After a week-long break from online toxicity – both from outside the pro-Israel world and (unfortunately) within it – I am back.
I was actually not just away from the online world but also the real world in a sense, holidaying briefly in Porto, Portugal and detaching from the news and all things offline. Why Portugal? Why not. I thoroughly recommend it. Although if truth be told, you can never fully escape antisemitism, even when you are “on a break” from it all and in a place where the people are super friendly and seem to have – for the most part – learned from their country’s history of antisemitism.
I had a lot of time to think and have decided on a number of things.
Firstly, I am going to reduce my exposure to those in the pro-Israel community who have shown they totally do not have my back and/or whose focus on themselves and their own work is not something I want to promote or be associated with, or be exposed to (and is, in some cases, even to the detriment of the cause). This means muting them on social media and certainly not going out of my way to promote their work.
Unfortunately, I cannot really reduce my exposure to the antisemites and haters on the other side, since exposing them and their hatred is a key component of my work. But I have managed to deal with the torrent of death threats and antisemitism for over a decade now so I think I will be able to handle more of the same.
As to the future of Israellycool, I will keep doing this fulltime until at least after the end-of-year-fundraiser. If I cannot raise the required funds, I will scale things back to part-time, which means less content on here and social media, not because that’s what I want but because that will be all I can muster if I obtain a different full-time job.
The numerous comments in support of my work have been highly appreciated, and if they were the only currency for ensuring I can continue this important work full-time, I no doubt would. So if Israellycool is something you want to continue and grow and if you are able to contribute financially, please click on the donate button below and give what you can (any amount is appreciated). If not, please spread the word about Israellycool, especially to Zionist philanthropists who you think would appreciate an effective approach that goes beyond the pro-Israel echo chamber.
