On August 1st, 2014, The Times of Israel posted one of their most honest articles to date. In it, the author openly made the case that in certain circumstances genocide may not only be permissible, but in fact a necessary component of government policy.
The original article was taken down after the internet got hold of it and began spreading it feverishly. However you can still access the cached version of the page here.
The title of the article “When Genocide is Permissible” by itself was bad enough, but this wasn’t a question of poor word choice. It was the thesis. This is particularly evident in the closing paragraph:
I will conclude with a question for all the humanitarians out there. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clearly stated at the outset of this incursion that his objective is to restore a sustainable quiet for the citizens of Israel. We have already established that it is the responsibility of every government to ensure the safety and security of its people. If political leaders and military experts determine that the only way to achieve its goal of sustaining quiet is through genocide is it then permissible to achieve those responsible goals?
The view point expressed here isn’t unique to the author. What’s unique is that he seemed to be testing the waters to see if the public was ready to bring the dark side of Zionism out of the closet. He seemed to think that at this juncture in history genocide could go mainstream with little more than a PR makeover. Unfortunately this delusion is not entirely understandable considering the cultural context within Israel. When you live in a society where crowds hilltops and cheer after each bomb as Gaza is obliterated, you might start to believe that everyone is ok with a few massacres here and there, and after all, such thinking is institutionalized in Israeli military doctrine. This article by Haretz further confirms this.
The Times of Israel took the article down, and put up a disclaimer saying that the article was a “blatant breach of editorial guidelines”. I’m not sure what their editorial guidelines entail, but they must have something to do with choosing your words in order to hide the full implications of what you are saying. To put is bluntly Yochanan Gordon was chastised because he failed to match industry wide propaganda standards.
No PR disaster would be complete without a 180 degree reversal and a “heartfelt” apology from the author:
I wish to express deep regret and beg forgiveness for an article I authored which was posted on 5TJT.com, Times of Israel and was tweeted and shared the world over.
I never intended to call to harm any people although my words may have conveyed that message.
With that said I pray and hope for a quick peaceful end to the hostilities and that all people learn to coexist with each other in creating a better world for us all.
Yochanan Gordon
I don’t know about you, but that got me all choked up. So nice to see people who are capable of going from advocating genocide to praying for peace, coexistence and a better world at the drop of the hat (or a few thousand angry tweets).
And always remember the real reason for this bombardment:
