Norman Finkelstein Vs Mohammed Hijab: Who Did Better?
Why the answer depends on how effective your goal setting is...
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This is a great opportunity to revise your goals…
Here’s why:
I bet you watched at least a few clips of that insufferable Piers Morgan interviewing the famous dawah celebrity Mohammed Hijab and, more recently, pro-Palestine activist Professor Norman Finkelstein.
You might have even watched the interviews in full.
I know I did.
Despite muting content related to that useless show, I still found myself glued to the screen.
I knew it would be pointless… but I still watched.
Because a part of me hoped to see something.
Something that I knew was of no benefit.
But I sat and watched anyway…
What was I hoping to see?
Well…
A lot of people are saying Hijab did better. And that Finkelstein was too weak.
Hijab “destroyed” them. “Exposed” them.
It’s evident in the clips people are posting online… many posted by Hijab himself.
Clips of him making sexual jokes. With background music. Closeups of his certificate smile.
(If you don’t know what a certificate smile is; it’s that smile you did as a kid when you received a certificate in front of the school but were trying to hide how happy you were so your lips started shaking.)
As adolescent as it was, Muslims in general seem to be celebrating.
Conversely, Finkelstein isn’t getting the same praise.
People are unhappy that he didn’t “destroy” Morgan in the way they anticipated…
As was evident from social media posts in the lead up to the interview.
One noteworthy post was by the show’s host himself:
“You asked, we delivered” or something to that effect was his tweet.
Because this is the point:
The only objective is getting more views and ratings for that awful show.
And yet we watched.
Because we were hoping to feel better about ourselves by watching the gladiators go at it.
Something to ease the shame of our inaction?
I’m guilty first and foremost.
I know I only watched it for entertainment.
Because nothing about it aligned with my goals.
Really think about this.
What was the goal?
If the goal was to be the most dominant then Hijab won.
If the goal was to be the most honest then Finkelstein won.
And it can be argued that both these approaches have their merit.
Even the benefit of appearing on these platforms can be argued for.
But they won what? That is the question.
Any victory we perceived was just a personal victory for the person speaking.
But as far as real events on the ground… nothing has changed.
Only the gladiators we prop up and the opinions and emotions we want them to stir were fed.
But we all know who got the fattest…
It’s the guy who got more views for his show.
So I want to use this to explain something about circles of influence and concern:
Do we even know what we want?
Is it just to feel a little better about ourselves for an hour and a half?
Is it to see a morally naked rabbi get flustered by loud giant?
Is it for supporters of the zionist narrative to get our attention by pretending to be neutral…
but simply setting the gladiators against each other for our entertainment?
If our mission statement is set…
And our goals defined…
Then none of this would matter.
No one wins.
Only we lose.
Watching these shows is just an escape from the seemingly small but monumentally important work inside our circle of influence…
Into the unimportant and ineffective activities inside our circle of concern.
Put simply…
We put off the work needed to actually make a difference on our higher goals.
But we feel like we’re are doing something good because we spend time on activities that feed our emotions around the things we set those goals about.
So for example…
Instead of doing today’s push ups, we watch 50 reels by fitness influencers.
Spending time on things about the work instead of doing the work itself.
It’s directly related to lead and lag measures which I explained in a previous letter.
If we don’t define and track the lead measures that get us to our goals…
We will waste time in any activity that is remotely relatable (not even necessarily related!) to those goals.
So if the goal is to end the genocide…
And the performances on these shows can be demonstrably tracked as a genuine lead measure towards that goal…
Then perhaps we can find better ways to utilise the content to further that objective—beyond empty victory parades and mocking.
But if these appearances don’t take us one step closer to achieving it…
And we just want to beg for attention…
Then no one wins.
We only lose.
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