Douglas Murray: The Real Lesson of the Paris Attacks
When the truth is revealed, it can be not merely unpleasant but often accidental. There have been several striking examples of this since the massacre in Paris earlier this month. In the days immediately after the attack, The Times of London interviewed residents of Paris. Referring to the latest attacks, one 46-year old resident also referred back to the attacks in January on the offices of Charlie Hebdo and a Jewish supermarket. "Every Parisian has been touched by these attacks," she said, referring to the latest attacks. "Before it was just the Jews, the writers or cartoonists."Deeds of defiance
If "just the Jews" was an unfortunate way of putting it, it was no less unfortunate than the reaction of America's top diplomat. Days after the latest Paris atrocity, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said:
"There's something different about what happened from Charlie Hebdo, and I think everybody would feel that. There was a sort of particularized focus and perhaps even a legitimacy in terms of -- not a legitimacy, but a rationale that you could attach yourself to somehow and say, okay, they're really angry because of this and that. This Friday was absolutely indiscriminate."
To the extent these comments have been noticed, they have been ridiculed. It is what lies revealed beneath the statement that deserves our attention.
The true problem with the line that it used to be "just the Jews, the writers or cartoonists," is not that it is offensive or inelegant or any of the other words that are now used to shut down a discussion -- though all these things it may be. The problem is that it suggests that people were not paying attention during those earlier attacks. It suggests a belief that the terrorism in January was a different order of terrorism -- call it "understandable terrorism" -- rather than part of a continuum of terrorism that now reached its logical endpoint, as "impossible-to-understand terrorism" -- because "Jews, writers or cartoonists" were missing.
What if the terrorists had been targeting "just Americans," or "just diplomats" -- would that be "understandable terrorism" in Kerry's thinking? That it used to be "Jews, writers or cartoonists" is precisely what made the attacks on everybody else inevitable. The only surprise should be our own surprise.
As I sat there in the marketplace that night, surrounded by friends and strangers, I was struck by how this was the perfect example of the difference between Europe and Israel, and how this seemingly mundane activity was the guarantee of our survival. The Jewish community I had just left chose to shut down at the mere threat of terror. Here, where that terror is a reality rather than a suspicion, it is met with life and resistance. When they cut us down we rise. When they fight us, we grow stronger.Journalist Sparks French Ire Over Biased ‘Headline’ About Paris Attacks Parodying Coverage of Terror Against Israelis
Israel has chosen life, and as evidenced by last week's events, Europe has also made its choices. Closing down Jewish life to avoid trouble ironically serves to invite trouble in. Faced with appeasement and silence, the voices of evil will soon speak in unbridled unison.
As I prepare to leave Israel to go back to Sweden, my heart aches as more pieces of it are left behind with every visit. I'm safe here, no matter the terror, because while a minority may wish to harm me, the majority will stand with me. The good speaks loudly here, and the message is clear to anyone who cares to listen: Our love of life trumps the enemy's cult of death and our defiance is measured in babies and land, just as our forefathers promised.
An Israeli reporter was met with indignation from French citizens and tourists whom he presented with a biased headline about the recent Paris terror attacks, Israeli website nrg reported on Sunday.How did the French react to a biased headline after the terror attack in Paris?
Zvika Klein, the Makor Rishon/nrg journalist — whose viral video about walking the streets of Paris illustrated a rise in antisemitism in France — filmed passersby in Paris’ Place de la Republique (Republic Square) reacting to a screenshot of a slanted headline reporting on the November 13 ISIS attacks that resonated around the world.
The format of the headline – purposely fabricated by nrg as an experiment — emulated that of certain international media outlets’ coverage of recent terror attacks against Israelis, creating the impression that terrorists are victims as well. The phony screenshot was a virtual replica of a BBC headline that appeared following the murder of two Israelis, and serious wounding of a mother and her baby, in a stabbing attack in Jerusalem on October 3.
The BBC headline read: “Palestinian shot dead after attack kills two.”
The headline cooked up by nrg a few days after the Paris attacks was: “7 men shot dead during Paris attack; 129 dead.”
Klein is seen in the edited under two-minute video clip conducting man-in-the-street interviews with a cross section of people walking through the famous Parisian square. Holding out his phone to show passersby a fake website, “The Damascus Daily,” on which the ostensible news story and headline are featured. (h/t Yenta Press)