On how moral clarity depends on informational clarity, on how X can provide more of it, and on why I may be headed to Israel. Plus a sidebar on strategic oil reserves.
Every story I read from you is like stepping on solid ground after walking across a river of ice shards. Thanks for what you are doing. I do not have an opinion on your trip. I really do, though, want to hear the answers to those damn questions. What is so important about those questions is that they are easy to ignore and later forget as they pop up in my thoughts while reading news of the war(s). Easy because, when forgotten, they do not upset the narrative I prefer. But they are each vital to actual understanding. I remember when I read each odd occurrence at the time and thought: "Hmmm. Why was that? Is that true? I bet there is a 'rest of that story'?" And then I quickly moved on and never thought of them again until you mentioned them all grouped together. It was jarring. This is how cognitive dissonance is so insidious.
To the larger point though, we really do have a collective attention issue. Certain events or controversies suck up all the oxygen and like twenty meaningful underlying questions just go some combination of unasked and unanswered. It's maddening, and we're all guilty to some degree.
I think it's your choice about flying. It's very dangerous of course, and do what you are comfortable with. But there is a need for responsible journalism by people who care about factualism more than factionalism.
Outsiders aren't really let into Gaza. Business as usual is happening in the West Bank, and unless the war expands there, the risk factor there may not be so different from that of Israel.
You might want to join the Israel-Palestine Spaces on Quora to share this post and anything else you have with members of the Quora community who follow the Israel-Palestine topic. Let me know and I would be delighted to invite you as a contributor to https://unityisstrength.quora.com/ and https://israelpalestinedebate.quora.com/, the main Spaces I moderate. It might get some interest in your Substack.
I think a myriad of perspectives is really useful. If you have the resources and can report safely from Israel, I think going there would be awesome so long as the following conditions were met:
1. Reporting on-the-ground, below the radar and without interference from any government or political operatives. No "official" sources cited (except for official comments only when necessary to respond to public accusations, according to standard journalistic ethics).
2. That the diverse perspectives of Israelis and Palestinians are represented. There are plenty of people in Israel and Palestine that have been working to build bridges for years (like Vivian Silver, who is missing; and Bassam Aramin). That fact has been completely bulldozed by polarized media narratives and social media discussions. It's all just us-versus-them online, which I do not believe is a faithful depiction of reality in that region at all. It leaves no space for human goodness, which is always present, even in wars.
For the first one, it can be hard to avoid *some* official sourcing. But agree that it should be taken with scrutiny, combined and contrasted with/against other public data, and only accepted without obligation. Or at least that would be my personal MO.
Totally agree on second. I'm especially curious about where things have gone wrong and why, and how folks feel about it. Like obviously Gaza's infrastructure isn't in the condition it's in because of Israel alone. What happened to all the foreign aid money that was earmarked for that purpose? And on the Israeli side, what about settler provocations? To what degree are their actions undermining good faith work on both sides to advance the mission of peace? And what about mixed marriages right now? How do people with ties to both sides resist and/or combat polarization? And what about progressives on kibbutzes who were largely sympathetic to the Palestinian cause two weeks ago? Lots of human POVs there that I'm not seeing much representation of.
That makes sense! I would just do my best to avoid government-provided sources when it comes to interviewing residents and whatnot - just stake out on your own when safely possible to avoid the PR traps and propaganda.
One thing I forgot to mention, that I only learned about recently when writing a feature for a magazine that included Palestinian wine -- please don't forget the voices of Palestinian Christians, if you can. They're a peaceful super-minority there, and a bunch appear to have been killed in the recent strike that hit St. Porphyrius.
Also, I loveeee the idea of looking into the attitudes of the kibbutz residents, the impact of the initial attack on peace, the settler provocations, and especially the aid money. Although I would be very careful and work quietly on the money investigation -- I feel like that kind of investigation might be like investigating the mafia. Best to proceed slowly, quietly and with caution to stay safe!
Yes sorry those are who I’m referring to. None within Gaza for 15+ years now. But though the two Palestinian territories are separate, provocations in one will affect the other. That’s all I meant.
Yes, I think you should fly. Even if your coverage doesn’t uncover anything not covered by other journalists, (1) your framing will be different, and (2) some who might not believe IDF or MSM might believe you.
I’ve done a ton of reading in the past week and still don’t have answers to several basic questions. For example, how many Palestinians support what Hamas did on Oct 7? How many Israelis think a ground invasion into Gaza is a great idea. Why is the IDF sieging Gaza - what’s the military strategy? How did the Israeli military not know that the border was breached for several hours? How do the people who advocated trading 1,000 Palestinian prisoners for one captured Israeli soldier (Gilad Shalit) feel now, given that one of the freed Palestinian prisoners was the commander of the Hamas team that attacked the rave in israel (and arguably encouraged the 199 hostages taken by Hamas)? Why doesn’t israel assassinate the head of Hamas in Qatar? Etc
All good questions. Though some are likely unanswerable without heavy doses of guesswork, which I'm personally inclined to avoid. That said, lots and lots of other ones that can be answered; and all answers help a bit.
