This is a rather lengthy clip from the January 5th episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=213380&title=strip-maul
To begin with, the clip is entitled "Strip Maul" which is a pun. The Gaza Strip and the Israeli "maul"ing of the area, as well as the similarity to the "strip mall."
As The Daily Show mocks the media and politicians, Stewart's comments are of particular importance, particularly when juxtaposed with the comments from the journalists, politicians and commentators in the clips shown. One interesting point is when Stewart comments that the conflict "happens all the time in the Middle East [itself a stereotype of the region as a whole as a violent place]... the 2009 missiles coming in, got to make room in the silos. Right?" This is posed against various journalists commenting that even "Israelis admit, this could take a long time," thus destroying the hope for a peaceful 2009.
Perhaps one of the most telling instances is when Stewart asks the question "Why right now?" The response is that Israel is afraid that Obama will not support their actions, whereas they know they have unlimited support from the Bush Administration. Thus, Stewart comments that Israel has to get their bombing in "before the January 20th Hope and Change deadline."
Stewart also points out that both Democrat and Republican politicians support Israel wholeheartedly, to the point that Stewart comments there is only one side to the various debates. This goes to the heart of Western media perceptions of Israel, particularly in the United States. Support is widespread throughout the United States, in areas often unexpected, while the Palestinian side is rarely stated. The solidarity between members of the United States and Israel continues in this clip as various politicians responded that if the US was attacked by its neighbors in the same way as Israel, it would respond in the exact same manner. The dominant rhetoric in the United States, particularly among political groups, is that Israel is simply protecting itself from hostile neighbors. The conflict has no time-frame. It is an eternal entity. This relates to the dominant Western narrative that Israelis live in perpetual fear of terrorist attacks by Arab neighbors/Palestinians. This, of course, ignores the complicated issues that surround the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The clips utilized throughout this segment reflect a variety of news programs and even political perspectives within the United States. Yet, this variety does not translate into the views of the conflict as Israel is seen as a justified actor with no detailed mention of the Palestinians (aside from Hamas launching missiles into Israeli territory, the justification for the Israeli response). Although The Daily Show is directed toward the youth in the United States and is broadcast on Comedy Central, the mocking reveals a great deal about the general portrayal of the situation in Gaza (and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on a whole) in Western/American media as well as the political response to the Israeli military position.
A sexual revolution -- women moving up in Iran
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To continue the focus on women from the reading, I found this article
posted on a non-profit news-source called Iran Focus**'s website. The
article itself...
15 years ago
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ReplyDeleteThe comments on the Daily Show site are also interesting. Most point out how biased the American media is and thank Jon for his 'speaking the truth'. there is one however that talks about all the searches and security checks Israelis face everyday. I lived with this (and the post isn't exagerated in its descriptions) but I never ever thought of it this way 'as humiliation'. This isn't so much about Gaza per se as mobility--why the checkpoints for Arab residents are so gallying, and the ever present security checks for Israeli is not... What do you all think?
ReplyDeleteIf Israeli soldiers are the checkers at these checkpoints, I can understand how other Israelis may not find it particularly humiliating; this is for their safety. This parallels freedoms some populations are willing to concede to their state for the sake of their own security.
ReplyDeleteAs for Arabs, checks during their conflict with Israel may give them a feeling of humiliation because the opponent possesses this authority over them in the form of an Israeli soldier.
Professor—to respond to your point and to expand on Mary’s point, I would like to point out that it is a constant reminder that their sense of personal freedom is gone. No longer are Palestinians allowed to go where they pleased without their dignity and daily actions questioned and/or suspect. It gives them the image of the “bad people” just by association of being Palestinians. To make a terrible analogy such as the ones provided on the clip, it is like Israelis boarding a plan and not minding taking off their shoes to be searched for bombs. For Palestinians though, it is the passengers and flight attendants looking at them suspiciously, wondering if they should remove them from the flight just because they are speaking Arabic to each other. Most of the time, when they are removed from the flight, it is because of the passengers' undue fright of normal behavior.
ReplyDeleteI could only imagine that the checkpoints (for Palestinians) at their best, could become a constant reminder of he subordination; at their worst, the demonization of your people.
ReplyDeleteThere have been numerous accounts of Palestinians or Arabs (probably never an Israeli or others, although there have been attacks in Israel and the West Bank made by both of the other parties) missing entrance exams, being refused to go to their own wedding, dying waiting for surgery, and women being in labor while waiting at a checkpoint.
Although the site is a bit of a rag of pro-Arab, Palestinian nationlist politics, the quotes (check out the Palestinian Holocaust Museum site link to the left), it does provide some insight to your posed question.