In defense: The good Facebook can do when used by the right people

First, happy Mother’s Day to everyone to whom that applies. I hope you’re having a great day!

You’ll have to excuse them. Casey and Frisky are still learning their colors.

Second, today is also the celebration of Yom Yerushalayim, or Jerusalem Day. It’s the Hebrew anniversary of when the Israelis recaptured the eastern/holy part of the city in the Six-Day War of 1967. It’s where no Arab country’s leader had visited except Jordan’s King Hussein, who’d “occupied” it 19 years earlier in 1948.

But then it suddenly became so important to them.

There is lots and lots to say about President Trump, but this post isn’t about him. Still, he is making the embassy move from Tel Aviv happen and no other American president has done so, despite being able. So thank you, President Trump.

Trump Jlem Day poster
Picture above and video below, courtesy Nyla


Israelis, naturally, are celebrating.

There’s an article written this weekend by former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro (President Obama’s) and publicly supported by current U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman (President Trump’s).

Shapiro, who is much more liberal, described the situation with a question:

“Why hasn’t the US ever recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital? Some people date it to the controversy that arose in 1967, when Israel captured East Jerusalem from Jordan in the Six-Day War and unified the city, describing it as a US protest against the Israeli ‘occupation’ of East Jerusalem. That’s wrong.
“The truth is that US policy on Jerusalem derives from events 20 years earlier, when the United Nations passed the Partition Plan for Palestine in November 1947.”

The two differ on many things but as my friend Andy, who pointed the article out, published:

 

“Good to see President Trump’s ambassador positively sharing an article by President Obama’s ambassador. Let’s keep support for Israel bipartisan.”

In the article, Shapiro described a day in the life of a U.S. Ambassador to Israel:

“Jerusalem had always been Israel’s capital, and we have always treated it functionally, if not formally, as such. When I served as the US Ambassador at our embassy in Tel Aviv, nearly every day I would be driven to Jerusalem to conduct affairs of state with the Israeli government at the Prime Minister’s office, the Foreign Ministry, and the Knesset.”

Then, he goes into a brief history of the complicated situation with Jerusalem at the center of it, describes a possible step towards solving an issue that has been delayed too many times over too many decades, and then how the embassy move could help end the century-old conflict. Let’s hope!
Also, Donald Trump’s face is featured on a ceremonial Israeli coin marking the 70th anniversary of the country’s rebirth.


It depicts Trump alongside the biblical King Cyrus of Persia, who allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem 2,500 years ago, after King Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the first Temple (King Solomon’s) in 586 B.C. and exiled the Jews to Babylon.
Why does the other side try to claim there’s no Jewish history in Jerusalem? Who are they trying to fool? The answer is gullible haters who don’t want to believe it.
And onto the subject at hand, since I rarely write about myself and even more rarely write about personal subjects rather than professional ones.
Last week, I got a message on Facebook from someone I hadn’t seen in at least 30 years, and probably more like 40.

Technically, I’ve seen him on Facebook. We have several mutual friends, so we’ve seen each other commenting on their posts. (I’m speaking for myself, but can’t imagine the opposite not being true.) We were never really friendly growing up, even though we certainly knew each other.
The message went:

“Hi Lenny, I’m not sure of you remember me, but we grew up together. My memory may be off here, but I feel like I wasn’t always the nicest person to you and I really just want to apologize If I ever did or said anything to make you feel bad. You may not even recall this and maybe it’s more in my head. Anyhow, I just wanted to reach out and say hello. I hope you and your family are doing well. I remember your father very well. … He was always a really nice guy. Again, I know this is very random, but I saw your comment on _____’s post and just to reach out and say hello. Regards, _____”

Wow! Takes guts and a good person to write something like that. Very impressive!

I responded with a quick,

“No worries. I only remember good things. Hope you’re well. Thanks for writing!”

And we connected a few more times.old Lenny
The truth, as I remember it, is I was not happy growing up in Florida. Early on, I felt most of the people simply couldn’t make it in civilization, like New York.
You know what Frank Sinatra sang:

“If I can make it there,
I’ll make it anywhere.”

It was almost always too hot and humid. I wanted to stay inside and watch TV. I was a loner until high school.

Meanwhile, more people moved in to die. The area got more spread out and there was still traffic everywhere. Just Thursday, a friend posted this picture. It’s not downtown Miami but west of the airport.

The goal was to move to New York, which luckily – thanks to my parents – I didn’t do during college and never took on debt.
And instead of moving to New York, once I had enough career experience, I lived on both sides of it: almost two years in Connecticut and eight years in Philadelphia.

When I visit Florida, which hasn’t happened in more than a year, I feel even more like an outsider because of the language barrier. It’s a right-to-work state. Wages are low. So are taxes, even for people work in much better places and spend just 183 days a year there. On the other hand, insurance rates are sky high because of hurricanes and the water level will soon be, too.

south beach flood
Looking down from the 5th floor of my South Beach condo, at 11th and Alton, after about an hour of rain.

 

Plus, having the career I had and never letting up, I’ve become more of a homebody in recent years.

The writer, who was nice enough to contact me on Facebook, was not a jerk or bully or anything like that. There were some people like that and always will be, even though the world has changed and adults are supposed to be looking for more signs, these days.

And count on the politically-correct police, out in force, to make sure nobody ever feels bad, ever:

Chris Christie would’ve never put up with that!

People are going to feel bad. That’s a fact of life. It’s not fair. I suggest you fight for what you believe most and try not to sweat the less important stuff. Forget about it, especially if you’re not sure it actually happened decades ago.

And I thank Facebook for the information above. I would not have had it otherwise.

Yes, I’ve written a lot on the subject!

But if it helps you reconnect with people from your past, parents see pictures of their kids in college, grandparents see pictures of their grandchildren, and lets people celebrate their moms on Mother’s Day, and see the excitement of Israelis thrilled about their capital city being reunited and what’s to come this week, then get on board and sign up.

You don’t have to use every function or app, or even a few — but you’re missing out if you’re too stubborn to say you won’t miss good things if you’re not on Facebook.

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