Lilaq Logan, the African Hebrew Israelite emerging as Israel's unlikely advocate - interview

In a bout of exhaustion and anger, 25-year-old Lilaq Logan recorded a video of herself ranting about the current circumstances in Israel, with no intention of reaching an audience.

“I was speaking out of frustration, saying that this is not a reality that we should be getting used to,” she said an interview with The Jerusalem Post. “No one deserves to get used to this reality.”

Filmed and posted in late October, post Oct. 7, the video went viral and earned Logan, an IDF commander with Jewish and African Hebrew Israelite heritage, a large following. Since then, she has been a resounding voice for Israel on TikTok and Instagram, where she has 75,000 followers all together.

“Most people who started doing online hasbara [public diplomacy] are people who saw videos that were far from the truth and were so frustrated with it that they had to go out and debunk it in a way,” said Logan.

She said the motivation comes from “frustration of people dictating our truth or dictating our reality and disregarding it and lying about it, and then making something else the truth.”

Logan has continued posting videos reacting and responding to videos from pro-Palestinian users, as well as sharing her insights. In a recent video that Logan posted, she talks about how the conflict has reached a level of “toxicity” for her.

“No one should ever be justifying the ‘un-aliving’ [euphemism for “murder”] or the deaths or injuries of innocent civilians,” she said in the video. “We can be pro-Israel and pro-Palestine and stand up for our people by any means necessary without wanting the deaths of other people.”

As the war escalates, disinformation has spiked on social media, where false translations, unreliable sources, and misrepresented video footage run rampant.

The Hebrew Israelite community

LOGAN WAS raised in the African Hebrew Israelite community in Dimona, situated on the edge of Israel’s Negev Desert. 

The Hebrew Israelite community has faced racism, police brutality, and threats of deportation. Approximately 3,000 of them live in southern Israel. The Village of Peace, a grouping of low-slung buildings encircled by agriculture and gardens in Dimona, is the community’s core.

As a Black Israeli, Logan, who has never felt targeted personally and has always felt comfortable in the Jewish state, fights back against race-based anti-Israel rhetoric and claims that Israel mistreats its Black citizens. Logan has a deep connection to her Israeli identity and feels that the fight for Israel is not only for the country but for herself.

“I live here, and this is a part of me,” she said. “I’m not doing anyone any favors.”

She doesn’t consider her content advocacy or activism, but rather a part of her role as an Israeli.

“I don’t think that I’m standing up for anything. I just think that I’m doing my duty as a person who was born and raised here,” she said.

With her extensive social media following, Logan frequently receives hateful comments, and her family has also received threatening messages. However, she also gets comments thanking her for speaking up for Israel.

“I get a lot of messages saying, ‘Thank you for standing up for us,’ and ‘I’m like, I am you. I’m part of you,’” she said. 

HASBARA IS critical right now, as most of Generation Z get their news from social media. According to a 2023 Pew Research Center survey, one-third of adults under 30 regularly use TikTok for news – up 255% since 2020. Online activists like Logan can help shape public opinion and offer a new perspective. On average, TikTok users are between the ages of 16 and 24, and Instagram users are between 18 and 34. At 18, Logan noted, Israelis join the army to complete their mandatory service, while Americans are focused on academics.

“[American kids’] biggest problem is what university or college they’ll get accepted to, so I find it very hard to argue with people whose struggles are not matching mine,” she said. “We don’t have the same struggle, and we don’t fight the same fight.”

While navigating the waters of the media, saturated by misinformation, it is challenging to get through to younger audiences, many of whom began learning about Israel only recently.

“I feel that the majority of the people didn’t even know where Israel was on the map before this war,” said Logan. “If we were dealing with people who had the ability of understanding and wanting to learn and understand the truth, it would be different. All we can do is try to get our truth across in the best way we know how to.”

Although Logan didn’t initially search for a media platform, she plans to continue making videos and expressing her perspective.

“In a weird way, this found me, and I’m continuing on with it,” she said. “I’m proud of what I do.”

Behind closed doors, senior IDF officials describe Logan as their “secret weapon.” Because of her proficient English and American appearance, she can communicate with progressives and resonate with them on a different level than white American Jews.

Ultimately, “we shouldn’t praise war, and we shouldn’t praise death,” she said. “We have every right to defend ourselves, but in my opinion, there are no winners in war.” 

Other impactful Israeli influencers

Other Black Israelis impacting Israel’s media presence include Titi Aynaw, an Ethiopian Israeli model and former Miss Israel; Ashriel Moore, a former competitor on Israel’s version of the reality show The Amazing Race and a Hebrew Israelite advocate; and Noah Shufutinsky, better known as the rapper Westside Gravy, an African American Jew who immigrated to Israel last year. 

Aynaw recently received additional public attention after appearing on FOX News and denouncing the Black Lives Matter movement’s double standards. During this segment, she drew attention to BLM’s silence regarding the sexual violence that took place on Oct. 7.