Note: All pictures here were taken by soldiers in the Golani division of the IDF during their term of service circa 2006. All photo credit belongs to the photographers.
The Jerusalem Post is reporting that the IDF has opened its own Youtube channel, and frankly I must congratulate them.
For while the political aspects of this campaign can be debated ad nauseum - and trust me there is much to discuss, the use of Social Media is good step on the side of Israel.
[My Political aside: Israel, if you're listening, trust me on this one: Stick to one strategy and don't budge an inch. The world currently has the attention span of a hipper-active Chihuahua on speed . . . the masses sadly often lack the ability to discern any depth in a conflict. To them, it's always absolute good (America, Israel, Militants, Hamas, France, Communists or Nature) against absolute evil (America, Israel, Militants, Hamas, France, Communists or Nature - which side is good or not depending upon which hole one puts in the punch card vote and the cause of choice that the celebrity of one's choice has taken up) - and sadly the media spin doesn't do you any favors - if you want to defend yourself, dear Israel, which is something that I support and encourage you to do, you must do so constantly . . . not only between elections and inaugurations. This wishy-washy set of tactics will do you no good. But I digress.]
As we all saw by the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, the mainstream media is a corse and grotesque behemoth that struggles under it's own weight - only barely able avoid collapsing in on itself and forming some sort of black-hole of news . . . The news should not, and in truth does not, beat to to the same pulse as the AP, Reuters and CNN - who feed off of ratings, political agendas and bias. Facts - clear concise and accessible are what we need.
If such was true in India, then how much more so is it true now, when it comes to the much maligned Israel.
For while CNN has been whining about the ramming of the SS Dignity and the "thwarting" of its mission of mercy (May I ask you, former Rep. McKinney and all you other dear members of the Dignity - Where was your mercy for my brothers when over 3,000 missiles rained down on their heads this year alone?),I've been able to keep track of the events as they occur via the revolution that is Social Media:
On Twitter my circle of friends has put me in touch with
@QassamCount, who tracks the number of Qassam rockets to fly at innocent civilians in Israel (9 in the 30 minutes it's taken me to do some preparation for this post and to write it up to this point)
The Muqata blog has been running a 'sticky' post with the latest news briefs,
and the Yom B'chaim blog has been giving eyewitness accounts (in Hebrew) of the daily terror as experienced from Ashkelon.
Those who buy into the propaganda that has become so common today, and even more so, those who produce it, will be slow in accepting what is going on . . .
But at least I can finally say "The truth is out there" . . . one need only look a little to find it.
Israeli soldier patting a Palestinian child on the head.
7 comments:
Informative and well said. ( typo on last paragraph- ho instead of who.)Remember each mitzvah that we do, or help another do- especially Tefilin - is crucial in protecting our people in our land and the world over. Tizku l'mitzvos.
what is this site? I checked it out and it looks like a download to invite the "patriot" virus to your own computer. please advise as to why this would be a safe link??it has no real explanation as to why this would be helpful - it just seems so vague.Thanks.
I was wondering about the dubious nature of the site myself - I've since deleted the comment . . . the person or persons responsible for posting it can explain themselves, I'll gladly put it up again . . .
Until then I don't advise anyone to go to their site (or download strange files in general)
As a rule of thumb, I can not vouch for any links put up on this blog that do not originate from me.
I wonder if Twitter does make a difference. I thought the israelconsulate tweeting yesterday went well, but how many people read any of that?
I'm thinking of writing a post on how to use Twitter to follow a particular news event. Yes, unfortunately, Mumbai taught us how Twitter can be useful. And upsetting. But are people (other than affiliated Jews and some conservative Americans) really interested in knowing beyond what CNN has to say?
The photo of the soldier and child is priceless...thank you...todah robah! (i hope that is correct!)
You have a lovely blog.
Sincerely,
tracy
-Leora: Until New Years came and bumped things off, #Israel and #Gaza were up there on the list of Twitter remarks - CNN even wrote about the Twitter news conference by the consulate . . . so it must be going somewhere. Will it reach the masses, not on the level needed - but hopefully it will help spread the message to a greater extent. I can't wait to see the post.
I love those photos -they were taken by a soldier I know and some of his friends.
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