Newspeak in the Middle East

George Orwell's 2+2=5 is alive and well! One definition for the word "terrorism" that I found was; "the unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence by a person or an organized group against people or property with the intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments, often for ideological or political reasons." It is a reasonable definition. Therefore, what was one IDF corporal, who took part in the summer of 2006 in the battle for Bint Jbei in South Lebanon, rabbiting on about when he wrote, "The (IDF) soldiers also recounted feats of heroism displayed by their friends. “They carried soldiers on stretchers while simultaneously shooting at terrorists”?http://www.blogsofwar.com/2006/07/27/the-battle-for-bint-jbeil/ Bint Jbeil is in the Lebanon and an unlawful war was being perpetrated against the people of the Lebanon with the intention of intimidating or coercing its government and yet the Israelis had the audacity to call resistance to this unlawful war, "terrorism". Of course, it is so much easier for the IDF corporal to fight a war on terror than it is for him to fight an illegal war where civilian casualties are the norm.

'Newspeak' is a global phenomena. However, in the Middle East in particular, it is on the ascendency as resistance becomes "terrorism", illegal settlements become 'neighbourhoods", an unequal contest where the IDF shoots Palestinians who are throwing stones becomes "clashes", a deliberate killing becomes "caught in crossfire" and the occupied territories become "disputed territories". We are descending into the realms of, "Blutvergiftung" (blood poisoning), "Sonderbehandlung" (special treatment), "Schutzhaft" (protective custody) , "Lebensraum" (living space) and "Arbeit macht Frei" (work liberates you), the sign above the Nazi death camps. Israelis in particular could and should remember their own collective history. In doing so they might stop the rot and facilitate a real peace in the Middle East.

The picture above shows a "terrorist" walking down Bint Jbeil High Street after the IDF had failed in their attempt to root out the "terrorists".