Though I really didn’t want to spend any time on this, I need to make one thing clear, which is that the loathsome Shaiel Ben Ephraim, pro-Israel commentator turned pro-Palestine activist, has recently crossed two lines from which there is really no coming back. Number one is that he doxxed my entire family and posted their information, including the names of babies and children as young as three and four years old, and those in Gaza who are still in Hamas territory, and shared this information with a network of Gazans that includes people in Hamas’s orbit. This is abhorrent behavior that is also worsened by his attempt to get Gazans to send harassing messages to my colleagues where I work – he was writing posts for Gazans and having them share the text as if it were their own when it was clearly him writing these tweets and, in some cases, using fake accounts to post.
Worse, he had a terrible habit of posting insults, ad hominem attacks, and profanity for a few minutes, hoping I would see them, then deleting the comments, not to mention the late-night messages of rage and fury he would send. I tolerated the disturbing past of Shaiel and the problematic behavior that includes the exploitation of Gazans to make him look like a benevolent savior. What I will never tolerate from him or anyone else, is that no matter how much you despise me, you can come after me all you want, and that’s fair – but going after my family, including children and my sisters and placing their lives at risk in a war zone is a new low that speaks volume to how dangerous, problematic, and troublesome this individual is. I caution all who believe that he is truly “pro-Palestine” from further engaging with him. As I said, you can dislike me all you want and come after me, but there are red lines even amongst political and ideological opponents.