2023 Webinar Summary
We’ve had some fantastic guests on our weekly webinars, providing factual information, practical advice and inspiration during these challenging weeks. We look forward to welcoming everyone back in January. In the meantime, we’ve summarised the key takeaways from the webinars, and you can access them here.
October 16th
Shiraz Shukrun (an Israeli influencer with over 500,000 followers) shared her tips on how to make an impact, who to follow and who to report in fighting antisemitism/antizionism on social media. She specifically talked about the TikTok algorithm and how to gain the greatest reach for your content. Her main takeaway message was don’t be shy. Give it ago. Even a brand new content creator can go viral!
She was followed by Charlotte Korchak (Senior Educator at Stand With Us) who helped explain the current situation in Gaza and covered an enormous amount of ground to help viewers be prepared to defend Israel’s military actions. Whilst she spoke eloquently about Israel’s defensive strategies, she said that the key point was that we must “share stories. Do not let the world forget” about the atrocities of 7/10.
The webinar was wrapped up neatly from the legal perspective by Gideon Falter (founder of Campaign Against Antisemitism) and Daniel Burke (UK Lawyers for Israel) who both spoke comprehensively about what is legal both in terms of how Israel is not breaking International Law in this conflict and how support for terrorist groups like Hamas and Holocaust denial are imprisonable offences in the UK. Both encouraged viewers to report any possible criminal or antisemitic behaviour. Daniel Burke’s final thought was to remind viewers of the words of the World Jewish Congress “All Jews are responsible for each other.” He urged students to stand together at this difficult time and think of the young people in Israel physically fighting this war.
October 24th
Samuel Green (an award winning tour guide and educator in Israel) gave a “potted history of Israel in 30 minutes.” He gave not only an overview of the historical time line, from the first presence of Jews/Christians/Muslims in the land 1,500 years ago via the establishment of the Zionist movement at the end of 19th century, the UN Partition Plan, all the way through the region’s major conflicts and the evolution of borders, but Samuel also addressed issues such as refugees and settlements with as much nuance and as many view points as possible. Whilst not all the history of Israel could be covered, Samuel helpfully provided viewers “handles to further explore” and rounding off by answering questions on the current crisis.
Dov Forman (social media influencer and Grandson of Holocaust survivor Lily Ebert) hosted this webinar.Touching on his Grandmother’s book “Lily’s Promise”, Dov reminded the audience that “the Holocaust began with words”.
Elliot Sorene (Consultant Surgeon, former IDF medic and father of a Nova festival survivor) then spoke in detail about the origins and meaning of Hamas.
He spoke of his experience sin Israel during the Second Intifada and the loss of life then at the hands of radicalised British citizens recruited by Hamas. He then took us up to the present, with the loss of his friend and cousin Jake Marlowe and his son’s 15km run for survival from Nova.
Next it was Noah Abraham’s turn to explain his decision to leave the BBC. Echoing Dov he stated that “words have the power to fuel hate”. He eloquently explained why using the correct terminology for Hamas as terrorists was so important,concluding that “without this the BBC is no longer impartial”. “This is not for our community. It is for the people that don’t already know”.
He then encouraged the audience to be kind above all and to represent the Jewish people positively, an idea that Dov and Elliot fully endorsed.
November 6th
Jake Wallis Simons (Editor of The Jewish Chronicle and Author of Israelophobia) talked to I-gnite about the inspiration for his latest book and its very timely application to the current crisis.
The idea for the book sprang from Jake’s intrigue at the enormous backlash in 2021 to 256 Palestinian deaths which brought 180,000 people to the streets of the UK. This was at a time when the Syrian Civil War was still in the process of claiming over half a million civilian lives and the conflict in Yemen was ongoing. Why all the focus on Israel when the numbers of casualties they produced were so relatively small?
Jake then went on to explain how antisemitism has morphed through the ages into ‘Israelophobia’. “It always finds disguise in language that is good and commendable”. In today’s world racism is seen as unacceptable, so antisemitism can no longer use the religious or race tropes of old and instead must rely on attacking politically against the nation state.
Viewers were reminded to “be proud” and “arm themselves with knowledge”. “People won’t respect us if we won’t respect ourselves”.
November 13th
Social media sensation Joseph Cohen (who runs the Israel Advocacy Movement and has gained over 25 million views on YouTube) shared his approach to debating and broached several myths and misconceptions in the current conflict.
Joseph reminded the audience to assume no knowledge on the other side when debating as “usually the people shouting the loudest have the least knowledge”. He encouraged the audience to “know your strengths” and put themselves into situations where they can have influence. He counselled against caveating support for Israel but reminded viewers to maintain their humanity and to “never forget there are real people on both sides”.
His final thoughts brought us back to 7/10 and the reason for the war. Joseph personally witnessed both footage of the attacks and the aftermath first hand and talked of it being the “most harrowing experience of my life”. However whilst he reasoned we must never forget the atrocities of Hamas we must not alienate 2 billion Muslims and should be working to build a pro-Israel movement in the Muslim world.Thankfully Joseph is helping to do just that by reaching Muslim audiences and he shared some stories where he was able to have a positive impact.
For a summary of Joseph’s tips on debating, click here.
Richard spoke from his own experience about how the IDF try to avoid civilians casualties during conflict, the particular challenges of the current conflict and how each action is assessed by a chain of command, including legal and civilian oversight.
“The IDF does all it can, as much as any modern army can, to make sure terrorists are targeted”.
After speaking about the parallels with the British Army attempting to avoid civilian casualties in Afghanistan,Joe echoed this sentiment.
“Ultimately the IDF are doing their best in a truly desperate, difficult and dangerous situation”.
Joe also opened up about his own experience with PTSD and how his trip to Israel for the Veteran Games was life changing.
November 27th
December 4th
Ben Freeman (Researcher, Educator and Author of ‘Pride’) gave a passionate talk about the importance of Jewish education and practice to inspire and empower.
He spoke briefly about the imagined Jew as being akin to ‘The Bogart’ in Harry Potter, an imagined evil that takes the form of whatever the person or society most fears. Then he moved swiftly to what he believes a real Jew is – a person indigenous to the Levant,a people with a religion, heritage and culture passed down for thousands of years. His two main focuses are education and action.
“Know the facts. We have to learn our story” he emphasised. If young people feel able they should “seek conversations that can be impactful” but Ben counselled to set boundaries. “I refuse to debate the Holocaust,whether we are indigenous and Israel’s right to exist. It does exist!” “To be Jewish is a wonderful thing and should always be a source of pride not shame.”