Chesler Chronicles

January 6th, 2009 9:46 am

Israel’s Quiet Nightmare: Words are Worth a Thousand Pictures.

Try to imagine sitting in a bomb shelter, shaking with terror, day after day, year after year. No, try to imagine having to run to get to that shelter; once the siren screams, you’ll have only one minute before the rocket will strike. Imagine that you’re elderly or disabled, imagine that you’re diabetic but have forgotten your insulin, imagine that your children are freaking out or that you can’t find them.

Imagine that you’re faced with a version of (the very fictional) Sophie’s Choice: Do you seek shelter yourself or do you keep looking for your children? Do you give up your job, keep your children at home and out of school? Do you scatter them among your relatives elsewhere in the country? How does a person resign herself to not being in control of ordinary life “for the duration?”

This has been the reality, year in, year out, for Israeli civilians who live in Sderot, and it is now the reality for those living in Ashkelon and Ber-Sheva. The media has not covered this: Not enough blood, too little death, the photo opportunities are not…sexy. Thus, the world did not open its heart to this nerve-wracking, soul-deadening suffering, only a handful of protests were ever held, international pressure never built, the UN presided over no urgent meetings.

And now, this utterly demoralizing reality, together with the grim fact that kidnapped Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, is still missing–well, it all does not seem to “count” as much as does a photograph of one dead Palestinian child–one of Hamas’s smaller human shields. You can see her right there, on the front page of yesterday’s New York Times. Hamas is not blamed for putting her in harm’s way purely for propaganda purposes. Israel is blamed for daring to finally try to put a stop to the endless barrage of artillery aimed at its civilian citizens by exterminationists. Still, it is a terrible image.

Funny, there are no frontpage photos of the three month old Israeli infant who has just been “lightly wounded” by Hamas rocketry in Gadera.

How can we capture Israeli suffering in a single photograph –assuming the world wanted to see it? In this instance, a few words might be worth a thousand pictures. I have begun to write to Israelis I know. Yesterday, I asked one woman to help me “humanize” Israel’s plight. Here’s the first response, from Jennifer Roskies. Her words are ironic, bitter, thoughtful, eloquent, and manage to convey both the “larger” and the more personal picture (so to speak). She writes:

“Unfortunately, I don’t think that I have much to offer that would “humanize” what Israel is experiencing, because there is nothing that compares to the morbid orgasmic effect of dead children and babies’ corpses. In terms of what the 900,000 hostage-citizens of Israel’s south (”south” makes it seem remote; with the expanding radius of Hamas missiles, “the south” is a half-hour drive from my door), there is not much to say, either.

There is nothing that spectacular about a government doing pretty much what it is supposed to do–namely, prepare the groundwork for the rockets, equip shelters, build protective structures, put an entire branch of the army, the Home Front Command, in charge of a comprehensive infrastructure of resources and personnel that provides information, hot lines, supplies, essential services, and most of all, makes sure that all public spaces and vulnerable areas are evacuated when the alarms sound.

I mean, what’s the emotional thrill of seeing a kindergarten with a hole blown through its ceiling, or a crater in a soccer field after it’s been evacuated and is now empty, when you could look at panic stricken civilians running through, (or buried under), blown apart, dilapidated, unenforced structures without a shred of a notion of where to go. No place to run to–because the game plan was to leave them exposed and vulnerable, wedged deliberately between the rocket launchers and terror masterminds and the Israeli attacks.

Not only that: the seething hatred from Palestinian masses and fanatic fervor, (along with the self-righteousness in demonstrations around the world), bring such a high voltage rush that everything else is bland in comparison. That includes the unassuming nobility of young warriors who march into harm’s way to try to stop the rockets, knowing that nothing can quell the hatred.

I knew the time would come when my children and their contemporaries would be the soldiers behind the headlines, and that time has come. My daughter gets “shipped off” to the Sderot area tomorrow to join her fellow, rather, sister, soldiers assigned to shelters, underground community centers and elsewhere, keeping kids and grownups busy, alleviating anxiety and stifling her own. Her classmates and buddies are in infantry units God knows where inside Gaza and in naval gunboats off the coast. Nothing dramatic about those kids hanging out with my daughter in my living room who are nervous and scared, yet focused and determined. No photo-op.”

