Some few of us have watched a livestreamed pogrom. But most have maybe glanced at a headline or two. We live in different information universes. That can't work.
I am going to leave comments open, honestly somewhat against my better judgment, but I'm going to ask for you all to use some judgment and restraint. You won't all agree with each other. But you aren't going to save a single life by arguing about it under my column. Save your venom for Reddit.
Absolutely. Calls to avoid sharing "torture porn" may come from a good place but are misplaced. By removing the visceral, they inadvertently sanitize and thereby downplay the horror.
They also facilitate misinformation (i.e that the main targets were military) and they allow intersectional "oppressor/oppressed" apologists/ ideologues to more effectively regurgitate their party line (see CUPE locals and certain academics and illiberal, woke Twitterati).
The photos/videos also clarify why Israel must root out Hamas, the terrorist dictatorship that never intended to be a partner for peace, and expose the Hamas cheerleaders in Canada and other Western countries for who and what they are.
Thank you for saying this. I've been thinking today - wondering, if I should reach out to my local Jewish friends, express sympathy and condolences (many have family or friends in Israel, one moved to Israel herself a few years ago - I find myself wondering how she is...)
Meanwhile, I saw another article on the weekend that CBC has asked their reporters to not describe Hamas as terrorists? I fear that not only is this conflict being sanitized, but the weight of this - the seriousness of it, the wrongness. It is being lightened and softened so that it's ok to sympathize with Hamas (no - it's not ok to sympathize with terrorists and we need to say this loud and clear!)
Hi Matt, Anne and I are now on our way back from Israel. We had gone for a family wedding. The wedding was postponed because the young people were being called up. Even more harrowing, my cousin’s son is one of the call ups and given his training he will be on the pointy end of the stick. Hearing the iron dome boom and then heading to the shelters on several occasions was unsettling. I had never thought I would experience seeing a young man go off to war or seeking protection in a bomb shelter (by the way, I served albeit without distinction in the reserves) were not things that I thought that I would ever experience. AS unsettling was the silence of the streets. Israel is normally such a frenetic, energetic place. The silence was eerie. Seeing the lefty tweets (by the way I am a card carrying lefty) juxtaposed with the Israeli media reports and my twitter feed was dismaying. The embassy not being open due to the Thanksgiving weekend added to the unreality. GAC talking points noting that the embassy was not closed under the international law definition of “closed” really brought home the concept of elevating form over substance. Anne and I through the grace of American Express travel coupled with the fact that we have resources allowed us to leave with relative ease. Dark days lie ahead, but Canadians need to wake up to the reality of the world today. We are, thank god, a fat and happy country. We need to start thinking seriously about how Canada fits in the new world order. Sorry for the long comment.
It is indefensible for anyone anywhere to support the deplorable actions of Hamas. It is naked terrorism and mass murder. Anyone who does support such atrocity in the name of something else has no moral foundation on which to do so. Anyone who celebrates this action has no place in any civilization.
I thought your work on Ottawa during the convoy was superb journalism. This is, by far, the best thing I've ever read. It's also agonising, so I can only guess what it was like for you to write it. Thank you.
One of the things that Canadians have a hard time comprehending is the depth of ethnic hatreds and persistence of blood feuds in older cultures. We got a glance of it during the wars in the former Yugoslavia in the '90s, with ethnic groups trying to avenge centuries-old quarrels as though they'd happened the day before. Hamas is driven by it too, in an even more raw, brutal form. Jonah Goldberg observed this weekend that the Hamas actions resembled nothing so much as ancient tribal warfare, where one tribe swoops into another tribe's village, massacres as many people as they can, and carry off prisoners as slaves or hostages. It's horrifying, people can't comprehend the raw ugliness, and they either try to dismiss it or rationalize it somehow. The challenge is to recognize that you *can't* rationalize it because it's fundamentally irrational and emotional - you can only say "No - we will not stand for this."
Excellent commentary Mr. Gurney. I have read extensively on wars, terrorism and the holocaust. I have seen the pictures and films done by the military to document the atrocities of the holocaust.
9/11 was witnessed in real-time. No one will forget watching the planes fly into the twin towers and knowing that it will be impossible for people to escape. The images are forever remembered.
At 60 years old, I had long ago learned that MSM only gives a sanitized version of.events so I have changed the way that I gather and analyze the information. I also watched many of the clips that you have described. I do not have your access and contacts but agree that this should not be sanitized.
