Ever so often I find myself impressed by people who
speak up and bother to argue, discuss, dispute and otherwise make their point
of view come across and be heard. I hardly ever do that, simply because I am
not very good at talking. In addition, I am terrible at remembering numbers and
dates. Oh, I remember the incidents and stories, but I often feel my own
credibility is harmed by the lack of precise facts.
There are many people who seem to have strong opinions
on causes they feel are unjust. Often I admire the involvement, but fail to see
the logic or the knowledge which is put to ground for their point of view. Not that
I am the sharpest knife in the drawer and know it all, but I do listen to what
people say, and I do observe their actions.
We have many causes and situations which call for
humanitarian support and change for the better. The list on unjust and cruelty happening around the world is almost never ending. So many to choose from, and yet I can’t think of any other trouble, conflict, war
or unjust which rises even remotely as strong emotions as the conflict in the
Middle East. We had a brief storm of "Bring back our girls", which is really terrible, and still an ongoing situation, but strange as it may seem: no other conflict makes people involved to the same degree as the Middle East.
Pop
superstar Rihanna posted a
"#FreePalestine" tweet two weeks ago, but quickly deleted the post
just eight minutes later, replacing it with the more neutral "Let's pray
for peace and a swift end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict! Is there any
hope?..." I can only imagine how her manager broke a sweat and
stirred up frantic activity for a split minute there.
Yesterday, on July 28, One
Direction singer Zayn Malik tweeted “#Free Palestine”. His tweet garnered over 190,000 favourites,
190,000 re-tweets and hundreds of responses from fans ranging from support to
disappointment to death threats.
It has
become more of a fashionable thing to do to announce support like this, but I
don't think they understand how they continuously stir up strong emotions. Emotions
which by the blink of an eye turn into hateful attacks when those who reply run
out of good points. Recently we have also seen how demonstrations around the
world, initially peaceful and a great way to demonstrate freedom of speech,
escalate into violent street fights. Leaving behind hurt and ruins. And a lot
of those who get affected don’t even know why, or for what reason.
I am not
convinced it is genuine interest or knowledge behind the slogans, the “like and
share”, the supportive sms’es or the demonstrations. But I find it really hard to understand what kind of agenda a tweet
like the one posted by these two artists has. It’s not like as if it’s a secret that sticking your neck out is
a risky thing to do. And any uttering containing “Israel” or “Palestine” these
days is a sure way to get swept up and carried away in a storm of bad breath,
spitting, fuming and four-letter wordings.
I was
determined not to express my opinion on the Middle East situation. I was
determined to stay coward and let others flog each other with harsh words. I
managed to keep my thoughts to myself for maybe a couple of days.
When I was
a student, we were taught at school that everything in the newspapers is the
truth. The truth is the main purpose of a newspaper, because it sets today’s
agenda. That’s why it’s called the 4th branch of government. Whatever the media
writes or talks about is topics we include in our everyday interaction with one
another. We pick up the talk of today, and we talk the talk and get engaged. Some times we even walk the talk.
A couple
of days ago one of Norway’s most prominent foreign reporters, at an event in
Trondheim, was asked by a dean if he believes in justice. The reporter answered
“no”. He explained by saying that I do not believe we are capable to make this
world fair. There is too much evil. My task is to tell about the innocent ones who
suffer. There is no such thing as objective journalism.
I do wish
I didn’t, but to a large extent I agree. Not only is it a challenge to choose
the right words, but there is also such a thing as “who’s truth is the most
true”. I sincerely hope it isn’t the number of viewers, readers or print copies
which determines which topics, and how, they are presented to the masses. Don’t
get me wrong: I see the possibilities a certain angle has to create sensational
headlines, which sell and thereby increase profit and secure the source of
information a future. But… that would be too much like running a newspaper for
the sole reason to keep journalists in work. Something which would be just
stupid, right?
So why is
the Middle East so important? What is it about this tiny spot on the face of
the earth, which causes normally peaceful and calm people to express hatred
towards people they don’t know? I have to say I don’t really know, but I do
know that many make up their mind about which side they sympathize with,
without really knowing what the conflict is really about. Strong feelings are
stirred to such a degree it seems like they use the cause as an excuse to be
abusive towards one another.
About two years ago, I wrote a blog posting I called “How To Speak Up”. I chose to write about a
clip I found on youtube, which really and profoundly disturbed me. We also have women like Malala Yousafzai, the brave young Pakistani girl who fought for the right to be educated and nearly lost her life for the cause. She was shot in the head while riding the bus home from school. When she was well enough, she kept on fighting her battle. Being brave and never tried to be bigger by putting others down.
I live such a
comfortable life it is hard to imagine what it is like to live a life permeated
with danger and total comprehensive fear. I am not so sure that I would do what I constantly claim I would do: never to let threats and random violence put any restrictions on my everyday life and lifestyle, simply because that would mean the wrong side won.
I have the utmost respect for those who write well enough and talk well enough to feel they present their point of view in respectful manners. Much like this 18-year old, who argues by using his knowledge rather than
abusive language and violence.
I
am afraid this article, “Top Secret Hamas Command Bunker in Gaza Revealed And why reporters won’t talk
about it”, holds a lot of truth, the kind of truth which is true
regardless of which angle you see the case from. It says that: “It might be hard to
believe the Israelis, the simple logic might run, since they obviously have an
investment in arguing that Hamas is using hospitals and schools as human
shields”. Meaning that if we disagree to begin with, any
argument made by the other side, will be questioned and regarded as speculative,
simply because by saying it they build their own case. And if you do that, you
have an vicarious reason to say what you say, so you lose your credibility either way.
Yeah, I know, and it is so annoying: It is confusing and frustrating.
Truth and the way we see the world may not be what we have decided it should
be. Reason plays no part anymore, at least not to the same degree it did
before.
I think that a lot of women have said quite a few really smart things about the conflict. Like Hillary Clinton, on The Daily Show.
But I think Douglas Murray says it very well too:
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