There is nothing ordinary about what is going on right now in Israel, and by extension, the entire world.
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Just three days before this horrendous war broke out, I felt in my bones that something was about to happen. Across my social media channels, I posted something saying that people need to pay attention because between America and Russia, Russia and Ukraine, America and China, Israel and its neighbors, internal politics in America, internal politics in Israel, and many other conflicts around the world, it was clear to me that something was about to happen, and I wrote in the post that Israel will be in the middle of it.
Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine it would be this atrocious. While there is nothing ordinary about this, there are some people who are operating in an incredibly extraordinary way.
We have the heroes in uniform, we have the heroes who have given their lives for the state, and then we have the heroes most people don’t know about, the Internet heroes.
None of these people are doing it for recognition, they have dedicated their days and nights to defending Israel online. By now, everyone knows that the war online is equally, if not more important, than the war on the ground.
While someone who has no expertise in social platforms might think that uploading posts and tweets is trivial, that could not possibly be farther from the truth.
Crafting a message, drafting a message, presenting it in a visually compelling way, and making sure the right people see it is anything but trivial.
Take Arsen Ostrovsky for example.
Arsen is a human rights lawyer with close to 181,000 followers on X, previously known as Twitter.
A quick glance at his feed will give you a picture of what a heroic man Arsen is. Even before the war, for years, he has dedicated himself to battling Israel’s enemies on the Internet, but now, in this insane situation, I doubt the man is getting very much sleep.
He’s uploading messages, replying to the enemy, working directly with Twitter, and other platforms to ensure that hateful content is removed, and the man does not stop. He is a machine. He is a hero.
Fleur Hassan-Nahoum is yet another example. She is the Israel Special Envoy for Innovation and deputy mayor of Jerusalem. Fleur is extraordinarily articulate. She, too, is spending her days and nights defending Israel online. A quick glance at her feed will provide you with content from all over the world, all originating from supporters of Israel. She is constantly speaking to the global press and conveying our message, and in a clear and concise manner. She too is a hero.
The list is long, and it includes people like Yoseph Haddad, Emily Schrader, Rudy Rochman, Shoshana Jaskoll, David Lange, Michael Eisenberg, Lahav Harkov, Noa Tishby, and countless others.
If you are looking for real time news, relevant commentary, and a clear picture of what is truly going on, highly recommend you follow these folks, and I would do it on X, because like it or not, that has become the most relevant platform across the whole social media landscape.
I, too, am spending my days and nights there. I am at @Hilzfuld.
The handles of the people I mentioned above as well as some others heroes that come to mind:
We all need to do our part. If you can donate money to the cause, do so. If you can’t, use your social media to spread the truth, and if you can’t do that, call your family and friends and comfort them. Whatever you can do, now is not the time to sit back, now is the time to make a difference in any way you can.