Etikett: Media

”Aren’t the journalists aware of the responsibility they have?”

To claim that the Palestinians who were killed by ’Israeli Barbarians’ were peaceful citizens is like to claim that poor Osama Bin Laden was killed by ’American Terrorists’.

But in Israel there is something bigger, something IMMIDIATE. We protect ourselves from danger that we face endlessly, especially in the last week. Maybe YOU could have prevented this war if you’d known the truth and you’d worked to press the terrorists who maybe wouldn’t start the rocket rain on us. Maybe if you’d known the truth you could have helped the peaceful Palestinians who can’t do anything about their bloody leaders (who by the way use their citizens as human shields on purpose – for you to let it continue happening!)

Maybe in the year 1918-1919,  my Jewish grand-grandmother wouldn’t fall from her mothers’ hands because she and her husband were shot by a group of Soviet radicals called Denikintzi and Machonovtzi. Maybe she and her 5 brothers could have had a better life and not lose everything they had. These groups of radicals did it for many Jewish families – just burst into their houses and shot at every corner of their house – killed old people, young and tiny ones. They thought that Jews drink blood, and they’d do anything to protect the Soviet nation.
Who knew then that so huge amount of Heroes who were mentioned in the Media were Jews? Media ’forgot’ to mention this small detail that awoke groups of mindless people.

This is happening again, actually, it never ceased happening – Media has blood on its hands. Aren’t the journalists aware of the responsibility they have? Can’t they differentiate between real things and staged lies? What do they want? I can’t understand!

What do you want? Do you understand? Did you ever stop to think about how you affect the situation? Can you live your regular life if you are bombed daily? How would you feel to be awake at night because different noises remind you of sirens? How would you be able to stay calm on the way to the kindergarten with your kids when you hear 5 BOOMS from neighbour cities while you walk with them? Where do you want me to live? I am not safe anywhere. Here I am a ’Barbarian Israeli’ and anywhere else I am Jew and a target for terrorist attacks.

Maybe you never heard about these things. Maybe you never heard that Israeli Jews and Arabs study together, work together, mixed couples marry and there are mixed friendships. Didn’t you know that the Head of my College is a Muslim? Didn’t you know that there are a lot of youngsters from both sides who try to find solutions together? Didn’t you know that even Palestinians don’t know the truth because everything they see about Israel is translated wrongly? Try to read and even come to see with your own eyes what really happens and maybe something will change for the better.

Lena, 23 year old student from the center of Israel.

”I had a pretty normal childhood, apart from the fact that I spent my last year in kindergarten carrying a gas mask”

Hello,

If you are reading this, first of all thank you! It means you care, and it means you show interest in what I have to say.
I’m thanking you because it’s so hard to find people willing to listen. Today everyone thinks they know everything, and then they don’t want to listen, or even worse, they don’t want to talk.

I will not mention my name for privacy reasons but I will tell my story. I am an Israeli, I love Israel, it is my home, I was born here and so were my parents. My grandparents however were born in Poland, running away from the horrors of the holocaust. They made it to Israel to rebuild their ancestors’ home again (yes! Israelis are originally from Israel!!!). When I was young my mom told me: ”I hope that by the time you’ll be 18 there will be peace and you won’t need to go to the army”, she told that to my brothers as well and my grandparents told it to my parents, and we are still hoping.
Hoping for peace.

I had a pretty normal childhood, apart from the fact that I spent my last year in kindergarten carrying a gas mask and running for shelter from missiles shot at my city (Iraq bombarding Israel in the Gulf War) needless to say this still occurs in many cities in Israel, only this time the missiles are coming from Gaza and Lebanon. As a teenager I was afraid to take the bus because so many people have lost their lives in terror attacks on buses. In high school our class trips have been secured by security men and sometimes even canceled due to terror threats.

When I was recruited to the army I first encountered the conflict, from the first moment we were taught what it means to be a solider, to protect, to serve and and to be responsible for the safety of the people around you: soldiers and civilians, Israelis and Palestinians, I never shot or hurt anyone, but I was shot at, bombs left on my way and terrorist have tried passing our posts only to attack or explode innocents in Israel. I hated every moment of it, I mean, who would like it? But I did it, because I had to protect my family and loved ones.