Jennifer Roskies has brilliantly captured the public relations nightmare that Israel is facing. Israel is being punished because she is taking care of her citizens, or at least, trying to do so. Indeed, Israel is expected to not defend herself. Leftist Jews, both here and in Israel, believe that Israel can only be deemed a “good Jewish” nation if it agrees to endure endless wars of attrition and to participate in the evisceration of its already small territory. Hamas and Hezbollah, Iran’s proxies, agree with the leftist Jews that the only”good” Jewish nation is one that is not so…”Jewish,” one that is, perhaps, gone.

Hamas is being rewarded with sympathy and international support precisely because they use their civilians as human shields and have spent the last three years, after Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza, not in creating a Palestinian state, but in trying to destroy the Jewish state.

13 Comments

1. Fausta’s Blog » Blog Archive » Turkey holds Iranian explosives heading to Venezuela, transition purgatory, and other news items:

[...] Israel’s Quiet Nightmare: Words are Worth a Thousand Pictures. [...]

Jan 6, 2009 - 10:59 am 2. George Jochnowitz:

As Irving Howe said, “In the warmest heart, there is a cold spot for the Jew.”

Jan 6, 2009 - 11:16 am 3. Norman Simms:

Thank you once more Phyllis

It has been said (I am paraphrasing to bring up to date) that while we may someday forgiv e the terrorists for killing our children, we can never forgive them for making us kill their c hildren. And that is what they do when they put gunmen in schools. shoot mortars from kindergartens, dress up as doctors and nurses, and perform other acts of perfidy which are war crimes.

But we face two implacable enemies: those who hate us and our civilization and those who are too ignorant, naive and gullible to realize how they are being duped–but are predisposed to believe the worst of Jews/

Norman

Jan 6, 2009 - 11:29 am 4. Gail:

I am not Jewish but, I certainly support the Jewish nation. Listen, Israel has kept the peace while time after time, they are assaulted by different groups who hate them and ME, as an American!

It angers me that any nation would call or Israel to cease fire! They wouldn’t if it had been thier country which was attacked over and over and over! ENOUGH!

Israel has the GOD given right to protect herself and her people! May God be with these young men and woman and guide them as another generation steps forth to protect what God promised and gave to Israel.

If I were younger…I too, would stand with Israel and defend her with all my strength!

May God be with all.

Jan 6, 2009 - 12:01 pm 5. Sara:

My heart cries for the almost 1 million Israelis living a life of terror and for the boys fighting, not just for Israel, but for world Jewry and the Western world, doing the dirty work alone for the entire western world by fighting against Islamic terror. Make no mistake, Hamas (and Fatah) want Jerusalem. They want it all, without the Jews.

Thank you for this perspective. Hopefully it will awaken those still sleeping.

Jan 6, 2009 - 9:29 pm 6. Jesus is Lord, A Worshipping Christian’s Blog » Blog Archive » “Israel’s Quiet Nightmare: Words are Worth a Thousand Pictures” by Dr. Phyllis Chesler:

[...] Read the rest of the article here. [...]

Jan 7, 2009 - 8:18 am 7. Fern Sidman:

The heartbreaking words of Jennifer Roskies must give us genuine perspective on the egregious and hypocritical double standard that has been placed upon Israel by the “fourth estate”.

It is quite true that the world never even heard of Sderot hitherto to the Israeli military strike in Gaza. No one possessed knowledge of the incessant rocket attacks on this beleaguered town or of personal stories of its emotionally traumatized residents. No one ever heard of the fact that organizations are collecting funds to build a “subterranean” playground for Sderot’s children because they can’t play in the light of day as other children do. No one ever heard of the 15 second warning siren that arouses residents out of their beds at night to alert them of an impending rocket attack, while they feverishly rush into cold, barren bomb shelters.

But the truth is, this is not a new story. The public relations nightmare is thus a symptom of a horrific disease plaguing the Jewish people and the land of Israel. Israel is always portrayed as the aggressor, simply for one reason. According to the world’s standards, Jews are not permitted to defend themselves. Why so? Why does the world allow for every other nation to defend itself and not Israel? We must look to ourselves. Because Jews have always had a guilt complex about standing up for themselves, thus, the world manipulates us and plays upon our fears and insecurities.

If the Jewish people and the nation of Israel would have projected the belief that we are “entitled” to defend ourselves as does the rest of the world, behaving as though it is a given, without guilt or apologies then I believe the world would be treating us a lot differently. People don’t change. Their behavior towards us only changes when WE change.

Tragically, the Leftist Jews that Dr. Chesler mentions here may never learn that lesson because of the guilt they possess about being a Jew. “We are morally obligated to care about everyone else, even and especially our hard core enemies”!!, they cry out in indignation.

