Israel/Gaza, AI, and Twitter Misinformation

Hey Tal, thank you for commenting. I appreciate your support and want to assure you I don’t gloss over Hamas attack. What I showed is only the first part of a the video, and the reason i start it with Ben Shapiro is to expand from there into AI and Elon Musk. The way misinformation is spreading is a multifaceted issue, and to approach it I tackle each subject one at a time. The full video will be up on YouTube later, but I want to assure you that I don’t take Hamas’ attack lightly in any way. Throughout the video I repeatedly call attention to the suffering of Israelis, Hamas’ reprehensible attacks, and the unity shown by both Jews and Muslims in coming together to pray for a ceasefire and for each other. I point out several times that there are plenty of Israelis who don’t approve of their government, and I draw clear divides between the government and people of Israel. It’s an important part of the video, especially as the last half focuses on how racists in the west are manipulating the war to spread antisemitism and anti-Jewish narratives. Another reason I start with Ben Shapiro is to show one side of the coin, which in America is our pro-Israel right wing, before showing the anti-Israel right wing. Because of things like AI and Elon Musk loosening hate speech restrictions on Twitter, there’s now plenty of antisemitism spreading due to the war, which is another topic I cover later in the video. I appreciate you commenting in good faith. I’ve been very nervous about this video because I know it is an impossibly hard thing for so many, especially in Israel and Gaza and for those who have family there. I will be eagerly awaiting what you think of the full video because I know this conflict isn’t one-sided and don’t want to make it seem that way. I realize that the opening of the video may have come across that way but I hope the full video convinces you otherwise. If not, I will take it down and change it.

Hello Jordan. I'm a patron and fan. I'm also an Israeli, living in Israel and experiencing this war first hand. It's been only a few hours since missiles exploded over my house, not for the first time. In the past, I've greatly enjoyed your well researched essays. However, I'm deeply shocked by your approach to this subject. I know you mean well. I've seen enough of your work to know your compassion is true. But in this case you seem to gloss over what actually took place here on the 7th of October. The scale of what Hamas and their allies did. You even seem to suggest that some of it was exaggerated. Something that is easy to believe when you are far away. However, I do not have the luxury of such a belief, because I saw it unfold live. I know people who were there. My friends know people who were there. My family know people who were there. Let me be clear. Every single horrific thing that they're saying Hamas did is true and more so. I even made the mistake of watching some of the footage. Not what you've seen on the news, but what Hamas filmed themselves and flooded our local social media with as psychological warfare. You don't want to know what I saw. It will scar me forever. Let me further emphasize that I am no fan of Netanyahu and his gang of cronies. I have spent years protesting against his government almost every week. I have, on more than one occasion, almost been killed in these protests. I have defended people who carried the Palestinian flag in the heart of Tel-Aviv in these protests. I have no desire to see innocent Palestinians killed. However, both by the examples you state and the summary you make of Israeli society, it is clear that you don't have a solid grasp of what's going on here. What's more, to simply take as a given that Israel is lying about everything without allowing for more facts to come in as this complex situation unfolds, and to not even pause for the monumentous loss of life experienced here, the rapes, the mutilations and not to mention the hundreds who have been abducted while jumping on to a discussion about Ben Shapiro, Elon Musk and AI... I plead that you give this matter more time and nuance. I cannot even begin to explain the grief that we are feeling. But I'm I'm willing to talk to you directly about everything else, if you'd be willing. I am quite shattered by everything around me, but I won't attack you. You still have my respect. You're trying to do good. However, if you don't want to talk to me, and this video continues on this track, then I merely ask that you take my name off the patron list at the end. I can't be party to this. Too many in my immediate circle have died. Thank You.

Great work, I think this is a valuable angle that contributes to a more complete picture of how this is happening. One minor nitpick, at 9:42, you refer to the attack by Hamas causing the conflict. I think it would be more appropriate to say it caused this escalation. Like I said nitpicky.

Alex U