How to Not Lose the Hasbara War
Listen to Dr. Elana Heideman explain how we can choose our response in this generation, how we can better combat the hasbara war by strengthening our voices, and how to use them as wisely as possible for the sake of our people and our future.
In every generation, they rise up against us, and in every generation we have a choice as to how we can respond.
Right now, we are seeing dozens and dozens of videos being circulated trying to tell the truth. And yet, as everyone sees, no matter what we do, we are losing most of the Hasbara war. People are more convinced by the lies because they're willing to believe that somehow the Jew is to blame, and the Jew is a legitimate target of all hate, any hate, whatever form it takes.
And however grotesque it may be, that is expressed by people who we want to believes are beasts and animals, but in fact are just as human as you and I. Those people who are chanting, "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free," are thirsty for the blood of Jews, and even more willing to sacrifice as many citizens around the world as they canto achieve their goal of making the world, as Hitler before them and other leaders throughout history, Judenrein, making it free of Jews.
It may begin in Israel, but it is spreading all over the world, and we must be willing to stand up and call out this hate. There are the activists out there who are busy doing so.
So what about those of us in the comfort of our home? How are we also doing what we can do to try and educate our youth?
Open conversations, create connections in our community in order to have the conversations that need to be had. How can we mobilize the community networks that have been established over the years? How can we find a safe space? Create the safe spaces as Jews have done in the generations before us?
We need to be ISRAEL STRONG.
When we wear our national colors of blue and white, it is our uniform of our people. We have our soldiers on the border and thank God we do. They are the ones protecting the one and only sovereign State of Israel in our ancestral homeland.
But Jews all over the world - every one of us are a part of the army. We are a part of the army of being Virtual Citizens of the Nation of Israel. And we have the ability to do everything possible to make sure that our people continues to be eternal - in our destiny that we have to fulfill, and that God has given us, in the land that God has given us, and with the challenges that God gives us again and again.
We know that we can rise up and we can defeat the enemy. So every one of us, every one of you, we can all find ways to strengthen and empower one another.
We cannot let the fear defeat us.
We are Am Yisrael.
