Citing attacks against the Jewish community in France and Germany, he added: “Forgive me if I say that I did not expect, 120 years after the Dreyfus case and 70 years after the Holocaust, that the cry of ‘Death to the Jews’ would be heard again in the streets of France and Germany.”Lord Sacks added that while the recent violence carried echoes of the past, it is being spread faster by modern social media sites such as Twitter.
I agree with Lord Sacks that modern social media has made us more globally aware and that communications are such that anyone can have a voice; I also agree that the surge in anti-semitism is alarming and that some reports seem to want to explain that when Germans are pro-Israel it is because of holocaust guilt, rather than genuine support (see this BBC article).
This democratisation of the political process is positive, in so much as the ordinary people have a forum for their opinions. The negative side is that social media can and does attract the cyber fanatics who are like a baying mob, especially toward Jews and Israel at present. The one thing that we must remember is that we Jews have often had to defend ourselves and our religion, when we had no Israel and no IDF. We did so on the back of our wits, belief & sheer courage : does anyone remember the disputation of Barcelona?
So today there is an Internet and yes it can be full of disturbing messages and arguments. We must regain that voice quickly and win the argument .It is not social media that is the problem, rather we must remind ourselves that we are Jews and we have never been afraid of defending our faith when necessary, often with the most powerful weapon of all: words, writing and debate. So today we must remember that whilst opponents have a voice so do we. Let us make them hear us. Let us win the argument once more.
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