I have received several messages from people who were privately supportive of various posts I’ve made on linkedin but scared to publicly comment. As time goes on I hope people become more comfortable speaking out against Genocide, Apartheid and Zionism. I understand the risks though! Even as the son of a Palestinian refugee I kept silent for my entire professional career until recently. For me, genocide is apparently where I draw the line (shamefully late in retrospect). This post is my thoughts and opinions on how to try to mitigate some risks surrounding this topic. At least at this time i think of this article as potentially dynamic, I’m not an expert here so will welcome feedback.
I think there are various ways to approach supporting Palestine and Palestinians. I will break it into ‘levels’ because I think it makes sense as I’m writing this. These levels don’t reflect your commitment, your contributions or anything other than your ability/comfort level so I advise to stay where you feel most comfortable. You staying employed is important too! Note, this isn’t an assurance ‘you’ll be free of retribution’, its simply my attempt to help broaden the pool of public supporters.
Humanity
You don’t really know much about what is going on in Palestine, you have seen videos/comments/etc that make you feel ‘what israel is doing is wrong and I want to help end it’. This is great! This shows that despite propaganda, threats and risk when you see suffering your humanity is pushing you to act! Maybe you aren’t comfortable speaking out yet, that’s ok! There are still things you can do!
https://ceasefiretoday.com/- There are links here to sign petitions, email/contact congress and to donate.
I don’t think there is risk involved in donating money here, PCRF and Doctors without borders are both amazing organizations
Contacting congress, they will ASK for your details, I think depending on method used in contacting you might need to provide them. I don’t know if this info is protected or not but I haven’t seen it anywhere so I’m guessing yes to some degree at least.
The link has a pre-loaded email you can use or modify if you choose.
If you modify it or writing your own, make sure to be respectful. Stumbled upon this guide that might help
Petitions your name will probably get out (I think that’s the point?)
Social platforms
Linkedin you are obviously, not anonymous. I think the best policy, and one I try to follow, is to use all social media accounts as if you have NO anonymity even if you don’t share personal info on them. If you are posting things on social media, be sure it can’t be construed as a post in any official capacity for your employer
Maybe you aren’t comfortable posting yet, maybe you are comfortable reacting? It still helps! More engagements will help posts be seen by more people, so a simple ‘thumbs up’ or ‘support’ on linkedin/twitter/etc can help, a comment can potentially help more but might be more ‘risky’.
If commenting, can just say how it makes you feel. A video of a murdered child is SAD, saying so is probably still ‘safe’
adding this note in, Social Media will limit exposure of pro-Palestine posts, if you have a connection you want to support, you may have to make the effort to go find their posts.
Quietly build your network of Pro-Palestinian people
Bullies don’t really change when they grow up. They will target those they think are ‘weak’ or ‘vulnerable’. In addition to blocking these types, having allies that can speak up with/for you is a big help
Don’t be concerned that by blocking fervent Zionists your message will have limited reach, these people are not the ones we want to focus on helping yet. Block block block. Delete their comments etc.
Read/click/subscribe/follow
Keep reading and learning about the truth of what is happening. Follow Palestinians on the ground. Follow or subscribe to experts (will add some resources below).
Sharing the message
You’ve had enough of being silent, but you aren’t quite sure of how to properly word how you feel. I think in this situation it is best to stick with ‘safe’ resources. ‘Safe’ in this context is messaging from a person or group that is grounded enough and respected enough that sharing their message will be least likely to risk you getting in trouble. Top of mind for me in this category is Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), Breaking the Silence. These are two Jewish organizations, them being Jewish organizations should help shield you from any real claim that your post is ‘Antisemitic’.
If you are going to share other posts, make sure to double check it for anything that CAN BE interpreted as antisemitic, like forcibly and obtusely seen that way. Something as simple as ‘They are murdering babies’ can turn into ‘what do you mean ‘they’, all Jews!?’ so be careful. It sounds absurd I know but, trust me, be careful. Another important note, be patient. Don’t rush to post some ‘breaking news’ on linkedin, part of the misinformation campaign is to deliberately leak out fake info to discredit those that share it. Make sure that what you post is truth, consistent accuracy is more valuable in this journey than speed.
Amplifying the message
At this point you know a good deal about the subject. You can hold conversations about it, you can refute (calmly and based in FACTS) Zionist talking points. Now maybe you start sharing posts of more direct voices. People or material directly calling out and refuting Zionist talking points. Posting a documentary or an interview you saw with a brief comment on it, posting a picture or video found on social media…Important note, BE CAREFUL WHO YOU SHARE!! There are some twitter accounts that share good content, right alongside straight up antisemitic garbage. Don’t share their stuff. Find their source (these types aren’t really generating the videos/photos), take a screen shot or capture the video and share that. DO NOT post things that link to an antisemitic account.
Using your own Voice
At some point you may want to start sharing your opinions directly. You’ve seen enough and can hold your ground in debates. You are patient enough not to respond in haste and jeopardize yourself. From here its risky. There is a level of protection in sharing other people’s content, you still have the ‘ignorance defense’. “Oh I didn’t realize” might help you stay employed until you find your next job. When you start using your own words you can be held accountable for them, even if everything you said is true and just, you can still face consequences. Just know that.
Also know, just because someone else said something that rang true, doesn’t mean you are ready to carry that mantle, or maybe in corporate world that position is career suicide. Norman Finkelstein is great, but if you adopt his position you are wading in DEEP. In one example, on Piers Morgan’s show he refused to condemn Hamas stating that they ‘were born into a concentration camp’. I saw another person essentially adopt that same position, she was not prepared to defend it, it did not look good. If you are going to say that you aren’t going to condemn hamas you better be EXTRAORDINARILY prepared to defend that position AND be ready to lose your job for it.
Conclusion
There are, unfortunately, potential risks with speaking out for Palestine. For me personally it was like a great weight lifted off my shoulders when I made my first public post in regards to Palestine. I have since been pretty ‘aggressively’ speaking out and I (knock on wood) am still employed. Your support in this cause is important no matter what ‘level’ of support you feel comfortable giving. Thank you for siding with humanity!
Resources
I plan to have AT LEAST this part dynamic, other parts will potentially change if feedback comes in.
This is my first official article, its long and tries to cover A LOT. There are ~70 sources used here so rather than list them all out here, read and click the links
Really great documentary on the creation of Israel
I have not seen the whole thing in a while but I remember clips and it comes highly recommended from others
MartyrMade Podcast – Fear and loathing in New Jerusalem (episode 1 here)
Organizations
Interviews:
Avi Shleim
Norman Finkelstein
Gabor Mate
Ilan Pappe
2023 Hatem Bazian
Last Week Tonight (John Oliver)
Not really an interview, but this is a lot more ‘digestible’ for the casual observers in my opinion.
Groups you can help with
This is brilliant and so helpful, thank you
So glad I discovered your posts & articles today. Good advice here. Unfortunately I'm not so wise but will try to be so in the future. Emotions often take the upper hand. Thank you once more.