While the term "influencer" is generally associated with vapid young women playing on their looks and scanty clothing to draw attention, once in a while one person claiming to be an "influencer" does some actual journalism. On Tuesday, such an example arose in the case of one Zach Sage Fox, a Jewish American who passed himself off as an Italian to enter the West Bank and survey the residents as to the level of support for Hamas. What he found was shocking, but not really surprising.
Fox, a "loud and proud" Jewish American, was in Israel to create content when a member of his production team offered him the opportunity to enter the West Bank alongside a Muslim producer and cameraman. Fox knew it could be a dangerous project but was interested because American journalists are rarely able to secure unfettered access to Palestinians.
"Israelis are literally not allowed into Palestine; they're not allowed into the West Bank. However, I'm not Israeli, I'm an American Jew, and it doesn't say ‘Jew’ on my passport. So, I was told, ‘As long as you don't say you're Jewish, you know, they're not going to kill you on the spot,’" Fox told Fox News Digital.
That's taking managing expectations to the next level; that much is certain. Fox was able to pass himself off as Italian in ancestry and entered the West Bank to speak to locals and gauge the actual level of support for Hamas and, presumably, Hamas's actions against Israel.
Fox began his time in the West Bank with a prearranged interview with a man who was described to him by his Muslim producer as a "very smart and civil," "somewhat moderate" thinker who holds a Master’s degree and speaks good English. They sat down at a coffee shop in Ramallah, the Palestinian "capital" located near Jerusalem.
The man denied that "innocent Israelis" were killed during the attacks of October 7, expressed support for Hamas and suggested rape never occurred during the barbaric attacks.
"I realized quickly, if this is someone being presented to me as one of the more educated people, I might be in for a real shock," Fox said.
He was in for a real shock, as Americans have been in for some real shocks at just what these people are willing to do - and how many young American skulls full of mush are willing to support them.
Fortunately, Fox's cover, namely that he was of Italian, not Jewish descent, held, or he would likely not been allowed to leave the West Bank; indeed, he may well have suffered the same fate as some of the Oct 7 hostages.
It got worse when Fox attempted to interview a woman.
This young man doesn't lack for courage, we have to give him that; while he styles himself as a "social media influencer," in this exercise he has earned himself the title of journalist, and showed some stones in the doing. And what he has revealed is notable. The people he interviewed, and most especially the mob that surrounded him when he attempted to interview a woman, are not civilized people. Civilized people don't wish death on their neighbors. Civilized people don't support barbarians who commit atrocities on the innocent. Civilized people don't deny those atrocities when they occur - and most of all, civilized people don't support people who commit mass rape, mass murder, and put babies in ovens.
When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at the U.S. Capitol last week, he described this conflict as a clash between civilization and barbarity. He was right, and nothing illustrates that more clearly than the account of Zach Sage Fox's foray into the West Bank.