The shocking news will be revealed to all at 18:00 now...and I can say I'm disgusted on several levels.
1. That someone from the nationalist-religious community was involved in this crime.
2. That the same above someone is also a settler.
3. That the police and media clearly held onto this story for over 3 weeks...coincidentally poised to reveal it within the framework of Rabin Memorial Month.
I guarantee the politicians and media personalities will harp on the person's background over and over again, tarring the community from which he originates.
It would be unfair to paint all leftists as child killers -- like Assaf Goldring who recently murdered his 3 year old daughter. For example, the "Kikar Shabbat" website, covered the story as, "Secular Leftist Murdered His Daughter" -- you would never see a headline like that on YNET, rather only the flipside: "Religious Settler Responsible for ...." (which you'll see tonight at 18:00).
It would be wrong to say that all left-wing actors are sex criminals like Chanan Goldblatt or Gadi Saban. Not all left-winger beat their wives like Assi Dayan or have goon squads beat up their competitors, like Dudu Topaz.
Writing the following even before the latest news broke, Yitzchak Klein wrote the following Op-Ed piece in the Jerusalem Post, about "Our Day of Mourning...and Hatred"
1. That someone from the nationalist-religious community was involved in this crime.
2. That the same above someone is also a settler.
3. That the police and media clearly held onto this story for over 3 weeks...coincidentally poised to reveal it within the framework of Rabin Memorial Month.
I guarantee the politicians and media personalities will harp on the person's background over and over again, tarring the community from which he originates.
It would be unfair to paint all leftists as child killers -- like Assaf Goldring who recently murdered his 3 year old daughter. For example, the "Kikar Shabbat" website, covered the story as, "Secular Leftist Murdered His Daughter" -- you would never see a headline like that on YNET, rather only the flipside: "Religious Settler Responsible for ...." (which you'll see tonight at 18:00).
It would be wrong to say that all left-wing actors are sex criminals like Chanan Goldblatt or Gadi Saban. Not all left-winger beat their wives like Assi Dayan or have goon squads beat up their competitors, like Dudu Topaz.
Writing the following even before the latest news broke, Yitzchak Klein wrote the following Op-Ed piece in the Jerusalem Post, about "Our Day of Mourning...and Hatred"
Before the Hate had proceeded for thirty seconds, uncontrollable exclamations of rage were breaking out from half the people in the room... The horrible thing about the Two Minutes Hate was not that one was obliged to act a part, but that it was impossible to avoid joining in. Within thirty seconds any pretense was always unnecessary. A hideous ecstasy of fear and vindictiveness, a desire to kill, to torture, to smash faces with a sledge hammer, seemed to flow through the whole group of people like an electric current, turning one even against one's will into a grimacing, screaming lunatic. - George Orwell, 1984
In George Orwell's dystopia, formal public ceremonies are devoted to the inculcation of hatred. The object of this hatred is the classic "enemy" that is a feature of every totalitarian society, legions of faceless and anonymous traitors who threaten society on all sides and whom it is an obligation to hate. (read it all here)
Its wrong. The arrested people, if they are indeed guilty, are morons and should be locked away.
Yet I will not be intimidated into hiding and bowing my head in shame over the actions of a few individuals who don't represent me, or my values.
If you really want to know in advance of the media blackout, and your Hebrew is up to par...you can read about it here or a general search here. Just don't comment about it on this blog till after the media blackout has been rescinded.
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I would agree with you that the media often inappropriately attaches labels to criminals, usually when it serves some agenda. If all the facts in this case are true, I think that one does not have to besmirch an entire community in order to see the relevance of a persons political/religious background. If someone's crimes are motivated by certain religious and political beliefs, these are very relevant to the story. If a person who wears a kippah and tzizit kills someone because they are a criminal, their religious affiliation is irrelevant. But if they kill someone because they feel that their religious beliefs are justification for this killing, or motivated them, then these religious beliefs are very relevant. Again, it is sometimes a fine line, but a good writer should be able to draw the line between relevance and stereotyping.
ReplyDeleteSo a secular person always condemns his fellow secularians as guilty as his motivation ultimately evolves from their shared non-belief in God or religion.
ReplyDelete