This week I'll be writing a piece on propaganda that I first tried to write in November, only to realize we weren't really ready for that conversation as a culture.
Today, six months in, I just want to mention a story that illustrates the mental strain around families made pawns in this war.
In Israel, a funeral wreath was sent to the family of a hostage on Friday, with a goading message that, while her memory may be a blessing, the country matters more.
Here's where it gets messy:
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This isn't the first time that victims and their families have endured dismissal *within country politics*: people saying that their loved ones don't matter; that there is a more important objective in this war.
In the fall, it seemed like a pro-Bibi plant had been put in a meeting with hostages' families to give the impression that they preferred other mission priorities.
Those families had to fight for most *every* meeting ahead of and around planned government actions.
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And now, even though there's a strong chance of a pro-Bibi nutter having harassed these families, the funeral wreath episode is being presented as a plant by an "Iranian asset" amid gov't prep for further Iranian strife.
Which is where this gets so stressful and painful: everyone is wound up and no one knows what to believe. The victims have been pawns for so long, and the whole country has seen democracy suppressed while pressured to keep up whatever infowar spin serves the war best.
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So like I said: more on propaganda this week. I didn't think we were ready for it before, but maybe we are now.
The key, though, is remembering the depth of psychological damage here.
The West has never really cared about this region except as a vague moral gloss, but real humans are caught under terrible governments. If zero-sum thinking arises from those traumatized by a wide range of domestic and international attacks, that's normal. That's trauma.
Tread carefully, and with love. 🕊️
#War
This whole time, they've protested to be heard by this far-right coalition, and suffered police violence at sit-ins. Extremist gov't officials and media pundits alike have openly said that it's not a top priority, because for many it isn't. To them, all the victims are props.
And this latest case? It happened a bit before a Likud supporter drove into Tel Aviv protestors demanding a hostage deal. (Protestors have been out en masse in recent weeks, clamouring for this government to go.)
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