Why I disagree with Arabic media’s demonization of Israel

[Solomon2]

Why I disagree with Arabic media’s demonization of Israel

By AHMED ABDEL-RAHEEM 11/28/2012 22:01

Let’s stop demonizing Israel. The new analogy I invite Arabs to use can be rendered: “Israel Is a Sister.”

PHOTO: COURTESY

Two days ago, Al Ahram published a cartoon in which a child angel asks another: “Were you too killed by an Israeli fighter jet?” The other victim replies: “No, by an Egyptian train,” a reference to the tragic collision four days ago of a train and a school bus, which killed 50 children. What’s wrong with the analogy?

As a researcher in cognitive linguistics and critical discourse analysis, I can say that the reason bad analogies are so dangerous is that they can constrain and direct our policies. The above analogy, for example, highlights that Israel is a killer of innocence, suppressing the fact that Hamas fires rockets at innocent Israeli civilians. Importantly, depicting Israel as a demon implies that there can be no peace with it. If this were the case, how can Egypt play the role of peace broker between Israel and Palestine?

Another prominent cartoon appeared in the Jordanian newspaper Al Rayi. In it, Israel is depicted as a serial killer fond of collecting skulls. Again, this analogy hides the fact that in Israel there are innocent civilians, women and children who know nothing about killing. Furthermore, it suppresses the fact that Israel wants peace with its neighbors, as evidenced by its 32-year-old peace treaty with Egypt.

Strikingly, the same analogy (i.e., Israel as serial killer) has been employed by the Egyptian news outlet El-Masry Elyoum, though in a different form. The outlet ran a picture in which a smiling Israeli soldier asks another, while pointing to the word “Gaza” written in skulls, “isn’t my handwriting very nice?” The message here is that Israeli soldiers kill for fun, ignoring the fact many of them are wounded or killed. Furthermore, the message is that the soldiers of Israel are irrational. But are they?

Israeli soldiers have to defend themselves, their children, and their wives against Hamas attack. Furthermore, they dream of same things everyone else does: to be able to spend a nice weekend with their families, for security, for a calm life. In short, they’re not demons.

A fourth striking example can be found in the Saudi economic newspaper Al Iqtisadiah. In it, the Israeli flag is planted on the corpse of an Arab drowning in his own blood. This implies that the Jewish state must be demolished if Arabs want to live, which is another way of saying Israel has no right to exist.

The photos of innocent Palestinian victims made my heart bleed and left me for some days unable to think or write. But viewing Israel as a demon is dangerous and doesn’t fit the facts very well.

As a general finding in cognitive science, if a mental framework doesn’t fit the facts, the facts will bounce off and the framework will stay. As such, we need to pay more attention to our metaphors and analogies, especially because as we have seen, demonization of Israel works against peace.

Finally, I recall some important words said once by deposed Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak in a TV interview: “We Egyptians went into wars with Israel, but in the end we sat down together around the table and solved our problems. Importantly, only negotiations can bring peace to the region, as can be read in the book of history.”

On this account, let’s stop demonizing Israel.

The new analogy I invite Arabs to use can be rendered: “Israel Is a Sister.” More importantly, the Palestinian people suffer, and so does the Israeli people. In other words, both sides need and want peace.

The writer is an Egyptian artist and a PhD student.

 

[RaptorAlpha]

By AHMED ABDEL-RAHEEM 11/28/2012 22:01

Let’s stop demonizing Israel. The new analogy I invite Arabs to use can be rendered: “Israel Is a Sister.”

**** Israel then...

 

[national_crisis]

Arabic media is a mass outlet for propaganda and lies. It can make protest for freedom look bad and despotic monarchies look good. Israel demonization is important to make the leaders look good and create an aura of national security overtaking essential freedoms and economic planning.

 

[Kompromat]

Arabic media is a mass outlet for propaganda and lies. It can make protest for freedom look bad and despotic monarchies look good. Israel demonization is important to make the leaders look good and create an aura of national security overtaking essential freedoms and economic planning.

Entire international media is a source of propaganda for their own respective owners/corporates and the governments.

 

[RaptorAlpha]

Arabic media is a disgrace , memri makes fun of iran making UN peacekeeping equipment

 

[Icewolf]

Israel wants peace? Look at Palestinian territory in 1948 and now look at it in 2012.

