Israel Matzav

When is an expulsion an expulsion?

When activists on behalf of the homeless residents of Gush Katif sought to advertise on Israel Radio using the word expulsion, their ads were rejected. By Israel's 'Supreme Court' no less. And yet....

Susie Dym, spokesperson for the Matot Arim activist organization, has sent a letter to the ombudsman of the Israel Broadcasting Authority complaning about its double standard over Jewish and Arab expulsions.

"I heard the news report from 11 PM on Saturday night. In the report there was a story about protests against the "expulsion" (the word of your announcer) of Arab residents of a certain neighborhood in Jerusalem. I was surprised to hear that term coming from the announcer's mouth, because I remember that during the forced ethnic cleasning of thousands of Jewish residents of Gush Katif, the term "expulsion" was never used because it was deemed "political".

A few months ago, the IBA refused to broadcast radio ads for the Gush Katif Museum using the word "expulsion" in reference to the IDF destruction of the Jewish communites of Gaza.

Well, the answer to my question in the title should be obvious. An expulsion is an expulsion when it's politically correct to call it an expulsion.

And speaking of the Jews who were expelled from Gaza, Defense Minister Ehud Barak has ordered that the construction of homes in Ariel for some of those expelled from Netzarim be frozen because of the 'settlement freeze.'

What could go wrong?

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:35 PM