Pogroms, Politics, Tech and Connecting

If you wanted evidence of how we are in a global conflict, look no further than the drama that unfolded yesterday at the airport of Makhachkala in the Russian majority muslim republic of Dagestan. On rumours that an Israeli plane had landed, masses stormed the airport in search of Israelis and Jews. The videos coming out were shocking and it unfolded in real time on social media feeds where we could see men storming the tarmac and a large group grabbing and holding a man while checking his passport. Total lawlessness, street justice.

Apparently the passengers from Tel Aviv could be brought to safety and Russian authorities restored order with a number of people wounded. The night before a similar mob had attacked a hotel in the same city going door-to-door to find Jews. The media caught up a bit later and some were labelling the horrific events as ‘protests’. Some protest. Last week I decided to not use the photo, but let me link to it as a reminder what pogroms in Russia actually looked like in 1941. Yesterday was perilously close to a repeat of that and a bloody massacre was avoided in Dagestan, barely.

War’s Politics

As the weekend unfolded it was clear that a full-on ground offensive was being launched with Israeli troops making rapid progress. Despite behind the scenes diplomatic maneuvering, the Israeli government is not planning or even considering a ceasefire at present. And it has good reasons to neutralize the threat, rebuild an image of deterrence and protect its people. It was Hillary Clinton who laid out clearly why a ceasefire simply cannot be an option at this point in time.

At the same time there are increasing doubts as to how the Israeli leadership is functioning. Bibi Nethanyahu played politics by tweeting out his non-responsibility for the October 7th surprise attack and effectively laying the blame at the door of others, the very people he should be working with to wage this war. He retracted the tweet later saying it was a mistake, but the damage was done in a number of ways. First, it reveals the divisions in Israel’s leadership and it once more underlines how Bibi prioritizes his political fortunes over the more crucial issues facing the state. Secondly, the enemy in Gaza may start to draw comfort and potentially find ways to exploit the less than unified leadership on the Israeli side.

With some 80% of Israelis feeling it is time for him to go, it may indeed be time to revamp a somewhat dysfunctional leadership in what is a crucial conflict. It may not be an existential war just yet, but both the direct opponents and the global context have changed considerably. This is not 1956, 1967, 1973, 1982 or 2006. This war is of a different magnitude given Iran’s direct support for both Hamas and Hezbollah with tacit support from Moscow. It will be a long one and a real test for Israel’s political establishment.

Tech and the Conflict

The war has also made its inroads into the tech and the venture capital world in a pretty dramatic way. Yesterday Howard Lindzon alerted me to the existence of a ’venture capitalists to boycott’ list because they, like so many others, decided it was time to speak up about what was really happening in the Middle East. The tech world has always leaned in the direction of progressive causes and the Palestinian one fitted into that narrative, until the facts of the Hamas attack made it impossible for some to keep looking away. That by the way was not of course a ‘tech only’ thing, Canadian journalist Jen Gerson wrote a solid piece on the left’s mask-off moment.

A pretty high profile dismissal in tech was that of Web Summit CEO Paddy Cosgrave last week following comments about the Hamas attack that did not pass muster with the conference group’s largest sponsors. Having attended some events like Collision in Toronto and Web Summit in Lisbon, I have enjoyed Cosgrave’s efforts to merge tech and politics. Yet, the group has skated a little too close to political controversy and is not exactly consistent in its views. It was great to have Garry Kasparov on stage to talk about freedom for Ukraine, but at the same time it is really questionable to start organizing events in Hong Kong and Qatar. Both places have terrible human rights records, the Hamas leadership actually resides in the latter. Trading dollars for principles was beginning to look awkward and Cosgrave’s one-sided commentary put an end to his time at the helm of Web Summit. A successor, Katherine Maher, was announced today.

By the way, if you feel you can support Israeli tech, here is your link.

Connecting

Unless I have missed it, I have not seen any Muslims and Jews of shaking hands over the past few weeks in the media with the goal of giving at least a signal, a flicker of hope. Yesterday on Dutch TV, rabbi Awraham Soetendorp and imam Shamier Madhar did that in one of the Sunday talk shows. The thrust of their public conversation was around coming together and finding commonalities in these increasingly divisive times. And again, during the chat the rabbi discussed how a Muslim kid had complimented him on his name, Awraham as he recognized the prophet’s name as the father of Isaac and Ismael, biblical names that resonate with both religions. Now more than ever we should welcome every attempt to connect, build bridges and find commonalities.