million Jews.
I wonder how many of us would want that on our conscience?
I’m not asking you to put your job or safety at risk but there ARE things that you can do without having to come out from behind your laptop. Here are some examples:
▶️Offer your professional skills in support of initiatives to support Israel and the Jews. I need graphics designers, website experts, people with a journalistic background, social media specialists, marketers, fundraisers and others – and you can provide any of these confident in the knowledge of absolute discretion.
▶️Refer other people to resources which provide important information (such as my easy-to-understand article at www.voicesforisrael.co.nz)
▶️Write to your Government representative, insisting that the Government supports Israel and takes a harder line on Hamas.
▶️Write to your independent media authority and complain about bias in your media’s coverage of matters related to Israel.
▶️Give to one of the many charities now raising funds to help affected Israelis.
▶️Subscribe to my newsletter so that I can keep you up to date (see the link on www.ashleychurch.com).
The secret to successful activism is collective power – and if everyone who supports Israel just did a couple of these things, we would make a huge impact.
No matter who you are – you can help.
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