I'm quoted in this article about misinformation and rumour in the current conflict in Israel and Gaza. Lots of dodgy content flying around. Some is malicious, some just confused. nytimes.com/2021/05/14/tec…
Often, when I point out to someone that a photo or video isn't from this conflict, the person believes me. They genuinely didn't know. But they ALSO think it doesn't matter that it's old because it still 'represents' what's happening.
Thing is, that's not an *entirely* incorrect point. It's very common for a news story to be illustrated by an old photo, for example. Yes, it says so in the caption but those captions aren't shown on the social cards generated on FB, Twitter etc. The old photo is.
But presenting old emotive images as current can also inflame tensions. For example, this photo of desecrated Torah scrolls was widely shared a couple of days ago as the result of a riot in Lod, when in fact the incident happened in 2019 in Jerusalem.
There really were several synagogues attacked in Lod. Some were burnt out. But none of the photographs was as dramatic as the picture from 2019.
On the other hand, sometimes the image is genuine but misleading. For example, the tree that caught fire on the Temple Mount led claims that the Al Aqsa mosque had been burned down or destroyed.
This post by Trump was shared in the big QAnon influencers Telegram group — a group with 215,000 of Trump's most hardcore supporters. How do we think it will be received there?
Yup.
"Why is he pushing vaccines? I really don’t get it. Aren’t the vaccines the things that will kill people ?"
"He wants trump haters to associate the vaccine with him and avoid it"
Or maybe it's the opposite: He wants people to take the vaccines *because* they'll be harmed and then they'll support him instead of the Democrats?
Or "Maybe he has a vaccine planned that counteracts this vaccine 🤷♀️" speculates one anon.
So from media reports, it looks like Netanyahu, Naftali Bennett and Ra'am's Mansour Abbas have done a deal:
1. Bennett pulls out of the new coalition because "we can't have a Government that depends on Mansour Abbas", and backs Netanyahu again.
2. Bennett and Netanyahu have reportedly convinced Mansour Abbas to back a "direct election" bill. The winner of the election would get 90 days to form a Government in this Knesset.
If the conflict hadn't erupted, Naftali Bennett would probably be replacing Netanyahu as Prime Minister today. If this report pans out, Netanyahu will survive to fight a fifth election.
I don't think Netanyahu deliberately caused this escalation. On the contrary, he overruled the police and ordered the Jerusalem Day Flag March out of the Muslim Quarter. He asked the courts to shelve the Sheikh Jarrah evictions. But he's benefiting from it anyway.
When I wrote this last week I didn't expect the situation to arise even before the new government was sworn in arieh.substack.com/p/will-a-rainb…
Unfortunately, this is exactly what happened tonight. Jewish mobs seriously beat Arabs. Arab mobs seriously beat Jews. Terrible, but also completely predictable. Police completely absent in most cases.
There were plenty of heroes tonight. Arabs who put out synagogue fires started by arson in Jaffa. Jewish workers at a petrol station in northern Israel hiding Arab colleagues from a racist mob.
But the night doesn't belong to the heroes. A Jew in Acre was hit by rocks from an Arab mob and is in critical condition. An Arab man in Bat Yam was beaten by a Jewish mob and is also seriously wounded.
Some Arab residents of the mixed town of Lod have been rioting tonight. But this Arab family in Lod was hit by a Hamas rocket. A parent and 7-year old child, one in critical condition, one serious.
The House of Commons slams the door in the face of Black Rod, approaching with a summons from the Queen.
No photo this year of Black Rod knocking on the door with her rod of office three times, because of scaled back pandemic coverage But there's a lovely notch there from past ceremonies.
Because if you're going to have a monarchy, it's important that the Queen remembers her place and that the Commons are in charge.