6 ms·

AP and other mainstream "news" sites only care when Jewish people from Israel kill someone, they are of the "wrong" or unprotected religion. Other peoples in t

AP and other mainstream "news" sites only care when Jewish people from Israel kill someone, they are of the "wrong" or unprotected religion. Other peoples in the region can kill with impunity and no one will report on it at all. Syria, Yemen,Lebanon, Afghanistan, Iraq, etc... silence is the game If a Jewish persons defends themselves though, that is front page news.

tptacek 3y ago
I don't know if that's true. Problematically, I don't know if anybody else does either. The implications are significant either way. Under those circumstances, amping up the emotional impact of the stories being told seems worrisome. But not amping it up has had poor outcomes too, so who knows?
handy2000 3y ago
There are many reasons for this, one of the key reasons being less insidious than you imply. Americans see Israelis as people with the same "western" values, same cultural and ethical norms. Most Americans are not shocked by tribal violence in Yemen (as despicable as it is by general humanistic standards), but can relate and identify with Israelis both experiencing violence and inflicting it. I agree with you that we need to always provide clear context for what is happening in this specific situation, not rush to judgment and not to be as reactive in general. Israelis are defending themselves, Hamas is clearly using their own people as human shields. Saying that, Israel does have other options in this war, options that would reduce the civilian death count (e.g. allowing women and children leave Gaza for Israel, even at the cost of an increased terrorist activity).
- tptacek 3y ago
  Worth noting how treacherous is the American assumption that Israelis are just geographically displaced westerners, since a plurality of Israeli Jewish trace their origins to West Asian and North African states.
  - handy2000 3y ago
    I don't necessarily see how this is treacherous. Most Israelis, at least at and around the time of founding the state of Israel, were European immigrants. Some of the founders of Israel weren't even religious. Of course, it's safe to assume that at least practicing Jews carried over some traditions and, perhaps, values from their non-western origin, but it's not like fifth generation Polish Jews were in all respects non-westerners by the time they moved to Israel.
    - tptacek 3y ago
      Once again: a plurality of Israeli Jewish people are not in fact European, but were instead forcibly expelled from Tunisia, Yemen, Morocco, Egypt, Iraq, etc. The west's persistent belief that Israelis are culturally just like them, and see the world in the same terms, is problematic and not just a little bit racist. Moreover, there's a particularly disquieting subtext that Jewish people could be expelled from the Levant and a just status quo ante restored to the region; that outcome would probably amount to a genocide of the Mizrahim. See also: "decolonization". It also helps to understand that the "browner" an Israeli citizen is, the less likely they are to agree with liberals like me in the west about Israel's policies towards Palestinians. Israeli citizens of middle eastern ethnic origin are much more conservative than those of European origin.
      - handy2000 3y ago
        I see, thanks for clarifying.
      - underdeserver 3y ago
        I believe they are a majority now.
      - ignoramous 3y ago
        > the less likely they are to agree with liberals like me in the west about Israel's policies towards Palestinians Not quite true? From what I read, any solidarity with the Palestinians is considered treacherous. https://youtube.com/watch?v=JQS-_9K5-Dk&t=592 https://youtube.com/watch?v=JQS-_9K5-Dk&t=592 > ...more conservative than those of European origin Speak about racism and decolonization, immediately followed by this? The capitalists funding settlements and displacements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, or the Kahanists & JDL aren't necessarily only Mizrahi or only Ashkenazi.
arp242 3y ago
> Other peoples in the region can kill with impunity and no one will report on it at all. Syria, Yemen, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Iraq, etc... silence is the game It's been a few years, but for MONTHS we saw nothing but news about killings in Syria and Iraq: at the start of the Syrian civil war, and then later during the rise of ISIS. Yemen, Lebanon, and Afghanistan have also been widely covered, albeit less so. This claim is factually a bullshit conspiracy theory.

tptacek 3y ago

I don't know if that's true. Problematically, I don't know if anybody else does either. The implications are significant either way. Under those circumstances, amping up the emotional impact of the stories being told seems worrisome. But not amping it up has had poor outcomes too, so who knows?

handy2000 3y ago

There are many reasons for this, one of the key reasons being less insidious than you imply. Americans see Israelis as people with the same "western" values, same cultural and ethical norms. Most Americans are not shocked by tribal violence in Yemen (as despicable as it is by general humanistic standards), but can relate and identify with Israelis both experiencing violence and inflicting it. I agree with you that we need to always provide clear context for what is happening in this specific situation, not rush to judgment and not to be as reactive in general. Israelis are defending themselves, Hamas is clearly using their own people as human shields. Saying that, Israel does have other options in this war, options that would reduce the civilian death count (e.g. allowing women and children leave Gaza for Israel, even at the cost of an increased terrorist activity).

tptacek 3y ago
Worth noting how treacherous is the American assumption that Israelis are just geographically displaced westerners, since a plurality of Israeli Jewish trace their origins to West Asian and North African states.
- handy2000 3y ago
  I don't necessarily see how this is treacherous. Most Israelis, at least at and around the time of founding the state of Israel, were European immigrants. Some of the founders of Israel weren't even religious. Of course, it's safe to assume that at least practicing Jews carried over some traditions and, perhaps, values from their non-western origin, but it's not like fifth generation Polish Jews were in all respects non-westerners by the time they moved to Israel.
  - tptacek 3y ago
    Once again: a plurality of Israeli Jewish people are not in fact European, but were instead forcibly expelled from Tunisia, Yemen, Morocco, Egypt, Iraq, etc. The west's persistent belief that Israelis are culturally just like them, and see the world in the same terms, is problematic and not just a little bit racist. Moreover, there's a particularly disquieting subtext that Jewish people could be expelled from the Levant and a just status quo ante restored to the region; that outcome would probably amount to a genocide of the Mizrahim. See also: "decolonization". It also helps to understand that the "browner" an Israeli citizen is, the less likely they are to agree with liberals like me in the west about Israel's policies towards Palestinians. Israeli citizens of middle eastern ethnic origin are much more conservative than those of European origin.
    - handy2000 3y ago
      I see, thanks for clarifying.
    - underdeserver 3y ago
      I believe they are a majority now.
    - ignoramous 3y ago
      > the less likely they are to agree with liberals like me in the west about Israel's policies towards Palestinians Not quite true? From what I read, any solidarity with the Palestinians is considered treacherous. https://youtube.com/watch?v=JQS-_9K5-Dk&t=592 https://youtube.com/watch?v=JQS-_9K5-Dk&t=592 > ...more conservative than those of European origin Speak about racism and decolonization, immediately followed by this? The capitalists funding settlements and displacements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, or the Kahanists & JDL aren't necessarily only Mizrahi or only Ashkenazi.

arp242 3y ago

> Other peoples in the region can kill with impunity and no one will report on it at all. Syria, Yemen, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Iraq, etc... silence is the game It's been a few years, but for MONTHS we saw nothing but news about killings in Syria and Iraq: at the start of the Syrian civil war, and then later during the rise of ISIS. Yemen, Lebanon, and Afghanistan have also been widely covered, albeit less so. This claim is factually a bullshit conspiracy theory.