I, like many others in Israel, want peace, I don’t want to fear taking the bus, or run to shelters every time I hear a siren, I want to be able to visit Arab countries and live next to an Arab family without being afraid for my safety.

De senaste 4 år bor jag med min flickvän som är svenska, på den här tiden jag besökt Sverige massa gånger. Och jag älskar Sverige, men varje gång när jag försöker prata med en svensk om Israel känner jag att han/hon vill inte prata eller tror att Israel är en fruktansvärt plats. Jag bara ber er, försök lyssna till israeler också, läs nyheter på israelska websidor, inte bara på Aftonbladet och DN. Och om ni träffar någon från Israel, bli inte rädd – vi är ganska snälla. Och om du vill ha en semester, kom till Israel ni kommer inte ångra det.

[The past four years I have been living with my Swedish girlfriend and during this time I have visited Sweden many times. And I love Sweden, but every time I try to talk to a Swede about Israel, I feel that he/she doesn’t want to talk, or believes that Israel is a horrible place. I beg of you, try to listen also to the Israelis and read news on Israeli news sites, not just Aftonbladet and DN. And if you meet someone from Israel, don’t be afraid – we are pretty friendly. And if you need a vacation – come to Israel. You won’t regret it.]

An Israeli

Ett brev till svenska medier

Jag älskar Sverige. Min väninna Ann, som är som min syster, bor i Stockholm och jag besöker henne ofta. Det finns mycket jag beundrar i Sverige, sådant som jag skulle vilja se i Israel, huvudsakligen er tolerans och acceptans av olika kulturer, det sätt som ni kombinerar en fri ekonomi med omsorg om de mindre lyckligt lottade. Jag beundrar att ni har en myndighet vars enda uppgift är att ge ekonomiskt stöd till fattiga länder – SIDA.

En sak som jag inte kan förstå är de svenska medierna. Inget av det ovanstående gäller beträffande Israel. Faktum är att när det gäller Israel förvandlas svenska medier till dogmatiska och självgoda aktivister som verkar drivas av ego och total avsaknad av empati.

Det finns 7 miljoner medborgare i Israel – judar, araber och andra minoriteter. Det är en färgrik blandning av religioner, kulturer, opinioner och känslor. Det är sant; vi har våra fanatiker, precis som våra grannar. Vi har egoistiska, högljudda politiker, precis som våra grannar. Men mellan dessa ytterligheter finns bra, ärliga människor som försöker leva sitt liv i ett ytterst instabilt område för att bygga upp och arbeta för att skapa förbättring.

En social förändring kan endast äga rum när en kritisk punkt har nåtts. Medan politikerna spelar sitt spel, vävs de ekonomiska och sociala relationerna med palestinska företag, skolor och andra bra människor. Det tog England, Frankrike, Holland och Spanien 400 år att sluta kriga. Jag hoppas att det går mycket fortare här… men när man sår ett frö kan man inte förvänta sig att ett träd ska växa upp på ett par veckor.

Sju miljoner människor, många kreativa entreprenörer, men ingenting i svenska medier. Vi beskrivs alla ytligt som aggressiva, blodtörstiga och likgiltiga inför mänskliga rättigheter. Likt en typisk spagettivästern beskrivs vi alltid som ”de onda” och palestinierna är alltid ”de goda”. Konstigt nog kommenteras det sällan att våra städer i söder konstant utsätts för raketattacker av Hamas. Man diskuterar aldrig att de miljontals dollar som er regering skänkt till palestinierna används för att köpa vapen och för att fylla på Hamas-ledarnas privata bankkonton (detta är förstås en intern fråga och rör inte mig, egentligen).

Aggressiva handlingar uppstår på grund av rädsla och smärta och både judar och araber har mycket av den varan i sitt kollektiva minne. Det är lätt att ha en hög moral och nobla idéer när man lever ett lugnt och tryggt liv, men i den bråkdelen av en sekund när man sitter i ett skyddsrum och väntar på att raketen ska slå ner försvinner alla nobla tankar och ersätts av rädsla och vrede. Trots detta tar vi oss samman för att bygga upp våra liv igen; våra ömsesidiga relationer. Det tar tid och tålamod, men dessa frön planteras ett i taget.