Every story I read from you is like stepping on solid ground after walking across a river of ice shards. Thanks for what you are doing. I do not have an opinion on your trip. I really do, though, want to hear the answers to those damn questions. What is so important about those questions is that they are easy to ignore and later forget as they pop up in my thoughts while reading news of the war(s). Easy because, when forgotten, they do not upset the narrative I prefer. But they are each vital to actual understanding. I remember when I read each odd occurrence at the time and thought: "Hmmm. Why was that? Is that true? I bet there is a 'rest of that story'?" And then I quickly moved on and never thought of them again until you mentioned them all grouped together. It was jarring. This is how cognitive dissonance is so insidious.
First, what a lovely thing to say!
To the larger point though, we really do have a collective attention issue. Certain events or controversies suck up all the oxygen and like twenty meaningful underlying questions just go some combination of unasked and unanswered. It's maddening, and we're all guilty to some degree.
I think it's your choice about flying. It's very dangerous of course, and do what you are comfortable with. But there is a need for responsible journalism by people who care about factualism more than factionalism.
Outsiders aren't really let into Gaza. Business as usual is happening in the West Bank, and unless the war expands there, the risk factor there may not be so different from that of Israel.
You might want to join the Israel-Palestine Spaces on Quora to share this post and anything else you have with members of the Quora community who follow the Israel-Palestine topic. Let me know and I would be delighted to invite you as a contributor to https://unityisstrength.quora.com/ and https://israelpalestinedebate.quora.com/, the main Spaces I moderate. It might get some interest in your Substack.
And of course I'd be delighted if you subscribed to our new Substack, https://unityisstrength.substack.com/
I think a myriad of perspectives is really useful. If you have the resources and can report safely from Israel, I think going there would be awesome so long as the following conditions were met:
1. Reporting on-the-ground, below the radar and without interference from any government or political operatives. No "official" sources cited (except for official comments only when necessary to respond to public accusations, according to standard journalistic ethics).
2. That the diverse perspectives of Israelis and Palestinians are represented. There are plenty of people in Israel and Palestine that have been working to build bridges for years (like Vivian Silver, who is missing; and Bassam Aramin). That fact has been completely bulldozed by polarized media narratives and social media discussions. It's all just us-versus-them online, which I do not believe is a faithful depiction of reality in that region at all. It leaves no space for human goodness, which is always present, even in wars.
For the first one, it can be hard to avoid *some* official sourcing. But agree that it should be taken with scrutiny, combined and contrasted with/against other public data, and only accepted without obligation. Or at least that would be my personal MO.
Totally agree on second. I'm especially curious about where things have gone wrong and why, and how folks feel about it. Like obviously Gaza's infrastructure isn't in the condition it's in because of Israel alone. What happened to all the foreign aid money that was earmarked for that purpose? And on the Israeli side, what about settler provocations? To what degree are their actions undermining good faith work on both sides to advance the mission of peace? And what about mixed marriages right now? How do people with ties to both sides resist and/or combat polarization? And what about progressives on kibbutzes who were largely sympathetic to the Palestinian cause two weeks ago? Lots of human POVs there that I'm not seeing much representation of.
That makes sense! I would just do my best to avoid government-provided sources when it comes to interviewing residents and whatnot - just stake out on your own when safely possible to avoid the PR traps and propaganda.
One thing I forgot to mention, that I only learned about recently when writing a feature for a magazine that included Palestinian wine -- please don't forget the voices of Palestinian Christians, if you can. They're a peaceful super-minority there, and a bunch appear to have been killed in the recent strike that hit St. Porphyrius.
Also, I loveeee the idea of looking into the attitudes of the kibbutz residents, the impact of the initial attack on peace, the settler provocations, and especially the aid money. Although I would be very careful and work quietly on the money investigation -- I feel like that kind of investigation might be like investigating the mafia. Best to proceed slowly, quietly and with caution to stay safe!
There are no settlers near Gaza as far as I know, settlers are by West Bank
Yes sorry those are who I’m referring to. None within Gaza for 15+ years now. But though the two Palestinian territories are separate, provocations in one will affect the other. That’s all I meant.
Yes, I think you should fly. Even if your coverage doesn’t uncover anything not covered by other journalists, (1) your framing will be different, and (2) some who might not believe IDF or MSM might believe you.
I’ve done a ton of reading in the past week and still don’t have answers to several basic questions. For example, how many Palestinians support what Hamas did on Oct 7? How many Israelis think a ground invasion into Gaza is a great idea. Why is the IDF sieging Gaza - what’s the military strategy? How did the Israeli military not know that the border was breached for several hours? How do the people who advocated trading 1,000 Palestinian prisoners for one captured Israeli soldier (Gilad Shalit) feel now, given that one of the freed Palestinian prisoners was the commander of the Hamas team that attacked the rave in israel (and arguably encouraged the 199 hostages taken by Hamas)? Why doesn’t israel assassinate the head of Hamas in Qatar? Etc
All good questions. Though some are likely unanswerable without heavy doses of guesswork, which I'm personally inclined to avoid. That said, lots and lots of other ones that can be answered; and all answers help a bit.