#0202_A_View_From_West_Jerusalem
"I’ve got a question for you!
Who taught us to disregard, hurt, curse and hate whoever thinks differently from us?
I’m sure that each and every person here has friends and family from different parts of society, and that hold different views and belief systems.
I’ve got friends that are left-wing, vegan, right-wing, Haredi, religious, Muslim, settlers, redheads, Ashkenazi, Yemenite, and racists.
And I truly love them all, regardless of their opinions.
Discuss, argue, respect and love!
Why does Facebook bring out such ugly and disgusting things?
Why is it clear to me that I love and respect every person in this group, and all those that I meet (and I meet a lot of people), and I respect everyone and conduct an honest dialogue, even if we don’t agree?
So, who taught us to disregard, hurt, curse and hate whoever thinks differently than us?"
– Jerusalemites FB group; Written by Zevik Aviner, group manager
[Selected Comments:]
– "Zevik, maybe 120 members of Knesset [taught us]. When a discussion is held ןמ plenary hall, and the speaker isn’t allowed to talk, and they start to yell and rave because the things being said don’t suit them – complete disrespect, and these are elected officials."
– "A country suffering from PTSD. Every little thing makes people here jump, because everyone lives on the edge. By the way, this is backed up by research done about the Israeli discourse.
On a principal level, I think that many agree with you, but it’s hard to cope with the difference in opinion, and it’s impossible to have a conversation because of people’s short tempers, and that of course only helps to widen the gap.
When we’ll be able to actually talk, many of the disagreements will vanish, as if they’d never existed."
– "Ignorance. People react with extremism because they can’t base their claims on anything solid. When you want to contend with an opposing opinion, but you lack the knowledge and the rhetorical ability to make a claim, you react with fanaticism because that is the only way for you to express yourself. Like a baby crying with frustration, because he can’t use words to express himself."
– "There’s a new short book by Amos Oz ‘Peace for the Fanatics’. There are many things in which I disagree with the author, but I think that his analysis of the fanaticism that exists in every element of our society is very good […] This need for other people to think like me, and the inability to feel for the other, comes from a fear of losing the solid foundation I have created for myself. My thoughts, my feelings, my moral prioritization, the community I have created for myself, and generally, my self-identity. Accepting the different is truly hard because we assume that when we defend our identity, we have averted a disaster. That’s why I think that we should also accept people that have trouble being flexible and accepting."
– "Every person speaks out of his own pain, and sometimes people lose control and speak in a less respectful way; lots of emotions. It requires a lot of self-awareness and working on yourself."
– "You’re a miserable person that let’s people write whatever they want, even though you have no idea what exactly happened. [1]"
– "When you treat right and left equally, you’ll have the right to write a post telling people to be accepting! [1]"
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0202 Editor's Notes:
[1] Zevik Aviner, who manages many groups in West Jerusalem, has been criticized for censoring people voicing opinions different from his own. He claims to censor posts that are racist, violent or inciteful.
#Politics #Social_Divides
https://goo.gl/EueZHt
https://www.facebook.com/1675349376080655/posts/2079981222284133