Reality is important and yes it will change people and it should.
Don’t hold your breath waiting for CBC to be upfront about the Holocaust that just happened and the sun-humans who perpetrated it - the morons at CBC cannot even bring themselves to use the word terrorist - instead, the term “militant” is to be used. It is high time to defund and disband the CBC.
Remember, far too many people have the view that inside everyone there is good, so they project that thought to convince themselves these acts are done for a good reason. It’s hard to face the fact many of us are simply a few words removed from animals.
I have sympathy for what I believe to be the "average" Palestinian. I am sure there are many who just want a life, job and family. I have none for the Hamas terrorist and their apologists. Slaughtering innocents at a music festival is not a military action. The perpetrators are disgusting.
As a non violent person, who in my 75years has never had a physical confrontation with another person, I can say unequivocally that if you stood one of these terrorists in front of me and put a gun in my hand, I would shoot him in the face without thought.
It’s really depressing to learn of the atrocities against civilians and history repeating itself of people loaded up like cattle and hauled away.
With that backdrop, it’s even more depressing to see people who are confused over who are the aggressors on the crime spree and who are the victims. This speaks to a general ignorance about the Holocaust amongst younger generations and a refusal to acknowledge that countries have a right to defend themselves.
Watch closely as TV coverage of the Israeli pummelling of Gaza will be denounced as “excessive” or “disproportionate” to the circumstances. Meanwhile the terrorists hide behind civilians and wield hostages as bargaining chips.
People's perception of people who are fully aware of the facts, but still feel comfortable celebrating slaughter as resistance, will also be changed if they are made to confront such uncomfortable scenes. And help them to realize it is not progressive to support people who would support such brutality, and that nothing justifies it.
People have every right to believe whatever they believe, and to talk about whatever they believe - but there should also be a social cost to that, and it can only be incurred if we fully comprehend what people consider acceptable. If you are loud and proud about your support for such things, then you should be a pariah, not permitted to wear the virtue of resistance.
When it comes to less extreme circumstances, I usually oppose social shaming or treating people with differing opinions as outcasts, but in the context of such brutality and endorsement of brutality, I fully support it.
I am going to leave comments open, honestly somewhat against my better judgment, but I'm going to ask for you all to use some judgment and restraint. You won't all agree with each other. But you aren't going to save a single life by arguing about it under my column. Save your venom for Reddit.
Absolutely. Calls to avoid sharing "torture porn" may come from a good place but are misplaced. By removing the visceral, they inadvertently sanitize and thereby downplay the horror.
They also facilitate misinformation (i.e that the main targets were military) and they allow intersectional "oppressor/oppressed" apologists/ ideologues to more effectively regurgitate their party line (see CUPE locals and certain academics and illiberal, woke Twitterati).
The photos/videos also clarify why Israel must root out Hamas, the terrorist dictatorship that never intended to be a partner for peace, and expose the Hamas cheerleaders in Canada and other Western countries for who and what they are.
Thank you for saying this. I've been thinking today - wondering, if I should reach out to my local Jewish friends, express sympathy and condolences (many have family or friends in Israel, one moved to Israel herself a few years ago - I find myself wondering how she is...)
Meanwhile, I saw another article on the weekend that CBC has asked their reporters to not describe Hamas as terrorists? I fear that not only is this conflict being sanitized, but the weight of this - the seriousness of it, the wrongness. It is being lightened and softened so that it's ok to sympathize with Hamas (no - it's not ok to sympathize with terrorists and we need to say this loud and clear!)
Hi Matt, Anne and I are now on our way back from Israel. We had gone for a family wedding. The wedding was postponed because the young people were being called up. Even more harrowing, my cousin’s son is one of the call ups and given his training he will be on the pointy end of the stick. Hearing the iron dome boom and then heading to the shelters on several occasions was unsettling. I had never thought I would experience seeing a young man go off to war or seeking protection in a bomb shelter (by the way, I served albeit without distinction in the reserves) were not things that I thought that I would ever experience. AS unsettling was the silence of the streets. Israel is normally such a frenetic, energetic place. The silence was eerie. Seeing the lefty tweets (by the way I am a card carrying lefty) juxtaposed with the Israeli media reports and my twitter feed was dismaying. The embassy not being open due to the Thanksgiving weekend added to the unreality. GAC talking points noting that the embassy was not closed under the international law definition of “closed” really brought home the concept of elevating form over substance. Anne and I through the grace of American Express travel coupled with the fact that we have resources allowed us to leave with relative ease. Dark days lie ahead, but Canadians need to wake up to the reality of the world today. We are, thank god, a fat and happy country. We need to start thinking seriously about how Canada fits in the new world order. Sorry for the long comment.
