The following is an interview I had the pleasure of having with David Appletree of The JIDF. The JIDF is a non-violent protest group who share concerns about antisemitic online content, as well as content which promotes terrorism on sites including Facebook, YouTube, Wikipedia, Google Earth, Blogger, and other sites and forums throughout the internet.
Itamar: how did The JIDF first get started?
David: Officially, the JIDF took off in May of 2008. However, the JIDF has been many years in the making. There were five important turning points for our organization:
The Start of the 2nd Intifada in September 2000 - The catalyst to the creation of the JIDF was the Second Intifada. While Jews were being terrorized daily in Israel, the propaganda machine of our enemies resulted in reactionary pressure from the U.S. and the international community that forced Israel to enter into unfeasible, unattainable, and impractical concessions of land in exchange for false promises of “peace.” This policy of rewarding terrorism with land concessions (Land for “Peace”) only encouraged additional attacks and worsened the security situation in Israel. This policy resulted in needless loss of life and inspired many of us to begin its email campaigns.
9/11 – On this day, it felt that all of us in the USA were living in Israel. As many JIDF members were living in NYC at the time, to say the attack on 9/11 “had an impact” would be an understatement. Email campaigns continued.
The disengagement from Gush Katif (Gaza) in August 2005 – By 2003, with Sharon’s announcement of his plans for “unilateral withdrawal,” we had enough, and we intensified our efforts online. In 2005, many of us were outspoken against the disengagement from Gush Katif and rallied Jews and non-Jews to support those that have since been expelled from their homes in Gush Katif and North Samaria. We launched web-based campaigns and email campaigns continued.
The war with Hezbollah in Lebanon in July 2006 – During this time, we continued our activities, which became more organized and urgent–especially as we began using Myspace as a way to rally support for the IDF.
The massacre at the Mercaz HaRav and the Facebook groups which went up to honor it in March 2008
The massacre at Mercaz HaRav Yeshiva in Israel made us realize the need for more direct action. We became a more visible entity as the result of the event but ultimately it was the Facebook groups which subsequently sprouted to honor the perpetrator of the massacre that prompted us to be more brazen. The use of Facebook and other social media to blatantly praise acts of terrorism and promote antisemitism demanded an equally blatant response.
Itamar: I remember that in Mid-June or July, there was an attempt at creating a #GiladShalit trending topic one day, but it was not organized enough, and never made it. Did this newest Tweet4Shalit campaign stem from that? Is this a more organized attempt?
David: I believe they were just using the ‘#Gilad’ hashtag. I didn’t learn much about that campaign until after we began the Tweet4Shalit campaign.
We’re hopeful for this campaign, as the JIDF has an online reach of about 150,000 active social media users. We were also fortunate to get the blessing of the Shalit family, all the major organizations representing them, and many other mainstream organizations like AISH, Chabad, the Israeli Consulate of NY, the Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland, and HonestReporting (among others). With all of them helping to get the word out, this is a rather organized attempt to raise awareness.
Note: The day the original #GiladShalit campaign was stomped out because it was the day that Michael Jackson and Farrah died.
Itamar: What is Gilad Shalit’s status as of today? Is he confirmed to be alive? Is he being held for a known ransom?
David: Shalit is believed to be alive. I believe at least one of Hamas’ demands is that Israel release 450 Islamic terrorists.
Itamar: This idea of Tweet4Shalit is a great concept. Has any other non-political non-profit effort like this hit the trending topics? Do you believe we can do it this time?
David: It’s difficult to say whether or not we will succeed, as we don’t know all the trends for that day in which we’ll be competing against. Either way, we will be raising awareness and everyone will be doing their part, thinking and praying for Gilad, which is a great thing.
Itamar: What do you hope to achieve with the Tweet4Shalit campaign?
David: ‘Tweet4Shalit’ is a 24 hour Twitter event in which thousands of supporters will sign onto Twitter to tweet the hashtag ‘#GiladShalit’ with the goal of making Gilad a top ten Twitter ‘Trending Topic’ and thus, we hope to raise awareness of Gilad Shalit’s situation. We want the world to act and we want Gilad Shalit to be free.
Itamar: Do you think that Israel’s current approach in dealing with getting Shalit back is appropriate? What do you think they could be doing better?
David: It’s difficult to comment upon that appropriately, as I’m not privy to the high-level talks and actions regarding Shalit. I’m inspired by the twist that Chabad Lubavitch Headquarters has put onto the Tweet4Shalit campaign. They have asked their readers to bring awareness by doing good deeds or mitzvot in Shalit’s honor, and then tweeting about them. I also believe in the power of davening (prayer). I believe a lot of the answers we’re looking for can be found in Judaism, and I always appreciate when Jewish leaders (especially in Israel) promote ancient (yet still innovative and effective) approaches.
Thanks so much to David Appletree of the JIDF for making this interview possible! We hope to see everybody participating in the Tweet4Shalit campaign by tweeting #GiladShalit in every tweet!
