August 22 , 2014
Manipulating Language
Non-legal cultures are often not sufficiently sensitive to how language terminology can be manipulated to reframe debate and mislead discussion. Terming the lop-sided Gaza carnage as war implies a parity of power between Israelis and Palestinians, which does not exist, or a moral equivalence, which is an illusion. So what is unbearable and unconscionable becomes palatable and acceptable. It controls the context. And it is meant to block giving a human face to human suffering.
Re-naming and labeling is a clever propaganda tool to camouflage mendacity. Predictably, then, when Gaza children were being terrorized and killed, the Prime Ministers of Australia, Canada, and the UK dutifully lined up to declare that “Israel has the right to defend itself.” Sophistry can hide a fatal blind spot. It is not war; it is murder.
So what is the scorecard? In Europe, there has been an upsurge of anti-Semitism, the ferocity of which has jolted pro-Israeli circles, vide the Wall Street Journal of August 6. And, in the Middle East, it is creating a new generation of revenge-driven youth. To paraphrase Mandela’s favorite poem, Invictus, the Palestinians have been bloodied but remain unbowed.
The front-page story in The New York Times of August 6, 2014 states: “Israel has not succeeded in destroying Hamas, which was said to be a goal of the campaign, nor in dislodging it from control over Gaza. … Hamas has been hurt, but it has survived and has earned respect among many Palestinians and other Arabs.”
Former US President Carter has now called for the recognition of Hamas. And the influential Presbyterian Church (USA) has published a 72-page study guide called “Zionism Unsettled”, which is a blistering critique of Israeli policies in the Occupied Territories. In its wake, the Church has unsettled the pro-Israeli camp, which is accustomed to having a free ride.
Shamefully, however, the head of the OIC, during his visit to Pakistan, openly admitted the helplessness of Arab states to stop the Gaza onslaught. It puts into question the very efficacy of the 57-member state body. One can imagine King Faisal – the architect of the OIC – rolling in his grave. The Wall Street Journal of August 7 reported on its front page that Israel and Egypt acted in concert.
What Gaza has done is to debunk the depicting of the Palestinian plight as “one of the issues.” Once again, it conclusively reconfirms that Palestine is the core issue. Ironically, it is Israel that has helped to propel that anew in the firmament of world imagination and opinion. The Palestinian people can neither be wished away nor killed away. The Palestinian issue remains at the global center stage. And the Middle East – despite juvenile attempts of Hillary and the White House to ‘pivot’ from it – stays as the pivotal battleground of our time.
2014 marks the centenary of the 1914 start of World War I.
In 1914, the shots fired in the Bosnian Muslim city of Sarajevo reverberated around the world. A series of missteps and miscalculations pushed the world over the brink. In 2014, what occurred in Gaza may not stay in Gaza.
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