This chilling entry found by me when I surfed the blogs seeking examples of successful propaganda exercises should be a standard text for any Media Student. (nota bene links are inactive. For original text with active links go HERE)
On Sunday, Israel hit a building in Qana, Lebanon, killing 34 children. The Associated Press story reporting the killing of these children was headlined "34 youths among 56 dead in Israeli strike," which seemed really peculiar to me. (The text of the story correctly reported that the victims were children. The headline was also used by many outlets that carry AP stories.)
Youths sounds just a bit less childreny, I suppose. We've already declared that all "military age male"s are terrorists. The women are collaborators. The infrastructure is all command and control centers. Trucks carrying food and aid could be munition relief. Ambulances... don't ask.
But the children pose a bit of a problem because while we have managed to dehumanize entire nations, our caring towards children is a bit more resistant to propaganda.
Ergo, all children are youths. And they will one day grow into adults, who are all terrorists (men) or collaborators (women), after first growing into youths.
But this child in Qana will not be doing any more of that pesky growing up thing, solving in one fell swoop the problem of the tension we have between continuing to care about children, and our utter lack of concern for their parents, their environment, and their well-being:
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Technorati tags:
Killing Lebanon Occupation Terrorism Extrajudicial+Killings Palestine Israel Middle East Occupation War Crimes Justice Current Affairs Propaganda
On Sunday, Israel hit a building in Qana, Lebanon, killing 34 children. The Associated Press story reporting the killing of these children was headlined "34 youths among 56 dead in Israeli strike," which seemed really peculiar to me. (The text of the story correctly reported that the victims were children. The headline was also used by many outlets that carry AP stories.)
Youths sounds just a bit less childreny, I suppose. We've already declared that all "military age male"s are terrorists. The women are collaborators. The infrastructure is all command and control centers. Trucks carrying food and aid could be munition relief. Ambulances... don't ask.
But the children pose a bit of a problem because while we have managed to dehumanize entire nations, our caring towards children is a bit more resistant to propaganda.
Ergo, all children are youths. And they will one day grow into adults, who are all terrorists (men) or collaborators (women), after first growing into youths.
But this child in Qana will not be doing any more of that pesky growing up thing, solving in one fell swoop the problem of the tension we have between continuing to care about children, and our utter lack of concern for their parents, their environment, and their well-being:
-----------------------------------------------------
Technorati tags:
Killing Lebanon Occupation Terrorism Extrajudicial+Killings Palestine Israel Middle East Occupation War Crimes Justice Current Affairs Propaganda
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