This is the article that will voice a reaction to the flotilla attack. It will detail a brief recap of events being careful to give room to the official Israeli narrative because a government is intrinsically more trustworthy than human rights activists or foreign accented reporters to a serious person.
This is the article that will talk about how this affects Israel, because the author unconsciously empathises more with the nice European like Israeli Jews than the swarthy mysterious uppity ‘other’ (just as the Ashkenazi elite are privileged above Middle Eastern Jews).
This is the article that will not make any comparisons to other sieges or acts of piracy because that would expose the utterly different responses of Western Governments and frighten the delicate sensibilities of the faux informed reader.
This is the article that will effect a vague world weary plague-upon-both-your-houses demeanour which appears as informed cynicism but is actually timidity and a laziness to do the research into the real situation.
This is the article that might ask where is the Palestinian Gandhi demonstrating the authors ignorance of the many non violent activists Israel has murdered & imprisoned over the years and still does.
This is the article by someone who avoids the contemporary frontlines of discourse such as Electronic Intifada, Mondoweiss, Pulse, Jewish Voice for Peace, London Review of Books, Angry Arab, Jews San Frontieres. Consequently this article has unexamined belief in the good faith of the ‘peace process’ that every year it is claimed to be happening allows more heavily armed colonies to be built and more Palestinians to be dispossessed.
This is the article that although the US Congress voted 410-4 for more military aid to Israel does not want to get into that whole ‘Lobby’ thing.
This is the article that will note Hamas has an anti-semitic clause in their charter but will not so quickly note that Zionism is an exclusionary ideology that privileges Jews above others and has created an apartheid regime intent on ethnic cleansing.
This is the article that will not mention the majority of Jewish Israelis support restricting human rights organisations operations, that a garrison state with national military service has create a militarist population and political parties none of whom significantly dissent from hard line Zionism.
This is the article that will not mention the Shministim, the young people who are imprisoned for refusing to serve in the IDF.
This is the article that will note the Israeli peace movement and human rights organisations but not note how they are victimised by the authorities of all kinds.
This is the article that may support a ‘Jewish democracy’ while avoiding the reality it is code for expulsions, settlements and apartheid.
This is the article that will allow the reader to tut tut after each atrocity, but no more than that, thus enabling the next atrocity to unfold without consequence.
This is the article that whatever the death toll of Palestinians and internationals will note Gilad Shalit is still detained (and contrary to propaganda the flotilla did offer to deliver a letter) but probably will not mention the 6,831 Palestinians detained by Israel.
This is the article that will note injuries and dead on all sides but is wary of the proportions such as those of Operation Cast Lead where it was approximately 100:1 Palestinian to Israeli fatalities (150:1 if you discount IDF friendly fire deaths).
This is the article the New York Times might be daring to publish, or the BBC might report on but always ending with the number of rocket attacks into Israel and misleadingly -without context- say Hamas seized power in Gaza.
This is the article that will not mention the gas fields Israel is stealing from Palestinians, or the water or the land, because an even hand of condemnation must be maintained.
This is the article that is not comfortable with acknowledging the Nakba.
This is the article that waits for Leaders to Do Something, it will wait for as long as it is told to.
This is the article that is too cowardly and shallow to mention how a fighter against apartheid saw parallels in Israel, or to understand- ‘If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.’
This is the article that will appear on thousands of blogs, news & magazine sites and is a waste of everyone’s time and energy, it convinces readers to shrug ‘oh that pesky Middle East, what a cauldron of violence why can’t they all just get along’ and do nothing but keep chattering.
So instead…
Do Something
This is not the article that will acknowledge Palestinian aggression against Israeli civilians, nor will it demand accountability from Hamas for their part in the brinkmanship faced today. This article will not call for compromises on both sides, on mutual prisoner swaps, or on ceasefires.
This is not the article that will help the public understand a complex issue dominated by recriminations by extremists peddling total innocence against total criminality. This is not the article that will deescalate high passions, roaring tempers, and the instinct for vengeance.
This *is* the article where the author validates their own echo chamber and seduces their own choir. This is also the article where rhetoric reigns and accuracy is sacrificed to idol of political manipulation. This is the article where nothing is said about mutual culpability and nuance, and only my victimization matter.
This comment is racist.
