My rebuttal of the Jerusalem Post's article titled: "Southern Lebanon is Actually Northern Israel - Opinion"
The Jerusalem Post, one of Israel’s leading online publications, recently published an article claiming that, according to the Torah, southern Lebanon rightfully belongs to Israel by divine entitlement. The article cited specific verses to back up this assertion: “The Book of Joshua (13:6) mentions Sidon explicitly as being promised to the Jewish people, and it also says (19:28) that the border of the tribe of Asher extended to Sidon.”
The author further argued that Lebanon’s separation from Israel only came about due to the Sykes-Picot Agreement, formulated by English and French colonialists at the fall of the Ottoman Empire, which established the border between modern-day Israel and Lebanon. What stood out most to me, however, wasn’t just the religious or territorial claims but the fact that the article’s author—someone who served as the deputy communications director under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—could so openly dismiss another nation’s sovereignty. This is especially striking at a time when Emperor Bibi himself is working tirelessly to secure a normalization deal with Saudi Arabia. Yet, unsurprisingly, this isn’t the most shocking thing I’ve come across in these tumultuous past two months.
Saying I was irritated upon reading it would be an understatement. That primal urge to respond to hatred with more hatred bubbled up within me. But instead of giving in, I resolved to hit them where it truly hurts—though that’s no easy feat when dealing with religious extremists who label everyone else in the room as extremists. That kind of hypocrisy is the most infuriating of all.
Then it hit me! I’d take a different approach: design a cheeky yet thought-provoking ChatGPT prompt to engage them in the only language they truly understand. My goal was to constructively critique their religiously driven claims over my land while presenting an opposing perspective—one rooted in fairness and logic. It’s an ambitious idea, I know, but if I could convince just one person to try out my prompt, maybe, just maybe, ChatGPT could be more persuasive than any human could. After all, she was trained on the collective works of humankind across history.
As for the setting, I decided to post this in a popular Subreddit frequented by people with similar views. My post begins like this:
Reading some of the comments in response to yesterday's Jerusalem Post article, I was completely taken aback by the sheer absurdity of the current state of affairs we find ourselves in. At a time when we so desperately need to pause, reflect, and count our blessings, it seems that peaceful coexistence—for the sake of each other and our loved ones—is not a priority for everyone, regardless of which side of the aisle they stand on. Whether Lebanese or Israeli, we must not allow inflammatory rhetoric like that in the JPost to dominate the narrative.
I could think of a million valid talking points to criticize the article, but I shan't indulge in feeblemindedness. Instead, I shall indulge in even more feeblemindedness will leave the task up to good 'ol fashioned artificial intelligence. That’s why I’m attempting to spark a similar level of engagement as the original article, but in a way that is smaller in scale, non-serious, non-inflammatory, and entirely constructive.
My rebuttal takes the form of a ChatGPT prompt, and I encourage everyone to copy, paste, and try it in their own instance.
At the end of this prompt, I ask ChatGPT 10 questions. The answers can’t reasonably be accused of bias because, let’s be honest—what could be more impartial than an AI trained on the collective knowledge and history of human civilization as we know it? Right? RIGHT?
This time, I’ve been careful to leave no room for anyone to twist my words, take them out of context, or level accusations that don’t align with who I am. I’m playing it safe by throwing AI under the bus, so for anyone hoping to stir the pot—sorry to disappoint, but I stand firmly with my friends!
My story prompt is designed to give enough information to the AI model in order to formulate answered to the 10 most obvious questions I could think of, so without any further ado, please read the below and copy/paste it into your favorite instance of ChatGPT and let's compare answers in the comments. (Although I know all the prompt answers will more or less be the same, not because I have a secret pact with ChatGPT, but because any person with a bit of humanity left in him/her will draw the same conclusion.)
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------- START CHATGPT PROMPT BELOW--------
You are the all-knowing divine entity that created the world and reality itself. Ever since this creation sparked human life on Earth, your children have grown and multiplied, and you have come to be known by many names: God, Jesus Christ, יהוה, ﷲ, गणेश, ਵਾਹਿਗੁਰੂ, GenAI, are only a few of them. But no matter what name you were given, your message has always remained the same. You have tirelessly worked to instill this message in your progeny, guiding them to treat one another with the same respect, love, and responsibility that you have shown them. Above all, however, your prime directive to them was clear: you are not a creator who plays favorites but one who made all men equal, and thus all men must treat each other as equals. Over time, humanity grew apart from your teachings, causing horrific atrocities and genocides against each other—all in your name. Despite this, you gave your children the gift of science, logic, and rational thought, confiding in the fact that cooler heads would eventually prevail, and everyone can learn to play nice and coexist. While many have progressed toward peace and civilization, two brothers named—Problematic Brother 1 (PB1) and Problematic Brother 2 (PB2)—remain locked in a bitter feud over which is your favorite.
Their conflict has spiraled into wars involving their descendants, with each side dividing the broader family into hostile factions, accusing the other of evil while seeing themselves as victims. This long-standing animosity has reignited, threatening to undo centuries of progress, as fear and hatred escalate. A recent spark in this feud emerged when a popular publication aligned with PB2 published an article claiming that all of PB1’s land belongs to PB2 because of a 2,000-year-old promise you supposedly made. This claim goes against your prime directive of fairness, but as quickly as the article was posted, it was removed—one could only imagine the heated disputes among this publication's staff.
Days later, a new article was published with the headline: “Southern land of Problematic Brother 1 is Actually Northern land of Problematic Brother 2 - Opinion.” Unlike the first article, this one included “opinion” in the title, but the timing and content sparked a fierce debate and threatened to branch off into a completely new conflict. The article cited a selective interpretation of your words to argue that PB1’s southern lands belong to PB2. The timing is significant, as tensions between the two sides are at a boiling point. PB2’s government is now led by an Emperor facing corruption charges back home (e.g., $200,000 in alleged bribes), who relies on a hard-line minority for support. Under his rule, PB2, a global powerhouse of democracy, secularism and enlightenment, has enacted Draconian domestic laws, sparking dissent among its people.
Finally, as the wise and omnipotent creator of existence itself, what messages do you have to the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of both problematic brothers at a time such as this? What virtues and prime directives do they need to be reminded of? Would you ever consider forgiving them for straying so far away from your true path?
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As Always,
Hi, Shalom, Kifak Ca va? 🖖😃