Israel exposes bomb's grim aftermath

[GabysPoppy]

JERUSALEM—The raw, gratuitous truth of a suicide bomb leaves behind images that until now played only in the minds of those first on the scene — images so extreme that by consensus, in the interest of human decency, the media simply will not show you.

snip

Dismembered body parts lay splayed amongst the detritus of what were, moments earlier, elements of everyday Israeli life: a skullcap, a math textbook. Such were the scenes captured by a ministry employee with a handheld video camera.

"Israelis started their morning today having to face shocking pictures of dead commuters — victims of a yet another suicide bomber," said text accompanying the video. "The anti-terrorist fence could have prevented this massacre. ... All those who criticize Israel for building the fence should take a good look at this morning's pictures from Jerusalem."

snip

"It was an emotionally difficult day. Jerusalem was bombed just as Israel was giving back Palestinian prisoners," he said.

"And in the context of Israel about to be accused at the International Court of Justice for building the (controversial separation) fence, it just seemed the appropriate time to let the world see what it means to be hit by a suicide bomber on a bus in the heart of Jerusalem."

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1075504210244&call_pageid=970599109774&col=Columnist1016110013469

[ET Awful]

1. Get back to me when they show the grim aftermath . . .

of one of their anti-personnel rockets being fired into a crowded city street in a "targeted killing" of an individual that ends up talking out a dozen others and missing it's target.

Or perhaps you should get back to me with the "grim aftermath" of the IDF shooting a 14 year old boy for throwing a rock at a tank.

Or maybe the grim aftermath of shooting a British activist in the head while he's attempting to get a child out of the line of fire, putting the man in a coma for several months, and finally having him die months later.

If you aren't going to display the atrocities of BOTH sides, then you're simply proving that you aren't after any kind of truthful approach to the issue.

Yup, a suicide bombing is a disgusting and atrocious act, but shooting a child for throwing a rock is no more justifiable.

[bemildred]

2. While I think it would be a good thing if this sort of

violation of "common decency" was more common - people on all
sides should know what it is that they are supporting - it is
still the case that more than this sort of waving of the bloody
shirt for propaganda purposes will be required to restore some
semblance of order. I am reminded of a project a while back to
send a disemboweled bus on a tour of the USA.

It is somewhat a double-eged sword, from the governments point of
view, to use this sort of thing; while it arouses the citizenry it
also tends to wake them up and start them thinking, and it displays
most graphically not only the effects of the attack but also the
ineffectuallity of the government and its "security" forces.

[tinnypriv]

3. And the video is part of a "propaganda" offensive

As is conceeded by the more honest (right-wing incidentially) Israeli commentators.

Moreover, the special descriptive text on the English MFA site is much less strident than the one directed to a Jewish audience, in case that wasn't already obvious.