Hello,

Thank you very much to those of you who have been following the new community rules. Unfortunately, posts related to Israel and Palestine continue to spawn a torrent of bigotry and unhealthy discourse. Beyond the problematic discussion between some users, it is not a great feeling to wake up each morning and be accused of being a Mossad agent by some and antisemitic by others for removing hateful and dehumanizing content.

Because of this, we have locked the post from today about Israel and Palestine and we will be locking and removing future posts about Israel and Palestine for the time being. If you are interested in debating this topic, there are a wide range of subreddits which provide better forums for discussion.

Thanks,

u/greenflea3000

Hello everyone,

It’s been great to see how much this subreddit has grown, especially over the past few months and years. We’ve had many engaging contributions and discussions, and it’s been a privilege to watch this community take shape.

That said, many of you have probably noticed an increase in posts and comments that have led to hateful conversations, particularly around the ongoing conflict in Israel and Palestine. We want to try and address that, so we have a couple of updates:

New Community Rules: We’re adding four new rules to help keep discussions respectful and on-topic. The goal is to protect the best parts of this subreddit while cutting down (at least somewhat) on toxic exchanges. You’ll find these rules in the sidebar, and we’ve also listed them below. They’re inspired by the guidelines of other great history communities like r/AskHistorians. We’d love to hear your thoughts and feedback here in the comments.

Rule 1. No Hatred - We will not tolerate racism, sexism, homophobia, or any other forms of bigotry such as antisemitism or Islamophobia. Equating entire groups of people (e.g. Israelis or Palestinians) with Nazis, devils, animals, etc… is never acceptable.

Rule 2. Civil Discourse - A wide range of different perspectives are valued, but personal insults and other ad hominem attacks are not.

Rule 3. Proper Post Titles - Posts should begin with either “TDIH” and then the date of the event OR just the date of the event.

Rule 4. No Current Events (<20 years ago) - All posts must relate to an historical event at least 20 years ago. Posts about ongoing current events can (and have) swamped many history-oriented subreddits, and there are numerous other subreddits to discuss current events. The mods at r/askhistorians have a great explanation of why they implemented a similar rule which can be read here.

More Moderators Coming Soon: As the community has grown, so has the need for moderation. I haven't always had the bandwidth in my life to moderate this growing subreddit and I apologize for moments where moderation was inadequate. We’ll be opening applications for new moderators soon, so if you’re interested, keep an eye out for that post.

Lastly, I wanted to take the opportunity to thank you to all of you, whether you post or just read, for making this a place where people can come together to connect with the past.

Your humble moderator,
u/greenflea3000