My letter to the NYTimes RE "The Facebook Intifada" by Micah Lakin Avni

RE "The Facebook Intifada" by Micah Lakin Avni
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/03/opinion/the-facebook-intifada.html?ref=international

Dear Editor,

The NYTimes illustration for the badly named article "The Facebook Intifada" by Israeli Micah Lakin Avni looks quite similar to a cartoon by a french cartoonist, Zeon, where a Palestinian child is being stabbed by a state shape knife labeled Israel:  The french cartoonist Zeon, was recently arrested in France: " A complaint appears to have been filed by the BNVCA (National Bureau of Vigilance against Anti-Semitism)... The judge has indicted the designer of incitement to racial, religious hatred, by speech, writing, picture or means of electronic communication."  http://nonalignedmedia.com/2015/03/french-cartoonist-zeon-arrested-anti-zionist-work/

I think it is totally horrifying and tragic that Micah Lakin Avni's father, Richard Lakin, was murdered.  I also don't like Zeon's ugly cartoons.   But I think blaming Facebook/Twitter/social media (or cartoonists) for spreading venom and inciting violence is crazy and totally misleading.  

People do not need social media to spread ideas- word of mouth and posters and pamphlets work too. If the point is to convince young Palestinians not to attack Israelis then please start seriously noticing and publicizing facts about all the many ways that the sovereign nation state Israel has been persecuting, impoverishing, disenfranchising and destroying Palestinian individuals and communities.

Israel obsessed with being "Jewish" is in long term and flagrant violation of international law and The Universal Declaration of Human Rights when it comes to the native non-Jewish Palestinians.   

Israelis yearning to build global support for silencing criticism of the sovereign nation state called Israel are often able to curb the mainstream conversation, deflecting attention away from the very real plight and suffering of the Palestinians, but that most certainly does not stop the conflict and escalating hostilities.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

NOTES
"What is so special about the Journal of Palestine Studies is our commitment to academically rigorous content that is also accessible to non-academics, to anyone interested in Palestine. I want to make sure Palestinian non-academics who crave this information and history can enjoy the Journal as much as a scholar in Middle East studies." Nehad Khader, managing editor of The Journal of Palestine Studies
 

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