Advertisement

Misuse of words can make them meaningless and they become another transparent propagnada tool.  Israeli attacks in two days around Christmas left 15 Palestinian civilians dead in the occupied areas but was not described as terrorism (even though considered war crimes by the 4th Geneva Convention).  This was followed by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine attacking Israeli soldiers at a bus stop. Parroting Israeli officials, this act (sanctioned by International law) was labeled a "terror" attack and other media outlets spke of breaking "relative calm".   During the "relative calm" over 117 Palestinians were killed*.  Another example of word butchery is attacking those who speak out against the atrocities committed by the Israeli occupation forces by labeling them as "anti-Semitic" ("self hating Jew" if Jewish).

Perhaps the lack of such possible twisting of words explains why you did not report on the Israeli occupation forces use of live ammunition on Friday to attack a peaceful demonstration against the apartheid wall that is now imprisoning Palestinians in Ghettos/bantustans.  But then again, you could have reported using the Israeli doublespeak of "security fences" and their explanation that only one bullet was fired hitting Gil Na'amani, an Israeli peace activist, twice and injuring others (Internationals and Palestinians)!   Isn't it time to tell the truth and stop this massacre of words that used to have meaning?  I believe in non-violence, but we all must understand that the violence (killing 3-5 times more Palestinian civilians than Israeli civilians) is a symptom of colonization and occupation.  To end the violence, we should stop funding it by withholding from Israel the billions of dollars of our taxes ($5 billion just in 2003).  And we should stop misusing words.