Kesher Talk

Young Bill shot back a double. "Best thing I learned in college was how to drink," he said comradely. "They sure as hell didn't prepare me for being a war correspondent." He took a deep breath and steadied himself. "I can't believe the stuff I saw today. Those Palestinians are inhuman. Absolutely barbaric! These poor Jews. Is it always like this?"

No one answered. The other journalists gaped at him, and then at each other. Elaine found her voice first. "Uh, Bill. Let's not forget, a Palestinian died killing all those Israelis. Another victim of the illegal occupation. Think of that poor kid's mother."

"But -" Smitty cut into Bill. "You don't understand what's going on here. Nothing's obvious. I've got great sources, and they told me the Israelis rigged that suicide bombing to kill Jews and make the Palestinians look bad. Of course, the Israelis denied it, they always do. What, you think the Palestinians are so stupid that they want to die?"

"But I saw -"

"You saw ?! Jeez, what are you, an innocent bystander? Someone knew you were there, and they gave you something to write about. If a tree falls in a forest and no one hears it, did the tree make a sound? If Jews and Arabs kill each other and we're not there to make hay about it, does death matter? No. Let me put it this way: the Syrians killed 20,000 of their own people in Hamra, but we weren't there, so who cares? It's like it didn't happen, and the world remained the same. Syria's on the UN Security Council. Capiche?"

"Boy, I sure have a lot to learn about being a foreign correspondent in Israel," Bill said. (Sam Orbaum, The Jerusalem Post)

posted by Howard @ 4/15/2002 01:51:12 PM