 

[national_crisis]

Israel wants peace? Look at Palestinian territory in 1948 and now look at it in 2012.

so who lost 48, 67 and 73 wars? aliens? martians?
Arab media has two options. All problems to be blamed on

a) Iran
b) Israel

never looking to analyze their own problem!

 

[Icewolf]

so who lost 48, 67 and 73 wars? aliens? martians?

Those wars were because of Israel's occupation of Palestinian land, buddy.

 

[RaptorAlpha]

so who lost 48, 67 and 73 wars? aliens? martians?

Soviet union lost those wars , deliberately

 

[Kompromat]

Arabic media is a disgrace , memri makes fun of iran making UN peacekeeping equipment

Yes, but PressTV ain't far behind either.

 

[RaptorAlpha]

Yes, but PressTV ain't far behind either.

I don't support pressTV....

 

[Shocco]

The above analogy, for example, highlights that Israel is a killer of innocence, suppressing the fact that Hamas fires rockets at innocent Israeli civilians.

Hamas fires rockets wherever it can hit something, do you think if they could target military installations they wouldn't do so?

Importantly, depicting Israel as a demon implies that there can be no peace with it. If this were the case, how can Egypt play the role of peace broker between Israel and Palestine?

Israel are capable of peace so long as peace is on their terms: continued occupation, denial of palestinian rights to statehood, expansion on settlement building in the west bank and of course Gaza to be an arms free zone (Israel has the right to defend itself but apparently the palestinians don't) or have forfeited that right by resisting occupation tut tut.

Another prominent cartoon appeared in the Jordanian newspaper Al Rayi. In it, Israel is depicted as a serial killer fond of collecting skulls. Again, this analogy hides the fact that in Israel there are innocent civilians, women and children who know nothing about killing.

Extremely hard to believe since the whole country is made of Current Army, Ex army, reservists, and settlers with M16s.

Furthermore, it suppresses the fact that Israel wants peace with its neighbors, as evidenced by its 32-year-old peace treaty with Egypt.

Israel did not want peace with Egypt. Israel ignored official ceasefire in 1973 in an attempt to take Cairo. Only as a result of international pressure and namely the promise of increased US military aid did Israel stop the war and commit to a lasting peace.

Strikingly, the same analogy (i.e., Israel as serial killer) has been employed by the Egyptian news outlet El-Masry Elyoum, though in a different form. The outlet ran a picture in which a smiling Israeli soldier asks another, while pointing to the word “Gaza” written in skulls, “isn’t my handwriting very nice?” The message here is that Israeli soldiers kill for fun, ignoring the fact many of them are wounded or killed. Furthermore, the message is that the soldiers of Israel are irrational. But are they?

Please look at the long list of IDF human rights abuses at Red Cross or Amnesty International websites.

Israeli soldiers have to defend themselves, their children, and their wives against Hamas attack.

Hamas Retaliation you mean?

Furthermore, they dream of same things everyone else does: to be able to spend a nice weekend with their families, for security, for a calm life. In short, they’re not demons.

Yet they are perfectly happy to drop 1 tonne bombs on schools, mosques, water supplies, NATO buildings, Shell Hospitals and fire on unarmed protestors.

A fourth striking example can be found in the Saudi economic newspaper Al Iqtisadiah. In it, the Israeli flag is planted on the corpse of an Arab drowning in his own blood. This implies that the Jewish state must be demolished if Arabs want to live, which is another way of saying Israel has no right to exist.

Extremely presumptuous but even if I were to take his assumption on board Israel has no right to exist, no state has a right to exist, the 'right to exist' argument was created for the sole purpose of creating legitimacy for the state of Israel's creation on Arab lands.

The photos of innocent Palestinian victims made my heart bleed and left me for some days unable to think or write. But viewing Israel as a demon is dangerous and doesn’t fit the facts very well.

The populations of Gaza, Shalita and Sabra would disagree.

As a general finding in cognitive science, if a mental framework doesn’t fit the facts, the facts will bounce off and the framework will stay. [/COLOR][/B]As such, we need to pay more attention to our metaphors and analogies, especially because as we have seen, demonization of Israel works against peace.

