Shock. That was my first reaction upon logging on to Israeli newspaper Maariv and reading that 40+ people have already been killed in Israel’s worst fire disaster. It was the same kind of gut-wrenching feeling when I first read about the botched flotilla operation on Jpost earlier this year – except this feels a lot closer to home, because many of my friends and family members live in the vicinity. Much the like the Black Saturday bushfires that raged just outside Melbourne and coated the night sky in distant orange and pink, the utter scale of this catastrophe is unprecedented, both in terms of loss of human life and property damage. In the same way that I had an instinctive urge to call talkback radio after the flood of anti-Israel calumnies in the aftermath of the flottila, I now feel an innate desire to put my feelings into words.
40+ people have perished so far in the fires
Browsing through the talkbacks and user commentaries in Haaretz makes my blood boil, due to the plethora of insensitive, heartless comments that pour into Israel’s resident liberal, leftist newspaper. This truly exposes Haaretz as a news source that caters solely to appease ignorant lefties, radical Islamists and their supporters, and haters of Israel everywhere. Indeed, Haaretz has the lowest native readership of any Israeli newspaper (6.6% circulation), and its audience is primarily European/Arab. That would explain the fact, that despite the grief and sadness of a nation in mourning, Haaretz’s serial talkbackers display nothing but antisemitic, knee jerk reactions – most of which are overwhelmingly sarcastic or malicious.
Nothing else can explain comments such as:
zayed | 02.12.10 | 19:23
what can IDF do is burning or killing but they cant put out fire
Maureen Ann| 02.12.10|19:41
Settlers … playing with matches again?
Joseph| 02.12.10| 19:54
This is Hashem’s anger at Israel over their refusal to make peace with the Palestinians and through the continued the ethnic cleansing of Arabs from E. Jerusalem and for supporting land theft by extremist Jews in the West Bank
Many of these commentators are repeat offenders who thrive off inflammatory reactions designed to hurt and anger. This is not about politics, or whether you support Israel or not. Reaching out to the victims of a natural disaster is common human decency, and these talkbackers, emboldened by the anonymity of the internet are given a free pass to spew out their drivel into the public domain. Had someone made similar comments about the victims of the Victorian bushfires, the reactions would have been swift and unanimous: this is not to be tolerated. Instead, the plethora of garbage staining Haaretz’s credibility is left bare on the website for the world to see, to comment upon, and to applaud. One only needs to note that Maureen Ann’s comment received 123 ‘thumbs up’ – meaning 123 individual users of Haaretz read her comment, and felt the need to applaud her in a show of merciless solidarity with her warped worldview.
I surf websites like Haaretz to gain a balanced perspective on Middle East affairs covered from multiple viewpoints: everything from Turkey’s Hurriyet, to Qatar’s Al Jazeera, to Israel’s Haaretz and every possible political stance covered in between. Whilst antisemitic vitriol is to be expected on the former two newsites, nothing can prepare me for the callousness of the talkbacks on Israeli English websites. This ruthless phenomenon regarding Israel is undoubtedly sui generis. No other country is treated like this. For example, one can have disagreements with Australia’s foreign policy regarding ‘boat people’ and the wave of illegal immigration. One can protest Australia’s involvement in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars and one can sneer in disgust at outbursts of racism on our city streets, but when it came time to assist the victims of the Victorian bushfires, hearts went out all over the world, and separate issues were temporarily put aside in favour of a unified, common goal: bushfire relief.
Israel however, stands alone to endure the pain of the tragedy, as well as bulwark of negative public opinion. My heart goes out to the victims, and I truly hope these vile talkbackers can reach out to their fellow human beings in need, rather than cast an entire people as pariahs undeserving of sympathy or assistance. This is ultimately their goal: dehumanization of Israelis followed by a justification for the fires. You don’t have to be pro-Israel to recognize this for what it is: antisemitism. We can sit down, Habibi and have a frank discussion on Israel’s policies over a cup of Turkish coffee any other day – but today, as the State of Israel wakes up to the news of this unprecedented calamity, the only correct reaction is to show support, or to keep your mouth shut.
As for Haaretz, I think, that following a string of such offenses as well as moderator decisions to publish such comments, it is in order to call for a boycott. After all, according to the stats, 93.4% of Israelis agree with me, and will be spending the morning reaching out to the victims, rather than dealing with online abuse.