Allt vi begär av er är empati. Ni har all rätt – till och med en skyldighet – att kritisera, att rapportera de många orättvisor som finns i denna region, men var rättvisa. Visa våra sanna färger, vår rädsla, vår smärta och vår frustration. Visa det som är bra och det som är dåligt. Och var medkännande. Man kan aldrig döma någon förrän man har gått i den personens skor. Om ni vill vara en del av att förändra vårt Mellanöstern till ett himmelrike måste ni vara medkännande och rättvisa. Vi kommer att lyssna.

Iris Toister

Översättning: Ingrid Olsson.
Read this letter in English. 

A letter to the Swedish Media

I love Sweden. My friend Ann, who’s like a sister to me, lives in Stockholm, and I visit her often. I admire many things in Sweden, which I would like Israel to embrace, mostly your tolerance and acceptance of different cultures, the way you combine free economy with care for the less fortunate. I admire the fact that you have a Ministry for the sole purpose of giving financial aid to poor countries – SIDA.

One thing I cannot comprehend is the Swedish media. None of the above is applicable when Israel is concerned. In fact, when it comes to Israel, the Swedish Media turns into a dogmatic, self-righteous crusader, fueled by ego and zero compassion.

There are 7 million citizens in Israel, Jews, Arabs, and other minorities, a colorful vibrant tapestry of religions, cultures, opinions and feelings. True, we have our fanatics, as do our neighbors. We have ego motivated, loud mouth politicians, so do our neighbors. But between the poles live good honest people, trying to share a life in a highly volatile area, creating, building and working towards a better place.

A social change can occur only when a critical mass is accumulated. While the politicians play their games, the economic and social relations with Palestinian companies, schools and other good people are being woven. It took England, France, Holland and Spain 400 years to stop fighting. I hope it takes far less here… but when you put a seed in the ground, you do not expect a tree in a fortnight.

7 million people, creative entrepreneurships, nothing in the Swedish media. All of us categorized superficially as aggressive, blood thirsty human rights destroyers. Like in a bad Western, we are always the ”bad guys”, the Palestinians are always the ”good guys”. Strangely enough, almost no reference to the fact that our southern cities are constantly bombed by Hamas, no discussion of the fact that the millions of dollars given to the Palestinians by your government, were used to buy weapons and found their way to the private bank accounts of Hamas leaders (but this is more of an internal issue and does not really concern me).

Aggressive actions manifest out of fear and pain and both Jews and Arabs carry a lot of it in their collective memory. It is easy to hold high morals, noble sentiments, while living a quiet life, but in that split second, when one sits in the shelter, waiting for the missile to fall, all noble sentiments fly away, replaced by fear, followed by anger. And yet, we collect ourselves again and again, and go back to rebuilding our lives, our mutual relations. It takes time and patience, but slowly the seeds are planted.

Compassion, that’s all we ask of you. You have every right, a duty in fact, to criticize, to report the many injustices that take place in this region, but be fair. Show our colors, our fears, our pain, our frustration, the good and the bad. And be compassionate. You cannot judge someone until you stand in his place. If you want to take part in transforming our Middle East into haven, if you want to be the voice of Human Rights and free society, be compassionate, be fair. We will listen.

Iris Toister

Read this letter in Swedish.

Låt oss trasha den judiska staten – det är ju så kul

Som vanligt: några idioter attackerar en moské i Jerusalem – stora rubriker i de svenska tidningarna. ”Det måste ju ligga judar bakom, så låt oss trasha dem och hela den judiska staten!” muttrar packet på TT och på tidningsredaktioner i vårt en gång så framstående land.

Att ett tjugotal palestinska raketer avfyrades mot Israel under den gångna helgen – ja, det talades det tyst om så klart. Eller tyst och tyst – det tegs ihjäl. ”Låt israelerna aldrig få offerrollen, det går icke för sig”, muttrade ovannämnda pack.

Länkar: DN, SvD, Ynet, JPost, Arutz 7.

Från det ena till det andra…

Som vi alla vet så ligger Israel bakom allt elände i hela jävla världen. Senaste nytt: Breivik – Israel. Tidigare godingar: hajattacker i ljuva Egypten – Israel. Spionerande gam i Saudiarabien – Israel. Explosioner i gosiga Iran – Israel. Du får inte ligga – Israel. Ingen snö i jul – Israel. Du får klamydia – Israel (måste ha sänt ut en klammeprossa). Åh, smarta värld! Deprimerande. Jag hoppar från balkongen – Israel. [Länk]