Jan
15
They Protest Too Much
ByI used to have such a positive image of the protest. But a couple of years ago I finally realized that the herd is a hideous thing. Not only is it a magnet for ignoramuses and kooks, but your very presence among them serves to endorse the views of the most tedious banners and the shrillest of voices. In the video above there are some blatant examples of leading questions and of gotcha journalism. Plus, the worst that can be noted about many of these people is their ignorance rather than their hate. Nevertheless, it’s not a bunch of people I would rush to be associated with. And not, one would think, the best advertisement for Israel’s cause. (Via Pickled Politics.)
1 Comments
January 15th, 2009 at 11:31 pm
I wouldn’t criticise the guy in this video for gotcha journalism. He’s asking difficult questions, which in an appropriate context should prompt compelling responses. Unfortunately, these people are too dumb to come up with them.
In uni I really wanted to go to a pro-Palestinian rally, but I refused because the people organising it had printed “Free Palestine” on one side of their placards and “No war for oil” on the other side. I didn’t see why opposing the invasion of Iraq was part and parcel of caring about Palestinian suffering. In fact I didn’t see how the two issues were related at all.
The mob does not permit individual voices. That’s why I don’t go to protests (I’d rather just write about it on my blog).