Left-wing Incitement

Last week in Tel Aviv, I spotted this election sign for Oren Shachor. Shachor was a very pro-Oslo person, formerly a a former IDF general who was forced to resign for having leaked details of secret Hevron negotiations to then-opposition leader Shimon Peres. (Bio*)

He's running for mayor of Tel Aviv.



Now, what caught my attention is the word מתעלל in the ad. I'll explain.

The ad translates as: "52% Assert That Huldai Is Abusing Them. Huldai Is Abusing You. 200 million NIS is Parking Fines"

[Huldai is the current Mayor]

In Hebrew, מתעלל conveys not only a sense of abuse in the psychological realm but of real physical pain.

For example:
וּלְמַעַן תְּסַפֵּר בְּאָזְנֵי בִנְךָ וּבֶן-בִּנְךָ אֵת אֲשֶׁר הִתְעַלַּלְתִּי בְּמִצְרַיִם
Exodus 10:2 - "And that thou mayest tell in the ears of thy son, and of thy son's son, what things I have wrought in Egypt"
or
וַיַּחֲזֵק הָאִישׁ בְּפִילַגְשׁוֹ וַיֹּצֵא אֲלֵיהֶם הַחוּץ וַיֵּדְעוּ אוֹתָהּ וַיִּתְעַלְּלוּ-בָהּ כָּל-הַלַּיְלָה עַד-הַבֹּקֶר
Judges 19:25 - "So the man took his concubine and sent her outside to them, and they raped her and abused her throughout the night"

Now, why would a leftist politician use such a harsh word?

Moreover, if rightwing demonstrators would have accused this government of "abusing" them, the media and the officials in the Justice Ministry would immediately be crying "danger! assassination" or "danger! Jewish extremists are threatening".

In fact, even without that word they are doing that already.

So, why can Shachor do what I can't?




-----------

(*)

Maj. Gen. (res.) Oren Shachor President of the Eilat-Ashkelon Pipeline Company. Previously served as Chairman of the Board of the I.S.C. Holdings Group and as Acting Chairman of the Board of Amidar, the largest public housing company in Israel. Served in the IDF for thirty-three years in such senior positions as Coordinator of Government Activities in the West Bank and Gaza, Chief Intelligence Officer and Intelligence Officer of the Southern Command. Holds a B.A. in General History from Tel Aviv University. Currently pursuing an M.A. in International Relations from Haifa University. Graduate of the IDF Staff and Command College.