Online hate-speech is dead. Nonviolence killed it.

Let's make this short. You don't need to suffer from online hate-speech again.

You don't need to shut down your account and open a new one; you don't need to go under-cover; you don't need to fight back; you don't need to ignore; YOU DO NOT NEED TO BLOCK! All you need to do is put your ego aside, brace yourselves for a little bit of ugly interaction and be familiar with the cut and paste functions. That's all.

Almost all human conflicts are based on a mutual agreement that whoever uses the most force will eventually win. Online, it's the idea of asserting my agenda in a manner that will be so loud and so hurtful that the other will eventually back down. This kind of interaction is easy to identify. It will usually consist of hurting and cancelling the other, rather than asserting any positive, independent agenda. Not surprisingly, this sort of interaction never leads anywhere. It is, however, simple to implement and gives a false sense of security. It is indeed as the great master Yoda put it: Strong the dark side is, to impatient mind more tempting it is...

So, as long as the interaction - harsh as it may be - is concrete and is actually about exchanging information and opinions, we bite the bullet and engage like grownups. But then (or maybe from the first moment), things turn sideways and the other party becomes abusive rather than opposing. Than we go into Non Violent resistance (NVR) mode:

1. Put your ego aside. This conflict is not about who is wrong and who is right anymore. This conflict is about whether we will interact as human beings or not. THIS is the conflict you want to win, not the original argument. The moment this turned violent, the argument was dead. Nothing you will do is going to change that. This is not about antisemitism anymore, not about whether you're a dirty Jew, a fascist, a butt-head or anything else. This is about whether you agree to interact like this or not. YOU DON'T.

2. Define your red-lines. Not being violent does not mean surrendering. You will not fight the other and you will not try to change their mind in any way. You will, however, stand your ground. The fact that this has turned ugly, doesn't mean you have relinquished your beliefs. Think hard what is the most fundamental thing you want to defend. What is it you will not let the other side trample, no matter what. Usually it will be something very basic. Maybe "I'm Jewish/Zionist and I will not stop being that". Maybe "I am unwilling to interact this way". Maybe "I will not exit this thread and I will voice my opinions as I wish". It is important that it will be minimal and absolutely essential to your point of view. The bigger the message, the harder it will be to assert and defend.

3. Leave the other alone. No insulting, no accusing, no sarcasm. Nothing! The other's resentment of you is their fuel. Give them no reason to resent you and they'll soon be out of breath. So whatever you say will refer only to yourself and your point of view. Nothing about the other!

4. Hear them out. A result of not referring to the other is the inability to shut them up. So you don't. You clearly state that you are willing, nay, happy to hear all of their opinions. We hate doing that: we think the other is stupid, so why would we want to hear them? We want to hear them since not listening is another kind of aggression and that will give the other the sense of hurt and anger they so desperately need to keep going. You stay and listen. JNVR promise, it will not be as long as you think it will be.

Done!

This will take some time to gain traction. The first reactions may be violent, since people might think you're joking. There may be a local escalation. But after a couple of rounds, the other party will understand that you will not budge and that trying to hurt you has no effect. They will leave, and good chances are that they will not come back, because you're no fun anymore.

We, at the JNVR, have tackled dozens of haters like this. From schoolyard bullies to fully fledged Nazis to extreme left radicals. Nobody came back to bother us, and the longest it ever took was ten minutes.

We would love to stay and chat but the message is clear: Let's get to work.

This is the longest exchange we had to date. The guy had SS insignia on his profile pic. Never bothered us again. If you want to verify, please check the "jewishoncampus" Instagram account on May 20th. There are tons of comments but it's all there.