When it comes to Palestine, before posting, before speaking, ask yourself:

Is what I have to say going to benefit the Palestinian cause?

I think sometimes people post just so they can assume a more radical posture than the person next to them.

Sometimes the motivation is to be provocative, or edgy. Sometimes it's a form of virtue-signaling, the classic trap of presenting yourself as the "one true leftist" by adopting the most extreme possible rhetoric as an act of individuation. Sometimes I think it's an act of catharsis, saying something extreme in order to lash out at the horrors you see every day. 

One of the reasons the campus protests were so successful is because they kept on message, they didn't say shit to people who only sought to twist their words. They were clear that their goals were divestment and stopping the genocide, and no one budged from that message. 

There's this mindset people have that they shouldn't even be deliberate with their rhetoric. They say, "Zionists will take whatever I say in bad faith, so I shouldn't even try."

Yes, Zionists will take whatever you say in bad faith. But the world is not just hardened Zionists. It's people  in the middle, it's people who are uninformed, it's people WHO CAN BE MOVED. 

The goal of your political rhetoric, online or otherwise should always be coalition-building. 

I'm not saying compromise your values, but do tailor your speech. 

I'm seeing people try to push things further to prove a point after the Ethan comments. But the rhetoric I'm now seeing is becoming inflammatory, drama focused, antisocial, and yes, alienating to Jewish allies. 

I think what Ethan said was bullshit. I think he's being a huge baby who cares more about twitter-haters than an actual genocide. But you need to be smart. 

So if you're sharing anime tribute drawings to the guy who orchestrated October 7th, you are not helping anyone. It's immature, it's needlessly inflammatory, and yes, celebrating the guy who directly killed civilians in an act of terrorism makes you look terrible.

Journalists and activists who have actually survived this genocide, who are still actively experiencing it, they are showing more message discipline than some of the very sheltered western chatters on here. Because their goal is to communicate to the world- often the western world- the humanity of the Palestinian people. Because it is the West's dehumanization of Arab people that allows for this genocide. 

If they can be deliberate in their reporting and their activism, so can you. Your goal should be to inform, to persuade, to motivate. Not to say the craziest shit possible so Ethan will screenshot you and you can feel validated for your radical epic posts. 

Be normal. Be smart. be deliberate with your language. You can stay true to your beliefs, you can be satirical or cutting, you can tell it like it is, you can be mad, I'm not needlessly tone-policing. But take a hard look at your motivations and ask yourself am I actually trying to help, or am I larping.

Message discipline. 

Free Palestine.


user
This Ethan downfall is bringing awareness to the cause. I think more eyes = more ways to spread awareness. The drama will die down soon. Though, if anything is related to criticism of Ethan/other drama NOT related to Hasan, it should be directed to their appropriate subreddits/snarks.

Edit: I completely agree with you.
assistant
Yeah I agree drama can be used as a tool to elevate a platform. But when the drama becomes the end goal, we've lost the plot. It's like at the end of the day, do you want to be an activist or do you want to be keemstar.
user
Completely agree. And I also agree with you on the drawing currently circling around. It brings unnecessary attention that can be taken out of context. But just like people taking clips of Hasan out of context, nothing you can do about it because there will always be a hater or group of them. I’m not too worried about activism and Hasan, I believe, has stayed in the right mindset with his activism/coverage of the cause. We are on the right side of history at the end of the day. People will fall just like Ethan has. Keep trudging along and strive to make the right choices, that’s all we can do.
assistant