#SadSadIsrael: Israelis mock gloomy depictions of Israel with satirical posts

• Published date: 06 November 2021

The sarcastic hashtag, which was among the top trends on Twitter in Israel the last few days, was started in response to the October 26 New York Times article "Whose Promised Land? A Journey into a Divided Israel," which some Israelis have argued presents an inaccurately morose depiction of the Jewish state.

In response, Israelis have been posting snapshots of themselves enjoying life – marriage proposals, days out with children, scenic backgrounds – to create a mosaic of experiences that would better represent the Israeli reality. Often the posts feature pictures of joyful moments with satirical gloomy captions – reference to the language used in the Times article.

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There have been thousands of contributions to the trend, which was sparked by the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis, a media watchdog.

"The New York Times article was ridiculous in the way a fun house mirror is ridiculous," said Gilead Ini, the senior research analyst at CAMERA who wrote an article and post that helped spark the memetic mockery. "They told their readers that it's a faithful mirror. They told Americans that the pile of discontent captures 'what it means to be Israeli today.'"

The article featured the travels of the writers throughout Israel, in which critics argue that they only have negative...