This is not the article that will acknowledge the Red Indians’ aggression against American Christians … aw no, I told it wrong. This is not the article that will acknowledge the Chinese Communists’ aggression against the benevolent Japanese Pan-Asian Co-Properity Initiative … awwwww shit …. This is not the article that will acknowledge the Sandinistas’ aggression against Texas, which as the Only President We Had from 1984, was just a few hours’ drive from Managua …
By the way, Mr. Kung Fu Jew, what you are complaining about in your second paragraph — articles that “help the public understand a complex issue dominated by recriminations by extremists peddling total innocence against total criminality” — is exactly what the US media refuse to give; they misrepresent the history that led up to the attack on the Flotilla, ignore most of what Israel has done and only dwell on Palestinian violence. As for “peddling total innocence against total criminality”, surely you’ve seen the Israeli government’s claim that the poor IDF men were “ambushed”? Or all the articles in the US media whose main concern is how this attack is going to hurt Israel? (It’s very much like Chris Brown’s complaint that Oprah’s show on domestic violence was “like a slap in the face” to him.)
I’d also suggest that Rick’s post was not *meant* to provide the “balance” that the US media believe is necessary in reporting, except where official enemies are involved. (No one thinks, for example, that there is any need to balance a condemnation of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan with the crimes of the Afghan resistance, though there were many of the latter and the resistance was mainly composed of people who became the warlords and Taliban we now demonize.) Journalism should aim for a grasp of complexity; polemic needn’t do so.
This is the usual disingenuous shit we see from hasbara trolls every day, trying to claim self-defence. This is the shit that ain’t foolin’ anyone anymore. This is the shit you can stuff back up the orifice it came from.
Catchy idiom ain’t it?
The words are linked with sources, your sense of balance is I am afraid not balance, that is the point. Israel committed violent piracy on an aid ship, the deescalation of that is apology, reparations and stopping their siege.
Very nice job Rick. You’re so much nicer than I, and certainly more of a wordsmith. My reaction to KFJ was visceral and would have certainly been limited to a string of unproductive obscenities.
Thank you! I went through the exclamations about 12 hours ago or so, then when I saw the identical same articles appearing I knew I had something productive to do. I felt the activists were doing their job, how can we contribute. Now of course we have to monitor how they are treated, how they are lied about and …the MV Rachel Corrie is still at sea!
excellent piece rick
thank you
let’s keep BDS rolling
Hey Pete, nice to hear from you, thanks. BDS!
Great article. Creative and spot on.
Keep up the good work.
Thanks Samuel.
Thank you! This is everything I’m feeling today after reading dozens of painfully biased articles.
“This is the article the New York Times might be daring to publish, or the BBC might report on but always ending with the number of rocket attacks into Israel and misleadingly -without context- say Hamas seized power in Gaza.”
That’s one of my favorite points. Every-time I see a stand alone sentence randomly smooshed between paragraphs that state “thousands of rockets are launched into Isreal”, i want to bang my head on the desk.
Thanks, and indeed I have that same indented desk problem.
i tweeted your definition of Zionism on twitter with credit as 10% because of character limit. It is without exception there most clear definition of Apartheid throughout Human History and in this most specific case those terrorist nazis who are using The Land of Israel for the most inhumane ill-gotten gain.
Thanks. I don’t think a Nazi description though is apt, there is specific history and events to either ideology, fascist (certainly Avigdor Lieberman is a fascist) might be more appropriate. I think a good quote on the phenomenons was along the lines of – two disasters have befallen Jews in recent history, the Holocaust and Zionism.
Thanks…every article I read today was really the one I was sick of reading…right on!
Thanks Cynthia, maybe these kind of articles will slowly decrease as more people lose patience with the nonsense in the corporate media.
Really good piece..many thanks..& def agree with the head banging thing!
This is the woman who tells the truth (and should be in government):
Ok vid embed comment chaos fixed, and Salma plays a blinder!
All I can say is: astounding, impressive, intelligent, heartfelt, realistic poignant, and very very sad. Expertly written and precise in its approach and content, we can only hope, that our ‘balanced media’ actually realise the imbalance of their reporting. Thank you.
Thank You Michael, most generous of you! Indeed faux balance and bias, like the siege, must become a thing of the past.
Excellent article. I’ve been sick of reading it for years.
Nelson, nice to see you. Yes, comes up without fail, I can’t imagine what idiocy is going on on HYS about the attack, but I trust SYB will do the honours.
When I first checked, the vast majority of the comments were actually just the straightforward responses of people disgusted by Israel’s actions. It seems to me that, until journalists get involved, this is usually the case.
There’s a great phrase I heard for that, that -bad- journo’s ‘colour the smoke’.
This is a very well written takedown of the mass media and how they propagandize.
