The Most Active Threads Since Friday

The Gaza war thread continued as the most active thread over the weekend, with just over 1,000 posts. The thread is not as active as it once was, but continued to produce over twice as many posts as the next most active thread. That thread, titled, "Saturday - Thousands expected to attend pro-Palestine march in DC for ceasefire in Israel-Hamas war" and posted in the "Political Discussion" forum, was obviously related to the war. The thread was started by a poster who had just heard about what was then an upcoming protest and was concerned that it might be violent. Other posters also had pessimistic expectations for the protest with a number of those responding concerned that there would be displays of antisemitism or hatred of Jews. Proponents of the protest argued that the protest was aimed at promoting a ceasefire and bringing an end to Israeli's massive bombing that has killed thousands of Palestinians. A major issue in this discusion was distinguishing Hamas from the Palestinian people. This is a distinction that even President Joe Biden has made. Nevertheless, some posters argued that a ceasefire would benefit Hamas and, therefore, supporting a ceasefire was effectively pro-Hamas. Similarly, some posters sought to distinguish between Jews and Israelis. One poster wrote that it is understandable that pro-Palestinian posters separate Hamas from Palestinians, but that the same people are often "totally ok with Israel being equated with all Jews rather than saying ‘Israeli government actions.’" The poster said this was upsetting. I happened to agree with that poster. But, when a pro-Israel poster stated that Israel's Iron Dome anti-rocket system was "protecting Jews" and I interjected that it was actually protecting Israelis, reminding that Jews and Israel are not synonymous, the poster called me an antisemite. This is an example of the overly-cavalier labeling in which some posters have engaged. I was advocating a position that many Jews hold and is actually a distinction that helps combat antisemitism resulting from blame being wrongly placed on all Jews for Israel's actions. Once the protest began and in its aftermath, critics of the event quickly began looking for any aspects that could be used to portray the protest in a negative light. None of their expectations for waving of Nazi symbols or chants to kill Jews seem to have been fulfilled. But, one poster did fixate on a single protester who, along with the flag of Trinidad and Tobago, had a small Hezbollah flag. This was said to show that the protesters supported terrorism. More attention was paid to red paint — used to demonstrate blood on the US administration's hands — that defaced a wall near the White House entrance. Some posters insisted that this would be the defining image of the protest and would impact upcoming elections.

The next most active thread was posted in the "Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)" forum. Titled, "Woodward HS boundary study - BCC, Blair, Einstein, WJ, Kennedy, Northwood, Wheaton, Whitman impacts", the thread was originally started back in April to consolidate discussions of school boundary changes that would be necessary to accomodate the reopening of Charles W. Woodward High School. If I understand correctly, boundaries for the reopened high school will need to be carved out of boundaries for existing schools and, therefore, the boundaries for those schools will need to be adjusted. This creates a domino effect that impacts a number of schools. The thread had already reached 80 pages by Friday, but since then has added 18 more. I could not immediately identify the cause of the burst of interest over the weekend but it appears much of the discussion centered on the goal of diversity for the new boundaries. This forum has long been plagued by a poster who appears convinced that "liberals" or others are planning to institute busing as a means of creating diversity in schools. The poster constantly warns about this hidden goal about which the poster appears to be the only one informed. Related to that is the issue of diversity itself, both in terms of the racial make-up of schools and socio-economic mixture of their student bodies. In recent boundary revisions in other school systems, families have had two often conflicting goals. They value neighborhood schools that are relatively close and convenient to their homes. Surveys also show support for diversity. The conflict is caused by residential segregation that is common in much of the region. If all the poor are in one area and all the wealthy are in another, neighborhood schools will reflect that reality, While busing is one solution, that idea tends to receive a negative reception. Instead, focus is placed on how boundaries are drawn so that areas of differing socio-economic status might be placed within the same boundaries. In some areas, this is easier than others. Generally, families tremendously dislike being switched to a new school boundary, particularly if the new school is not perceived as being as good as the one for which the family was originally in-bounds. This creates demands that are impossible to meet in whole. How can you increase diversity by changing boundaries without requiring that some areas will be rezoned for schools that may seem less desirable? You can't and, hence, the contention seen in threads such as this one. Contention made worse by a poster or posters who intentionally stir things up by warning about secret plots to institute busing.

