Has Enough Time Passed Since The Meron Disaster For Me To Use It Politically?

by Amos Schocken, Publisher, Haaretz

Credit: Ido Keinan via Wikipedia

Tel Aviv, May 25 – Nearly four weeks have passed since dozens of people lost their lives in the worst civilian accident in the country’s history. Responsible voices have restricted themselves in the ensuing days to expressions of sorrow, consolation, and, to a limited degree, sober inquiry into the causes and possible societal ramifications of the catastrophe. I state with pride that even among the more strident antireligious voices contributing to my publication, few, if any, sought to nakedly exploit it for ideological purposes when the news came in, and even for days afterwards. That prompts a question: how much longer should we wait before we wield the Lag BaOmer stampede and bleacher collapse as a rhetorical cudgel? Is today OK?

I ask this not specifically for myself; Haaretz boasts an impressive lineup of provocateurs whose raison d’être impels them to seize any event or phenomenon and explain in lurid detail how that event or phenomenon demonstrates yet again that the Haredim/settlers/right-wingers/Netanyahu/Jews bear the blame for a litany of societal ills and the only way to remedy those ills requires making Haredim/settlers/right-wingers/Netanyahu/Jews suffer. Nevertheless, since Lag BaOmer a month ago, any such seizing in Haaretz’s ranks has remained low-key. Uncharacteristically so, I have observed. I sense that Rogel Alpher, Gideon Levy, Amira Hass, and company have all but suffered a collective hernia from the cumulative restraint. I can only imagine how our English-language contributors such as Peter Beinart are faring. The outlet they have at the moment for venting spleen about Gaza cannot suffice for long. How much longer must they suffer?

Perhaps we can put this waiting period to good use. Perhaps we can indulge in some reflection before banging out our predictable diatribes. Yes, Netanyahu and his minions are the obvious targets, but while we smell his blood and will crow as loudly as the next far-left voter when he does meet his political end, that angle has gotten old, even among us die-hards. I propose we take this period of restraint to develop a more nuanced, sensitive, and yes, more intelligent approach to exploiting the Meron disaster for political rhetoric, by which I mean fall back on our old standby of bashing religious Jews.

Ha! You thought I was going to suggest abandoning that gift that keeps on giving? That would imply journalistic standards, and we don’t even pretend to have those anymore. We even solicit advertising copy by highlighting our political leanings and advocacy. Please. There are graves on which to dance, and my shoes have been waiting for nearly two weeks.

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