Telling Off the Trolls

August 8, 2006 - 11:12 AM by Allison

It is a rare Israeli blogger these days that hasn’t been attacked by angry commenters. In this post, Idan responds to them eloquently and thoroughly. I think he speaks for everyone trying to argue Israel’s case in these difficult times:

I’ve been accused, in various comments and emails, of being racist or complicit in the murder of innocent civilians, by virtue of the positions I take against Hezbollah and/or Arab/Muslim culture at large. I’m not talking raving incoherent “U R EVIL JEW DRINKING BABY BLOOD DIE DIE DIE!!!11!one!!”, I’m talking well-strung together sentences expressing shock and dismay that somebody capable of writing in lucid english (ergo having > 2 brain cells) could be in favor of Israel committing genocide.

Expressing anger or criticism of Hezbollah, of the Arab world, of the Media, of Europe, of Israel, of anybody — does not amount to supporting innocent civilian deaths, does not equate to racism, does not imply that I support genocide. Saying that Israel isn’t committing genocide, and backing it up with examples and lucid reasoning, does not mean that I support genocide. Saying that Israel is wronged in the press, that she is treated to a double standard, does not mean that I am racist.

There are problems in muslim society. Problems which lead to people thinking that aiming missiles at population centers is an OK thing to do. Problems which lead to family members murdering female relatives for the crime of being raped. Problems which allow organizations like Hezbollah to thrive and broadcast their overtly racist, genocidal message of hatred and murder. Problems which lead to teens strapping on ball-bearing-packed explosive belts and murdering innocent civilians at random, and families which are proud of such acts of “resistance”.

There are problems in the media. Biased reporters who are complicit in lying to the masses about the truth on the ground, because they have a vested interest. Biased editors who pass off their decisions as editorial when, in fact, they have edited away the parts that show how Israel really is.

There are problems in Israel. We have an educational system in decline over the last two decades. A stick-your-nose-in-everything, loudmouth, courtesy-free culture which has sprung up around MTV and a long period between “real” wars like Kippur and the present. We have a government which is always composed of several military men who sometimes believe that naked military force is the one-size-fits-all solution to Israel’s conflict with all 12.9 km^2 of Israel’s enemies. We have a deeply divided population that doesn’t see eye-to-eye on what is the best future for Israel, and therefore what is the best course of action to get there. We have a part of the populace that cares nothing for the human rights of “palestinians”, and a part that cares so much that they care about palestinians to the expense of Israelis, and a big bunch of people sitting somewhere in between on the scale.

Criticism of these issues, of the imbalance I see between the truth on the ground and the pared-down soundbytes being broadcast to a global population ill-equipped to evaluate them does not amount to intolerance or hatred, in the same way that criticising my government does not make me less of a patriot for my nation. Quite the opposite: I believe that it is precisely my ability to question and criticise my government which defines my patriotism; my already-meagre role in government is defined by ballot casting once every few years and vocal criticism in between.

I don’t want any civilian deaths in Lebanon. I don’t want any civilian deaths in Israel. I don’t want IDF casualties. I can’t say that I don’t want Hezbollah casualties, because their goal is to systematically murder me and all of my kind in the name of their twisted perversion of fanatic Islam. To criticise Hezbollah, to defend the actions of my government I do agree with, or to defend my nation from what I consider to be disproportionate (oh, the irony) and factually incorrect media evaluations does not make me desirous of dead babies of any culture, nor does it make me hate arabs. When I cite my grievances with the arab world at large, I am careful to frame my criticism within the facts I bring to support my argument, and I am far more careless with my criticism of Israel because in that case, I am writing from yet-more intimate knowledge than I have about the arab world.

If you were sent to read this post because I told you to do so, then go and reread whatever it is that made you make your asinine comment in the first place, knowing what I have just told you, and see if perhaps you’ve let a stereotype in your head color my words. If it has, and you realize it, then I would appreciate an apology, not because I want to be right, but because I would hope that a reasonably intelligent reader would also be deeply disturbed to be called a racist and a murderer, or complicit in murder. That, at least, is one attribute that I would hope that every intelligent reader or writer shares in common.

Tags: • Category: A New Reality 

Comments

3 Comments on Telling Off the Trolls

  1. metin trabzon on Wed, Aug 9th 2006 10:00 PM

    2. I saw that one day baby from ?srail today.And I saw a baby four day baby in Lebnan..But it isnt live.You have a wrong teology…

  2. WRR on Sat, Aug 12th 2006 5:53 AM

    3. I found your blog through Natalie de Arbeloff’s Blaugustine. I’m glad I did. I wanted to link to an Isareli blog and a Lebanese blog just to show my students countries. Your blog and the Cold Dessert blog both prove that this is not a war that citizens from either country welcome.

    Peace and radiance to you,
    WRR
    Visual Artist and Art Educator from the Philippines

  3. Robin N on Sun, Aug 20th 2006 7:08 PM

    4. May you stay safe, and I continue my prayers that the world will understand the difference between good and evil.

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