IDF Reservists say: Just #shut_up

There is a new social media campaign called: “If you don’t have a message of unity, just #shut_up.”

IDF reservists put out a statement that I translate for you here. It is followed by a short compilation of a number of reserve soldiers in the field telling the media to stop putting out news items that upset the unity that burst out among us on Oct 7th. This is then followed by a few more interesting “X” posts.

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The IDF Reserve Soldiers’ Message

We, the soldiers who are ready to sacrifice everything for our tiny homeland, have only one request. Our nation, the people, the citizens, the reservists at the front, and our families at home – we are all united. We fight shoulder to shoulder. We have each other’s backs. And we even bury each other. And we all share a mutual love that has no limit.

Don’t ruin it for us.

Hamas, Hezbollah, Jihad, the Houthis the Iranians – none of these scare us or weaken us.

Who scares us? The news studios, the politicians’ “X” posts, and the cabinet leaks. The endless bickering on social media. You. You are the ones who weaken us. We are the wall that protects you and you are putting us at risk of destruction from within.

In the last year – the politicians in both the coalition and the opposition, news studios 11, 12, 13, 14, and all the social media commenters on both sides – have proven to us that they know how to tear the country to shreds, to pit us against each other, and to lead the country toward a crisis of unprecedented dimensions.

We are simply fed up. We are tired of our amazing, united, and powerful nation being dragged in the dirt by “public opinion influencers” who are conducting a discourse of divisiveness and disunity, as if it is still October 6.

We reserve soldiers are calling for this to end.

We won’t let you do this to us again. So, now, we are going into action to preserve the Zionist project, We call on all those whose words have consequences:

if you don’t have something unifying to say: shut up.

Stop congratulating us upon our safe return home. Let us return home to peace. [This is a play on the word, shalom: b’shalom means safe, l’shalom means peace.]

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A few #shut_up “X” posts

1. The post reads: “I am fighting here since Oct 7th and I ask all media people, those who influence the tone of our conversation here…if you have nothing unifying for us, just shut your mouth! That is the message conveyed by all of the soldiers in this clip.

Learn the Hebrew for #shut_up: stom et hapeh! You should get good practice saying it if you repeat it along with the soldiers in the video.

״אני נלחם כאן מאז ה-7 באוקטובר, ואני מבקש מכל אנשי התקשורת, האנשים המשפיעים פה על השיח.. אם אין לכם משהו מאחד בשבילנו, פשוט סתמו ת׳פה! pic.twitter.com/OmcmE5Ihyh

— Nimrod Lev (@LevNimrod) December 31, 2023

2. The text reads: “Amishav Egozi, who initiated the campaign #shut_up [on Channel 13 News] — the soldiers’ campaign calls for unity: “When you meet the “other”[on the battle field or in the tank], you find that there are not many disagreements, and if there are, you can resolve them. We cannot go back.”

I paraphrase the video interview: Egozi says that he does not watch the news, but it is enough to see the name of a fallen soldier, even if it is not someone close to you, and then you see another argument in the media where each side is blaming the other side and it is frightening. We don’t want to go back to that. We deserve better than that. We see who we are, what kind of people we are.

The interviewer asks if there was a specific event that compelled him to start the campaign? Egozi answers that it was not a specific incident, “just an ongoing sense that accompanies us.” He says soldiers noted that sometimes going home was hard, confronting the reality in the country. Suddenly, when you meet the “other” [on the batle field or in the tank], Egozi said, “you find that there are not many disagreements, and if there are, you can resolve them. We cannot go back.”

עמישב אגוזי, יוזם מחאת "סתמו ת'פה" – קמפיין הלוחמים שקורא לאחדות במדינה: "כשאתה נפגש עם האחר אתה מבין שאין הרבה מחלוקות, וגם אם יש הן פתירות. אנחנו לא יכולים לחזור אחורה"@bokeralmog pic.twitter.com/tDIzgUqJPd

— חדשות 13 (@newsisrael13) January 2, 2024

3. The text says: “LOL Shut up — now in the Dos (religious) version”

Paraphrasing the video: “I am Yankele Zilberman, head of the [not clear] and I ask all the politicians and media personalities, if you don’t have something unifying to say, do what the Mishna says: shut up.” Then he turns to the man at his side: “Do you have anything to say, Aluf Kornblit?” And Kornblit tells us he is responsible for the environment in Mea Shearim and has not been at home since Oct 7th as he travels the world to make Jews happy. Then he repeats the mantra: “If you don’t have anything unifying to say, shut up.” And in Yiddish: zey shtil! Then Yankele turns to a third man who introduces himself as Brigadier-General Leber, responsible for a tactical unit and he also repeats the mantra addressed to politicians and media personalities. Then the chorus all chime in with Shut Up!

חח "סתמו ת'פה" ועכשיו בגרסה הדוסית😄

צילום: רץ ברשת השימוש לפי סעיף 27א pic.twitter.com/HfcpNhaQaA

— חרדים10 (@charedim10) January 3, 2024

4. By now, you recognize the Hebrew text for Shut up, right? סתום ת’פה

In the video, Amishav and Goldin, fighting since Oct 7th, say that they want to return home knowing that their sacrifice is not in vain. So their message to all politicians and news people: If you don’t have something unifying to say, #shut_up.”

סתמו ת'פה. pic.twitter.com/4LXddqT3Ko

— R.M (@rachely_baby) January 1, 2024

Let’s hope they got the message.

Feature Image is a screenshot from the last “X” video in this article.