Their warped and distorted perception of being a Jew is to morph in to a self- loathing masochist, sans a modicum of self-pride or dignity. While it is incumbent upon the Jewish people to show compassion to our neighbors, to strive with all of our intestinal fortitude to achieve “peace” at all costs, to make painful compromises to attain this lofty goal, there are no moral guidelines that enjoin us to endure abuse and suffering.

At the end of the day, so to speak, the bottom line is we’d rather be hated by the whole world than to have another Auschwitz that’s loved by it.

Jan 7, 2009 - 12:42 pm 8. Alex:

Dr. Chesler:

I have a little advice for Israel: Stop caring about what others think of you. Muslims will never stop hating you because you are infidels. Leftists and international liberals will never stop hating you because you are Jewish. Europe will never stop hating you because you are a reminder of their moral failings. That is reality. Accept it. You will never, short of national suicide, be able to get most people to agree that you have a right to defend yourselves. Do it anyway.

Stop trying to minimize Palestinian casualties. The Palestinian people voted for Hamas knowing full well the Hamas charter calls for the extermination of all Jews in Israel. Stop sending food, electricity, fuel, water and medicine to people who train their children to become suicide bombers. Stop radioing warnings to people who love death. Trying to minimize suffering only makes the Palestinians think they can wage war as much as they want and stop whenever they please. Begging for peace simply makes the Palestinians treat you with contempt.

You want the children of Sderot, Ashkelon, and all the other places that are rocket shooting galleries of Hamas to live without fear? Very well, here is what you have to do. Take a lesson from the Russians in Grozny. When they had to fight the Chechens, they did not send them electricity, food and medicine. They leveled Grozny with artillery and killed tens of thousands of Muslims. And you know what? No one protested, no one condemned them in the UN, in short, no one did anything. Why? Because the Russians made it clear they had the power to defend themselves, the will to use it and the self-respect not to be ashamed of doing so. Plus the self-confidence not to care what the rest of the world thinks of them.

Jan 7, 2009 - 8:43 pm 9. Israel’s & Freedom’s Enemies « Blog Entry « Dr. Melissa Clouthier:

[...] everyone in the world, except, it seems, American conservatives, believe Israel shouldn’t defend her children. They blame Israel for having the temerity to exist or for winning past conflicts or [...]

Jan 8, 2009 - 9:24 am 10. Staring In Disbelief:

Alex: I agree with your advice completely - to a point. Israel is not Russia, and while the kind of ruthlessness you advocate would be very effective, it is hard to see Israel getting away with it. However, Israel should absolutely cut Gaza off from all aid and relentlessly hammer Hamas. To paraphrase William Tecumseh Sherman (a man who understood war): It is Hamas, and their supporters, that have chosen the path of war and Israel should give them more than they can stand. To attack with one hand and aid with another is beyond stupid. Israel will be unspeakably vilified as if they were perpetrating far worse horrors, so restraint and humanitarian aid is counterproductive. They are at WAR and should conduct themselves accordingly until their opponent is prostrate before them with the bitter taste of ashes and ruin in their mouths. The people of Gaza must learn who can provide them with prosperity and security - and who cannot.

Jan 8, 2009 - 2:08 pm 11. LAR:

The key fact in the article above is this: Hamas uses their citizens as actual and public relations fodder while Israel does not. And much but not all of the world buys the product/public relations Hamas puts out because it is so much more colorful and dramatic unlike protecting and warning your people to get out of the way. Hamas creates the chaos and personal destruction of their own people in order to sell to the world victims. They want to drag down our resolution that we must have a civil society. They want only an Islamic society and this is a small example of what it entails - using your own people as cannon fodder. Hamas must be punished for this and the Israelis are doing that. But my intuition says that Hamas and those that support them won’t “get it.” So it is incumbent upon us in the West to start getting it. We are now seeing the method of victimology practiced full tilt here in the States. Every little slight to Muslims is treated as a major conniption and the West is to blame and has to rectify the situation. We have to start saying NO and mean it. Otherwise there will be rocket launchers in our backyard, i.e., the Mexican border.

Jan 8, 2009 - 4:53 pm 12. The rush of blood « The Better Part of Valour:

[...] for something other than war, etc. The rush of blood January 11, 2009 A friend of Phyllis Cheslerexplains why Israel’s cumbersome PR machine cannot compete with the scenes of dead and dying [...]

Jan 10, 2009 - 8:49 pm 13. Ahmed:

I think Hitler must and should have burn you all alive

Jan 25, 2009 - 2:06 am