I have some stuff to say about abuse on the internet & what it does & doesn’t say about a movement or issue as a whole & why, in the last year, I’ve done my level best to refrain from any kind of ad-hominem attack, no matter how wrong or damaging I think someone’s views are 1/

Most people know, because I am constantly blowing by own shofar (lil Jew joke for ya there) that I’m Jewish. I also have been pretty vocal about antisemitism &, as a lifelong Labour supporter until recently, spent a lot of time trying to explain the situation in the party 2/

Last year, I did a random pivot to video. Just some stupid parody videos where I played a wide-eyed Corbyn supporter who called themselves a Jew for Jeremy. It was just a silly, cathartic way for me to let off steam about the situation 3/

Perhaps my delivery was a little too deadpan, because quite a few people missed the joke, or maybe didn’t wait for the punchline. A lot of people who were also fighting antisemitism were angry. Many of them my fellow Jews, my community members. I started getting abuse 4/

I, or rather, my character, was called a slew of names - mostly misogynistic, ableist, mental-health shaming & generally unkind things. I was ugly, stupid, must be off my meds & much worse stuff I don’t care to repeat here. It was a surreal experience 5/

I found myself, in character, feeling genuinely hurt by these comments, despite these being my comrades in arms when it came to fighting antisemitism, despite agreeing with the anger they were feeling - I am still a woman & they were calling me ugly, bitch & so on 6/

This was after four years of racist abuse by people who claimed to support Jeremy Corbyn. I suddenly got a weird taste of what it felt like to be on the other side. I blocked someone who called me ugly. That person tried to apologise & said they hadn’t realised it was parody 7/

OK, but... you still called me ugly so you can do one. I sat down that night confused. If my side was abusive too, did that mean I was on the wrong side of the issue? The only way to find out was to remove the aspect of internet abuse entirely & look at facts 8/

The facts were the same - there were still people in CLPs being shouted down for being Jewish. There was still a leader with a long, problematic history of hanging out with & endorsing antisemites. There was still a massive issue with the complaints process 9/

None of these things had changed because some people on my side were arseholes. But it did make me see some things clearly. One thing was that fighting one kind of prejudice with another is NEVER ok. But I already knew that. The other was ad-hominem attacks don’t work 10/

They may feel good for a second, they may feel cathartic while you’re typing them, but good god, if they started to entrench me in a position I didn’t even believe in in the first place, what were they doing to people who DID believe what they were saying? 11/

When you fight prejudice with insults, threats & malice, even when your anger is completely justified, you muddy the issue. You move the focus from facts to emotion. You victimise your persecuter. You do nothing to win over impartial observers. You change the narrative 12/

I know what it’s like to be an exhausted activist. I know what it’s like to listen to someone who’s never faced a day of prejudice in their lives smugly telling you “you catch more flies with honey”. I know what it’s like to ping off an exasperated “fuck off”. 13/

But I’m always going to do my best not to. And even though it’s not my job to explain, even though I shouldn’t have to explain, even though it’s not fair that I have to do so much emotional labour & be so ruthlessly fair all the time, I’m going to keep doing that 14/

There will be people who won’t listen, no matter how logical, clear or careful your position. You can’t control that. But you can do your best to put facts & reason out there & not create confusion with a back-and-forth slanging match. We all need to be better than that 15/