Antisemitism has always been a latent part of our culture. It is a terrible thing that Jewish people have been fighting against and dealing with for centuries. It just took a few words in the Charlottesville White Power March with people shouting, “Jews will not replace us” referred to as the replacement theory and a comment by Former President Trump saying that “there were good people on both sides” to give permission to those white power groups to feel that they had a friend in the White House. An analysis of the texts and communications of the white supremacy movement flooded the internet with affirmation of Trump’s words following the march.
He has eaten with white supremacists and praised Hitler for the good things that he had done. There is a long list of examples where Trump has given permission for people to take an antisemitic stand.
Stefanik and other Republicans have targeted schools and universities for not standing up for Jewish students. People like alumni such as Eckman saw this as an opportunity to throw their weight around. Palestinian students have spoken out for more support. One Palestinian student on Stanford’s campus thought that Biden should be killed. It has been very tense beyond imagination.
Netanyahu and his right-wing government and Hamas have ignored all international laws and recommendations to do what is in the best interest for the people in Israel and Gaza. We have Jewish people trying to settle in Gaza and holding up supplies to the people in Gaza who are starving with no place to go. It is possible to be anti-Israeli government and pro Jewish people. People choose to conflate the two issues when they should be separate.
So, why are we at a standstill? The answer can be found in ethics and a cautionary tale.
We have the classic trolley car example in ethics which provides part of the answer. What has been proven is that if people have an indirect experience like pulling a lever to divert a train onto another track, it is easy for them to do that even if it kills some people on that track. They are away from the experience. But if there is a bridge over a track and they must push someone off the bridge to be sacrificed so more people can be saved, they have great difficulty doing that for it is more personal. The bottom-line ethical lesson is that if you have distance from the track and can’t see what is going to happen, you pull the lever. But if you have a personal experience with pushing the person off the bridge, it is difficult to do and can cause you to be irrational such as those who espouse antisemitism or islamophobia.
The guilty party in all of this is CNN, my choice of TV news, and other news stations. They have caused the fabric of Jews and Palestinians being torn in great tension. Now for the cautionary tale.
Some years ago, I had a clergyman who lost both of his legs in the Vietnam War receive an important award from our school. He was also asked to address the gathered community in chapel. He was helped into the pulpit and proceeded to give an outstanding address. I spent some time with him. He was like the Rock of Gibraltar. A few months later he committed suicide. CNN’s whole deal as well as other news channels is that we “bring the war right to you in your living room.” It reminded me of Edward R. Morrow’s news of years ago with the title, You Are There. People are experiencing the war like a direct experience. Certainly, that was true for our alumnus who took his life while watching and reacting to footage of the Iraq War on his TV. It took him right back to his fighting in Vietnam. The war between Israel and Hamas is personal for us like the person who had to push the person off the bridge to stop the trolley car. We have a dog in the fight.
I noticed this when I saw Jake Tapper who is Jewish interview a Jewish mother and father about the death of their son. Tapper said, “I see my son in our son!” Tapper has covered the most difficult stories. He is a story hardened journalist. Yet when he made that comment he got choked up! It was not just a story. It was his personal story.
We are there. We witness the carnage of October 7 and the agony of families whose loved ones are still hostages. We hear of the rape of women who were captured. We are told of the beheading of Jewish people. In a heartbeat we see the people of Gaza starving with children scraping their bowls for the last morsel of food. We see the hospitals destroyed and a nation’s infrastructure destroyed. Jews are at the gates and refuse to let trucks in with food and begin to take over Gaza for settlement. Kushner proclaims that the Gaza coast would be a great tourist destination if he built on it. What world is he living in?
Jews and Palestinian families see this day in and day out. It’s personal for them. The stations compete for the most and best coverage. It is ratings. It is money! “What you are about to see is very disturbing. This is a warning.” We have become voyeurs!
Let’s make the answer coverable. “We are there as groups seek to solve the problem.” Show the work like C Span. Lower the temperature so that we can see good people on both sides talking about their hopes and fears. Here is the question for the group coverage, “What would you do if you weren’t afraid?” Leave the politicians out of it until the end! Netanyahu and his right-wing government and Hamas won’t advance peace and a long-term solution. Give our nation and the world a glimpse of that question about fear and effort and cover it. Use as your guideline that -we will show you everything that is fit for you to see the “other” as your brother or sister. Won’t work? It is the only thing that ever has! Return the messaging to the people.
Comments