Thursday, April 04, 2013

Will Haaretz and Hass Claim "Freedom to Expression"?

As blogger Daled Amos has noted to me:


Actually, throwing stones at Jews is traditionally considered the birthright of Arabs in ruling over Jews as recorded in "In Jews and Arabs: Their Contacts Through the Ages" where S. D. Goitein wrote in 1955:



In former times--and in remote places even today--it was common for Muslim schoolboys to stone Jews. When the Turks conquered Yemen in 1872, an envoy was sent from the Chief Rabbi of Istanbul to inquire what grievance the Yemenite Jews had against their neighbors. It is indicative that the first thing of which they complained was this molestation by the schoolboys. But when the Turkish Governor asked an assembly of notables to stop this nuisance,there arose an old doctor of Muslim law and explained that this stone-throwing at Jews was an age-old custom (in Arabic 'Ada) and therefore it was unlawful to forbid it. [p. 76]

And that was in reaction to the op-ed by Amira Hass yesterday:

The inner syntax of Palestinian stone-throwing

where she wrote, and Haaretz published:

"Throwing stones is the birthright and duty of anyone subject to foreign rule.  Throwing stones is an action as well as a metaphor of resistance.

...this is true not only in the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and Gaza, but also within Israel’s recognized borders, although the violence and the resistance to it are expressed differently...

...Even if it is a right and duty, various forms of steadfastness and resisting the foreign regime, as well as its rules and limitations, should be taught and developed. Limitations could include the distinction between civilians and those who carry arms, between children and those in uniform, as well as the failures and narrowness of using weapons...

We have a toddler fighting for her life as a result of stonethrowing near Ariel.  My neighbors' 5-month old baby was killed when a stone struck his head.  Just this week, an Arab was found guilty of throwing rocks that killed.

And now it's a police matter:

The Legal Forum for the Land of Israel on Wednesday contacted Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein, asking that he launch an investigation against Haaretz writer Amira Hass on suspicion of incitement...Yesha Council head Avi Ro'eh and Chairman Ron Shachner have already sent a letter to the Jerusalem Police, accusing the newspaper of incitement to violence.
Attorney Hila Cohen, writing on behalf of the Legal Forum, wrote in the letter to Weinstein that Hass’s comments were serious and constitute an incitement to violence and terrorism, while encouraging murderous terrorism...The Legal Forum said that "throwing stones at Israelis should be called by its real name - an act of terrorism. Treating it any other way may cause an escalation in the phenomenon, which is supposedly justified.”

Will Haaretz claim "freedom of the press"?  "Freedom of expression"?

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UPDATE

I was just interviewed for IBA English Radio and asked by the interviewer "do you think journalists really should be punished for writing what Hass did?" (my rephrasing of the question), I replied:



what she wrote wasn't what the task of a journalist is and moreover, Hass wasn't writing as a journalist.  she was being a pro-'Palestinian' activist.  she has to decide who she is.  that column wasn't even an analysis piece but straight-out advocacy.
_________________

Dror Eydar's When free speech becomes lawlessness.

Yossi Beilin's  Violence is never legitimate

Arabs have adopted her.

 

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1 comment:

goyisherebbe said...

Well said and well done. In the world of journalism truth well done is rare.