Most disgraceful moments in history of global journalism
Photo: EPA
No doubt, the Arabs won
Op-ed: Shalit deal proves that Israel not even close to matching Arab barbarity, heartlessness
The Arab side is the clear winner of the Gilad Shalit swap.
If anyone around here thought Israel could challenge the Arab standards of cruelty and primitivism, Tuesday’s events sat the record straight. We lost the sadism contest by knock-out.
It started in the West Bank, where Hamas fans marked the joyous occasion of their countrymen’s release from jail with some trademark Arab civility: Urging renewed terror attacks and the butchering of Jews. Indeed, when it comes to pure lust for Jewish blood, the Palestinians outshine virtually any competitors.
Watch Gilad's interview with Egyptian TV (Hebrew narration)
Later, Palestinians in Bitunia continued their celebration with another highly sophisticated tradition: Hurling stones at Israeli security forces (deployed in the area in order to ensure the safety of released Arab detainees.) Here too, our Arab neighbors won the much-coveted “We live in the Stone Age” award hands down.
Yet the true highlight of the day came later, when Egypt delayed Shalit’s return for the sake of a forced interview on Egyptian national television. In what must have been one of the most embarrassing, disgraceful moments in the history of global journalism, a callous so-called newswoman bombarded the just-released, barely breathing Shalit with a series of brainless questions ranging from awkward to outright idiotic (“So why were more videos of you not released?” “What lessons did you learn from your captivity?”)
The Egyptian dimwit also did not miss the chance to serve up some good old propaganda, asking Shalit whether he will be joining a campaign to free the remaining 4,000 Arab prisoners upon his return to Israel. Shalit’s ability to handle this merciless, moronic ambush under such incredibly difficult conditions speaks volumes about his mental strength and noble character, which starkly contradicted his interviewer’s stunning senselessness.
Israel an island of civility
The Egyptian anchorwoman, Shahira Amin, later took pride in her great “scoop” in an interview with Israeli TV, highlighting how clueless she is in respect to enlightened journalistic standards. With her shameful performance she joined a long list of fellow Arabs who had proved time and again in the past that speaking fluent English and wearing modern clothes does not make one intelligent, civilized or humane.Notably, while all this was going on, Israel went about its side of the deal with customary dignity, avoiding any disparagement of the freed Palestinian prisoners.
The above statements should be qualified with two notes: Firstly, not all Arabs are like this. It is not the Arab “race” that is flawed, but rather, Arab culture and society which are mired in a cesspool of primitivism and barbarity. One can only pity the honorable, intelligent citizens of these societies for being surrounded by such spectacular mediocrity.
Secondly, despite our neighbors’ unsavory character, these are our “partners for coexistence” in our home region, the Middle East. As such, we must do everything in our power to maintain our peace treaty with Egypt, a priceless asset for Israel, and attempt to secure some kind of understandings (rather than “peace”) with our Palestinian foes.
Yet while doing this, we should always keep in mind the kind of people we are dealing with, as was made clear during Tuesday’s events. Israel is indeed a villa in the jungle, an island of civility surrounded by mean-spirited, wicked barbarians.
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