It's cause - effect; Israel's treatment of Palestinians is what creates the media's denomization of Israel (rightfully in my opinion)

Finally, I recall some important words said once by deposed Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak in a TV interview: “We Egyptians went into wars with Israel, but in the end we sat down together around the table and solved our problems. Importantly, only negotiations can bring peace to the region, as can be read in the book of history.”

I'm so happy for Egypt because Palestinians have been sitting round tables for 60 years in negotiations and it has not created peace.

On this account, let’s stop demonizing Israel.

The new analogy I invite Arabs to use can be rendered: “Israel Is a Sister.” More importantly, the Palestinian people suffer, and so does the Israeli people. In other words, both sides need and want peace.

How about Israel recognize international law, cease human rights abuses, ends settlement building, take down the walls, ends the blockade and then lets see how it's image changes in the arab world.

 

[graphican]

You might want to condemn hateful and sick minds in Israel as well.

 

[T-Rex]

Why I disagree with Arabic media’s demonization of Israel

By AHMED ABDEL-RAHEEM 11/28/2012 22:01

Let’s stop demonizing Israel. The new analogy I invite Arabs to use can be rendered: “Israel Is a Sister.”

PHOTO: COURTESY

Two days ago, Al Ahram published a cartoon in which a child angel asks another: “Were you too killed by an Israeli fighter jet?” The other victim replies: “No, by an Egyptian train,” a reference to the tragic collision four days ago of a train and a school bus, which killed 50 children. What’s wrong with the analogy?

As a researcher in cognitive linguistics and critical discourse analysis, I can say that the reason bad analogies are so dangerous is that they can constrain and direct our policies. The above analogy, for example, highlights that Israel is a killer of innocence, suppressing the fact that Hamas fires rockets at innocent Israeli civilians. Importantly, depicting Israel as a demon implies that there can be no peace with it. If this were the case, how can Egypt play the role of peace broker between Israel and Palestine?

Another prominent cartoon appeared in the Jordanian newspaper Al Rayi. In it, Israel is depicted as a serial killer fond of collecting skulls. Again, this analogy hides the fact that in Israel there are innocent civilians, women and children who know nothing about killing. Furthermore, it suppresses the fact that Israel wants peace with its neighbors, as evidenced by its 32-year-old peace treaty with Egypt.

Strikingly, the same analogy (i.e., Israel as serial killer) has been employed by the Egyptian news outlet El-Masry Elyoum, though in a different form. The outlet ran a picture in which a smiling Israeli soldier asks another, while pointing to the word “Gaza” written in skulls, “isn’t my handwriting very nice?” The message here is that Israeli soldiers kill for fun, ignoring the fact many of them are wounded or killed. Furthermore, the message is that the soldiers of Israel are irrational. But are they?

Israeli soldiers have to defend themselves, their children, and their wives against Hamas attack. Furthermore, they dream of same things everyone else does: to be able to spend a nice weekend with their families, for security, for a calm life. In short, they’re not demons.

A fourth striking example can be found in the Saudi economic newspaper Al Iqtisadiah. In it, the Israeli flag is planted on the corpse of an Arab drowning in his own blood. This implies that the Jewish state must be demolished if Arabs want to live, which is another way of saying Israel has no right to exist.

The photos of innocent Palestinian victims made my heart bleed and left me for some days unable to think or write. But viewing Israel as a demon is dangerous and doesn’t fit the facts very well.

As a general finding in cognitive science, if a mental framework doesn’t fit the facts, the facts will bounce off and the framework will stay. As such, we need to pay more attention to our metaphors and analogies, especially because as we have seen, demonization of Israel works against peace.

Finally, I recall some important words said once by deposed Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak in a TV interview: “We Egyptians went into wars with Israel, but in the end we sat down together around the table and solved our problems. Importantly, only negotiations can bring peace to the region, as can be read in the book of history.”

On this account, let’s stop demonizing Israel.

The new analogy I invite Arabs to use can be rendered: “Israel Is a Sister.” More importantly, the Palestinian people suffer, and so does the Israeli people. In other words, both sides need and want peace.

The writer is an Egyptian artist and a PhD student.

But it's okay to demonize the Muslims as terror suspects, right?

 

[Hammer-fist]

1. Israel won't be around for too long in the middle east even according to the likes of a well-known troublemaker and close to the global elite such as Henry Kissinger.

2. The Arab "media" is a joke.