It is indefensible for anyone anywhere to support the deplorable actions of Hamas. It is naked terrorism and mass murder. Anyone who does support such atrocity in the name of something else has no moral foundation on which to do so. Anyone who celebrates this action has no place in any civilization.
I thought your work on Ottawa during the convoy was superb journalism. This is, by far, the best thing I've ever read. It's also agonising, so I can only guess what it was like for you to write it. Thank you.
One of the things that Canadians have a hard time comprehending is the depth of ethnic hatreds and persistence of blood feuds in older cultures. We got a glance of it during the wars in the former Yugoslavia in the '90s, with ethnic groups trying to avenge centuries-old quarrels as though they'd happened the day before. Hamas is driven by it too, in an even more raw, brutal form. Jonah Goldberg observed this weekend that the Hamas actions resembled nothing so much as ancient tribal warfare, where one tribe swoops into another tribe's village, massacres as many people as they can, and carry off prisoners as slaves or hostages. It's horrifying, people can't comprehend the raw ugliness, and they either try to dismiss it or rationalize it somehow. The challenge is to recognize that you *can't* rationalize it because it's fundamentally irrational and emotional - you can only say "No - we will not stand for this."
Excellent commentary Mr. Gurney. I have read extensively on wars, terrorism and the holocaust. I have seen the pictures and films done by the military to document the atrocities of the holocaust.
9/11 was witnessed in real-time. No one will forget watching the planes fly into the twin towers and knowing that it will be impossible for people to escape. The images are forever remembered.
At 60 years old, I had long ago learned that MSM only gives a sanitized version of.events so I have changed the way that I gather and analyze the information. I also watched many of the clips that you have described. I do not have your access and contacts but agree that this should not be sanitized.
Reality is important and yes it will change people and it should.
Don’t hold your breath waiting for CBC to be upfront about the Holocaust that just happened and the sun-humans who perpetrated it - the morons at CBC cannot even bring themselves to use the word terrorist - instead, the term “militant” is to be used. It is high time to defund and disband the CBC.
Remember, far too many people have the view that inside everyone there is good, so they project that thought to convince themselves these acts are done for a good reason. It’s hard to face the fact many of us are simply a few words removed from animals.
I have sympathy for what I believe to be the "average" Palestinian. I am sure there are many who just want a life, job and family. I have none for the Hamas terrorist and their apologists. Slaughtering innocents at a music festival is not a military action. The perpetrators are disgusting.
As a non violent person, who in my 75years has never had a physical confrontation with another person, I can say unequivocally that if you stood one of these terrorists in front of me and put a gun in my hand, I would shoot him in the face without thought.
It’s really depressing to learn of the atrocities against civilians and history repeating itself of people loaded up like cattle and hauled away.
With that backdrop, it’s even more depressing to see people who are confused over who are the aggressors on the crime spree and who are the victims. This speaks to a general ignorance about the Holocaust amongst younger generations and a refusal to acknowledge that countries have a right to defend themselves.
Watch closely as TV coverage of the Israeli pummelling of Gaza will be denounced as “excessive” or “disproportionate” to the circumstances. Meanwhile the terrorists hide behind civilians and wield hostages as bargaining chips.
Matt, could you provide some of the sites you mentioned as reliable sources of information. It's difficult to sort through all the rubbish.
People's perception of people who are fully aware of the facts, but still feel comfortable celebrating slaughter as resistance, will also be changed if they are made to confront such uncomfortable scenes. And help them to realize it is not progressive to support people who would support such brutality, and that nothing justifies it.
People have every right to believe whatever they believe, and to talk about whatever they believe - but there should also be a social cost to that, and it can only be incurred if we fully comprehend what people consider acceptable. If you are loud and proud about your support for such things, then you should be a pariah, not permitted to wear the virtue of resistance.
When it comes to less extreme circumstances, I usually oppose social shaming or treating people with differing opinions as outcasts, but in the context of such brutality and endorsement of brutality, I fully support it.
It's scary how many won't or can't engage with such real violence, yet watch it gleefully on TV and movies.
"Evil must be opposed"