remember my post about the wave of legislation to censor content about Palestine in United States schools?
I included a quote by Obama's former speech writer about how the United States is terrified of losing their monopoly over information. Sarah Hurwitz was longing for the days when it was hard for young people to find global media, and highlighted social media's ability to connect the young people in America with the young people in Gaza.
Today I see that Hilary Clinton made a similar statement:
“Smart, well-educated, young people from our own country, from around the world, where were they getting their information? They were getting their information from social media... That is where they were learning about what happened on October 7, what happened in the days, weeks, and months to follow. That’s a serious problem. It’s a serious problem for... Israel [and] the United States."
I cannot stress enough that if you live in the United States, there is a bi-partisan commitment to Make America Censored Again. Imperialists rely on the populace never humanizing anyone from the Global South, and it's hard to stop young people from finding shared humanity when we can just talk to Palestinians on social media for ourselves.
Something I find especially interesting in both Hurwitz and Clinton's quotes is the intense anxiety both reveal about young Jewish people specifically.
Hurwitz said:
“And this is why so many of us can’t have a sane conversation with younger Jews, because anything that we try to say to them, they’re hearing it through this wall of carnage.”
Clinton said:
“It’s not just the usual suspects. It’s a lot of young Jewish Americans... A lot of the challenge is with younger people."
For its entire existence, the zionist settler-colonial project has laundered its genocide through claiming that zionism was about Jewishness, or represented the interest of Jewish people. Right now, the majority of censorship laws being passed in the United States are framed around defining anti-zionism as antisemitism.
But that strategy really doesn't work very well when increasing numbers of young Jewish people are reaching out to Palestinians and standing in solidarity with Palestinian liberation against the zionist project.
The imperialist powers do not want to lose this scapegoat of Jewishness they are using as a shield to sell their own atrocity. We all know this is about land, capital, and geopolitics. That's why they are afraid of young, anti-zionist Jews.
People sometimes downplay the role of social media in activism and organizing, and there are often very valid reasons for this.
But I will say, the fact that the most powerful institutions and political figures are all scrambling to stop us from talking to each other tells me that building these international relationships is moving in the right direction.
If solidarity over social media is being understood as a threat to Israel and the United States, then we should understand it as valid part of the path to liberation (even if just a small part of the whole). It's a tool in the toolbox.
We should take it seriously with the gravity it deserves. Your online presence matters. Who you choose to build relationships with matters. Be curious. Learn from other people.
Use your presence here to help Palestinian families.
I am forever grateful for @mahrahpalestine reaching out to me in early 2025 while I was recovering from surgery. We got to know each other and quickly fell into rhythms of conversation. Mahrah and her brother Mahmoud have both become such dear friends to my wife and me this year. They've made a real difference in our lives.
My wife, @cannilyuncanny hosts their family's GoFundMe campaign and sends transfers of donations directly to Mahrah in Gaza. Mahrah's fundraising efforts have been vetted by @90-ghost and shared by fairuzfan. I promise you that this campaign is a genuine lifeline for their family.
I am a United States citizen creating this campaign on behalf of my friend… Dion Freedman needs your support for Help Mahmoud's Family Secur
Mahrah has struggled to care for her elderly parents through the cruelly orchestrated famine and the brutal, lethal occupation that continues even during nominal periods of "ceasefire." It is a terrible thing how many elders are lost in this genocide.
The crossings have been closed, and Mahmoud has been separated from the rest of his family. Please help Mahrah to raise funds for food and basic supplies so her family in Gaza can survive and be reunited with Mahmoud again.