The next most active thread was the one about frustration with President Biden which I've already discussed. So, skipping that one brings us to a thread titled, "Do Christmas displays make you uncomfortable?" and posted in the "Religion" forum. The religion forum has become its own little thunderdome lately with Atheists and religious posters in constant conflict with one another. Adding to this is the prevalence of posters who seem to enjoy throwing gasoline on the fire. The original poster of this thread almost simultaneously created three other controversial (or potentially controversial, since I immediately locked one) threads. The point of this thread was contained in its title and the complete contents of the body of the first post was "Why or why not?" This is a common tactic on DCUM wherein a poster lures posters to provide opinions so that those opinions can then be debated. In a subsequent post, the original poster says that she loves Christmas displays. Christmas displays are normally subject to annual threads on DCUM as is the entire "war on Christmas" genre. As such, there is very little in this thread that hasn't been stated repeatedly over the years. Some posters who don't celebrate Christmas don't like that gratuitous displays make them feel "othered". Others, some whom also don't celebrate the holiday, don't mind displays at homes or churches, but are offended to various degrees when displays are on public land because they view this as a violation of the separation of church and state. Then, there are those like the original poster who say they enjoy Christmas displays under all circumstances. When posters explain why they don't like Christmas displays, the original poster tells them why her opinion is different with the implication that she doesn't really care about their objections. Her opinion, that she repeats frequently, is that Christmas displays are lovely and bring joy and she doesn't know why anyone would object to them. She also makes a big deal out of differentiating between religious displays such as nativity scenes and more secular displays such as Santa and reindeers. She seeks clarification about which type of displays upset those who object to them. In this poster's most recent post she makes the bizarre, at least to me, claim that Christians and secular Americans "display Jewish holiday symbols" and implies that Jews should, in turn, display Christian symbols. Maybe my experience is limited, but I don't know a single non-Jewish family that routinely displays Jewish holiday symbols. Though, as a sign of solidarity in these difficult times, that might be an interesting idea. But, that's not what the original poster seems to have in mind. At any rate, if you don't enjoy Christmas displays and want to see see your opinion on the topic completely brushed off, this is the thread for you.

The final thread at which I'll look today was another one from the "Political Discussion" forum and also another one related to the Gaza war. Titled, "Israel situation is going to hand Rs elections for a while", the original poster says that she is Jewish and was talking to a friend about upcoming school board elections. Her friend told her that she was setting aside all concern about social issues such as abortion rights and LGBTQ rights and was now a "one-issue voter about Israel and anti-semitism". Never mind that those are actually two issues, both the original poster and her friend seem convinced that Republicans are better on those issues than Democrats and that this will impact elections for some time in the future. As I immediately pointed out, school boards don't have any impact on foreign policy and, as such, candidates' positions on Israel don't seem particularly relevant. But, most of those responding completely ignored the school board aspect of the post and just discussed politics more broadly. There is a quandary facing Democrats in that while their leadership is almost 100% solidly behind Israel, much of the grassroots is concerned about the mass killing of Palestinians. For instance, the protesters discussed at the beginning of this post are widely, and perhaps accurately, seen as being Democrats. The fact that they were protesting Biden's policies doesn't seem to impact that perception. Many, such as the original poster and her friend, apparently place more emphasis on powerless students yelling slogans than the US president who is deploying aircraft carriers and supplying weapons. Similarly, such individuals are much more concerned about Rashida Tlaib, an American of Palestinian heritage who frequently works with Jewish groups in support of peace in the Middle East than they are about Marjorie Taylor "Jewish Space Lasers" Greene or Representative Paul Gosar who regularly hangs out with neo-Nazis. Much of this thread is spent arguing over which party is the most antisemitic and which is most supportive of Israel. Ultimately, I don't think facts are all that important. This is a very emotional moment for many Jews and many Arabs or Muslims. Members of these communities are likely to make voting decisions heavily influenced by either anger or fear. In such circumstances, rationality often takes a back seat. As a result, Democrats may lose both pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel voters.