Today I saw this cartoon by Chappatte tweeted by the director of Human Rights Watch in Europe.
Chappatte @globecartoon‘s take on renewed #Israel – #Palestine tensions © Chappatte in International New York Times pic.twitter.com/Feh2pt2EuK
— Lotte Leicht (@LotteLeicht1) July 6, 2014
Yes, it’s a great visual, a moving and effective cartoon. It suggests that the trouble is that the Jews and Palestinians are stubbornly hostile to one another, and underlying the conflict is a problem like the story of King Solomon and the two women arguing over who’s the mother.
Chappatte’s point is, there’s a cycle of violence. And there’s an element of truth to it; obviously there’s a cycle of violence in Israel and Palestine.
But the cartoon is actually inaccurate. Cycle of violence is a much lesser part of the story. As Jewish Voice for Peace said in a statement on this very issue, the story is occupation and resistance, one people occupying and oppressing another, not a cycle of violence. (Chappatte himself described the problem in this great cartoon.)
Still, I’m pleased by the cartoon. Cycle of violence is now becoming the mainstream narrative, and it’s a step forward from the old story: the Arabs want to push the Jews into the sea or kill them all.
Now the narrative is, an eye for an eye, a limb for a limb. A small truth, but incomplete.
I think that toppling the myth that the “conflict” has much of anything to do with tit-for-tat violence is key…
“Cycle of violence” is as close to accurate (and of course it’s not very accurate) as the US MSM generally gets on this subject. More commonly it’s “Palestinian terror followed by Israeli retaliation”, which is “cycle of violence” with a more blatant pro-Israel spin. I think “the Arabs want to push the Jews into the sea” is usually not found in the NYT, to be fair to them. It’s more of a pro-Israel meme in the dumber regions of pundit-land. Related to it is the one where a map is shown with tiny little Israel surrounded by a sea of Arab countries, the implication being that it’s David and Goliath. I’ve seen that one on Maddow (I haven’t watched her lately–anyone know if she’s said anything about recent events?)
Cycle of violence is a new narrative? In what universe? Not this one. It’s been the mainstream media narrative for, oh, maybe 75 years.
Someone with better posting skills than me needs to post Latuff’s latest. It leaves this one in the dirt.
Well, there is a cycle of violence, so I wouldn’t say you shouldn’t discuss it. It’s just that the occupation/colonialism aspect is the lens through which the conflict has to be understood. It’s certainly interesting to spend all day talking and thinking about cycles of violence and their psychology, but you will never understand the conflict if you forget the occupation and think the conflict is one between two equals like in the cartoon.