TEL AVIV – At a special World Jewish Congress symposium Monday on fighting the spread anti-Semitism and Israel hatred on the internet, participants sounded a unified stance that the only way to stop the phenomenon is to bring the issue to the forefront of social media consciousness and activity. “The Oldest Hatred Gone Viral,” the first conference of its kind in Israel, was co-hosted by NGO Monitor, and focused on three central components: The obsession with Israel, anti-Semitism on social media, and the realms of BDS operations.
“You have to engage. If you cease to play, you let them win. Put out positive messages. Bridge beyond the echo-chamber to try to get people to have aha moments,” said former IDF Spokesperson Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, who also spoke of the need for strengthening the activist field: “There is a strong need for a twitter militia that fights on behalf of the Jewish people.
Included among the speakers was Israeli Arab News presenter, reporter and television host Lucy Aharish, who emphasized that there is a serious difference between freedom of speech and freedom to incitement and that regulations needed to be in place to ensure that those promoting hate remain a minority in society. Beyond that, she added it is important to remember that traditional media is falling behind and “social media is driving the conversation” giving a platform to those who want to battle. “Call me naïve but I believe that hate voices are still a minority in the world. The problem is when the majority stays silent,” Aharish said.
Professor Dina Porat, Chief Historian of Yad Vashem and head of the Kantor Center at Tel Aviv University, spoke of the rising obsession with Israel in anti-Semitism studies, adding that research today is often being carried out with pre-conceived political ideas.
Chairman of WJC Israel, Gad Ariely, said “the lessons of this conference are clear. We must work unite as a society, out of our love for the State of Israel and what that represents for us, and be active on the internet against extremists and inciters. As we witness an unprecedented rise in anti-Semitism and anti-Israel sentiments, and a general hatred toward Israel, I urge all of Israeli society to join us in the struggle against these difficult phenomena, and present to the world the true face of Israel.
The conference was divided into three panels, moderated by Prof. Gerald Steinberg, (President of the Institute for NGO research), Marcus Sheff, CEO of IMPACT-se), and Dr. Yoaz Hendel, Chairman of the Institute for Zionist Strategies). Additional panelists included Israeli judoka Ori Sasson, veteran Israeli journalist Ben Dror Yemini, WJC General Counsel Menachem Rosensaft, Professor Alvin Rosenfeld (Director of the Institute for the Study of Contemporary Anti-Semitism at Indiana University) , Daniel Swibel (Communications Director of “They Can’t!), and Adam Shay (Senior Program Coordinator and Researcher, JCPA).