Thank you, it just came out, I was so sick of those articles that started to pop up as they always do, enough is enough of that cobblers.
Pogge came up with a nice analysis that suggested that the action was not piracy : but an act of war against the Turkish merchant marine. Under Article V of NATO Turkey is an aggrieved signatory to the mutual defense agreement. Israel…isn’t.
Ian Welsh put me on to that one…in a goes on forever title noting Turkey would be putting together further shipments and giving them a naval escort.
And as for the b.s. that goes on forever.
It has, you know. Gone on forever, that is. If I want to really go historic, you could note the paid mob calling for Jesus’ execution ! I have a lot more recent than that.
http://opitslinkfest.blogspot.com/2009/07/perception-alteration.html
C’mon. Take a peek. Andy Worthington liked it.
Yes Craig Murray suggested that too, although any kind of nationalistic confrontation would be awful and distract from this is not a warfare thing but a humanitarian issue, but the legality does put further pressure on Israel to cease its supremacist violence.
[...] to this whole situation. Rick takes all my feelings and beautifully lays it out in this piece, This is the article I am sick of reading. This is the article that will voice a reaction to the flotilla attack. It will detail a brief recap [...]
There have been many villainies perpetrated by Israel but I am concerned at the subtle racism permeating many utterances by the critics of Israel.
No I don’t mean anti-Jewish racism (although there is, regrettably and disgustingly, some of that in some quarters), I mean the failure to critique Arab actions.
For example, I have heard much about Palestinians being driven from Israel, much less about Jews driven from the Arab lands after WW2. I hear much about Israeli blockading of Gaza, much less about the Egyptian blockade. I hear much about Israeli oppression of Palestinians, much less about Hamas oppressing Palestinians who do not toe their line (including assassination of Palestinian academics).
What worries me is the unspoken assumption that Israelis ought to be civilised, but Arabs don’t have to be.
Sorry, RickB, there IS more than one side to this story.
I fully expect howls of outrage for not agreeing with everyone else on this page.
DV – I think you’ve missed the point of this post.
You may have heard, however, that the death penalty is active in Palestine: http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/executions-hamas-gaza-deplorable-2010-04-15
DV the Jews driven from arab lands is largely a myth,
http://jewssansfrontieres.blogspot.com/2006/10/arab-jewish-refugees.html
the Egyptian blockade is because the US is supporting the Israeli blockade, the US wants Egypt to do likewise and supports a dictator with his own oppressive reasons to hate Palestinians. Hamas are no ones idea of an ideal government but they are not besieging Israelis or stealing their land. I’m afraid ‘assumption that Israelis ought to be civilised, but Arabs don’t have to be’ is sheer nonsense and borderline racist, I think it is your assumption because you want license for Israeli brutality.
Yes there are ‘sides’ but the point is only one is presented in mainstream corporate Western media and that is what this post is about, if you are not sick of bias then you are hardly going to help the discourse along.
Also the fundamental frame that criticism of Israel is to be equated with some kind of approval or ignoring of Hamas’ activity is a rhetorical conceit designed to shift the debate away from issues pro-Isreali’s do not wish to argue as they know they cannot reasonably and honestly prevail with their arguments as Zionism is a racist colonial ideology that has tilted into fascism.
China and the US have the death penalty however I do not think bombing them with white phosphorous then starving them is an appropriate response nor does it justify it, opposition to a siege is not support for a government’s policies, again it is shifting debate to avoid issues pro -Israel parties know they cannot reasonably defend without exposing racist and fascist assumptions about the right to domination and the right to violence against the ‘other’.
It’s good to look at both sides of the story to get perspective for sure, and no one is saying that the rest of the world is perfect. But no matter how many times people who support Israel’s actions point to the actions of people in the Arab world, I can’t help but think…. and your point is?
A crime among other crimes is no less a crime.
There are problems within Palestinian society and a civil war that divides. But to all of that I say… Why do some of these problems exist? Why does Hamas exist? Is it because the people of Gaza after 40 years of occupation and systematic abuse were desperate and frustrated?
You can bring up the sun and the moon and stars and all of it doesn’t mean our criticism of Israel, which for me has nothing to do with religion and everything to do with human beings abusing other human beings, is not valid.
In fact, by constantly pointing to other crimes, you’re doing the cause of Israel a disservice. I would be much less critical if Israel took even an iota of responsibility for the situation that they have created and perpetuated over the last 50 odd years.
[...] is Entry 13 in the Mondo Awards end-of-year Inspire-us contest. Rick Burgess first posted this piece on his site on the day of the flotilla attack last [...]