A Passover Message from Sasha Heller

Let Our Social Media Go

This war with Hamas has been brutal. Too much bloodshed. Too much pain. I know I am half a world away from the conflict, but I just want it to be over.

Over the past few months, the Atlanta Jewish Times’ social media pages, particularly Facebook, have been flooded with anti-Jewish and anti-Israel rhetoric.

Every day, people (or bots) reply to the AJT’s posts with the most antisemitic hate speech imaginable.

And they aren’t reading the story posts on our Facebook page, thinking critically about the linked article, and then replying with thoughtful, eloquent political discourse. No, they see the name of our publication and … immediately … they reply with “Death to Israel” or “Viva La Palestine” or “Israelis are baby killers.”

Baby killers!

They felt it necessary to reply that way to a story about a Jewish high school wrestling team? Or a story about a choir of adults with learning disabilities? Baby killers?

In managing the AJT’s social media, the toxicity can be overwhelming. But I realize my toils are nothing compared to those who are still being held hostage and the families of those who have lost loved ones in the war. I can only imagine as I sift through the vitriol, animosity, and pure ugliness smeared across the AJT’s social media footprint what it must be like for them.

Please let this war end soon and please let the hostages go.

Sasha Heller is the Associate Editor and Web Editor for the Atlanta Jewish Times.