You may have already heard the happy news - Israel ranked fourth in the 2023 World Happiness Report, which is sponsored by the UN, through a poll conducted by Gallup, measuring happiness in countries between 2020 and 2022.
For those of us living in Israel, it is not so surprising, despite the constant threats we face, as well as internal turmoil. We tend to be a happy, optimistic bunch.
I was not going to write anything about it because I did not really have anything to add to the numerous news reports and social media pundits commenting on it. But then this happened: a vile piece on Pedestrian titled The World’s Happiest Countries Have Been Revealed & Who TF Let Number Four On There???
4. Israel
The fuck?
Would love to know who answered these questions about “corruption” and “peace” to see this “country” get so high on a happiness report.
If it included a single Palestinian person in its survey (or even anyone else from a marginalised racial group there) there is no way in hell Israel would be anywhere near the top. Absolutely cooked.
According to the report, Israel landed so high because its people showed the most “confidence” in its government. That tells you enough about who filled in the questionnaire.
Note there is no real analysis here. Just shrill complaining, clearly based on complete ignorance of what life is like here, including for minorities, who enjoy more freedoms in Israel than anywhere else in the Middle East.
That final statement "Israel landed so high because its people showed the most “confidence” in its government. That tells you enough about who filled in the questionnaire" betrays the author Michael Di Iorio's agenda. If he bothered reading the report he would see that the happiness index is based on six factors: Income, health, having someone to count on, having a sense of freedom to make key life decisions, generosity, and the absence of corruption. The fact he focused on just one factor to bash Israeli Jews tells you enough about him.
But there's more.
Di Iorio includes this photo and caption in order to demonize Israel:
The full, actual caption can be seen at Getty Images:
NABLUS, WEST BANK, PALESTINE - 2023/03/20: Israeli soldiers try to chase away a Palestinian lady in the middle of the town of Hawara, after a shooting attack on a Jewish settler's car in the town, south of Nablus, in the occupied West Bank. The Israeli army closed all commercial shops in the town of Hawara and deployed its forces throughout. (Photo by Nasser Ishtayeh/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
By leaving out the key context as to why the Israeli soldiers were sending the woman away, Di Iorio is painting them as heartless monsters, chasing away palestinian Arabs just for shits'n'giggles. The truth is, they were probably sending her away for her own safety.
But it gets better. This is Michael Di Iorio:
He might love being gay, but he is choosing to side against the society that provides freedoms for his fellow LGBTQ individuals. If Di Iorio ever decided to visit the palestinian-controlled territories, he would not be feeling much love from that society. His personal happiness index would be extremely low. But not as low as his heartbeat, which might end up at zero if you get my drift.
Even more troublingly, Pedestrian is an extremely popular youth digital news and entertainment website owned by Pedestrian Group, a company created by Australia's Nine Entertainment. Pedestrian Group also owns Pedestrian (the website) as well the Australian brands Vice Media (Australia), Business Insider Australia, Gizmodo AU, Refinery29, Lifehacker Australia, Kotaku Australia, Pedestrian JOBS, and Openair Cinemas.
By publishing this one-sided, deceptive garbage, Pedestrian is helping poison the minds of Australia's youth, and perhaps even youth around the world.
Posted from my blog with Exxp : https://www.israellycool.com/2023/03/26/pedestrians-problem-with-israelis-being-happy/