It Doesn’t Matter Who Does the Dying

Nov 17, 2016 by Susan Rosenbluth

By Susan L. Rosenbluth, TheJewishVoiceAndOpinion.com

On November 17, the very talented Yaakov Kirschen posted his Dry Bones cartoon, which featured an image of a city under attack from bombs and missiles. The caption read: “Who is bombing the Syrian City of Aleppo?” and the answer at the bottom of the cartoon, a reference to the many Arab-Muslim factions involved in the violent civil war plus Russia and Iran, was: “These days, apparently everybody.”

Mr. Kirschen did not know what to make of the general media lack of attention to the fate of hundreds of thousands of Arab victims not only in Aleppo, but throughout the destroyed state of Syria.

“The fate of Middle Eastern Jewish communities is usually ignored by historians. Jewish victims of Arab attacks are typically ignored by the world,” said Mr. Kirschen.

Here’s Why

The dearth of press on the situation in Aleppo came as no surprise to us at TheJewishVoiceAndOpinion.com. The reason there is little-to-no press and media coverage of the tragedy in Aleppo is that no one in the media cares who does the dying; the media cares only who does the killing.

When African-Americans kill African-Americans on the streets of Chicago, the press doesn’t even bother yawning, but if a white individual (especially a white policeman) kills an African-American, it’s page-one news for days. If Hamas thugs kill Palestinian Arabs in Gaza, the press doesn’t give a hoot about Arabs killing Arabs, but if an Israeli tries to thwart a missile coming into Sderot and a Palestinian-Arab is killed, it’s again page one.

When George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin fought in Florida in 2012, it became a story for the media only when the journalists turned Mr. Zimmerman into a “white Hispanic” (whatever that is). If the story had been “only” that there was a scuffle between an African-American teen and a young Hispanic man and the African-American had died, there would have been no coverage.

If the Killers Were Americans or Jews

The only way the Western media would pay attention to the deaths in Aleppo were if an American military unit or, G-d forbid, IDF troops were responsible for the killings. Then there would be hell to pay on CNN, but, as it is, no one in the media cares if Arabs kill Arabs.

As we said, it doesn’t matter who does the dying. It’s who does the killing that determines press coverage.

If there were Jews among the dying in Aleppo, it would matter to the Jewish community, but it is doubtful that this additional fact would faze the world media.

Former Jewish Center

Mr. Kirschen recalled that Aleppo, now being bombed into rubble, was once an ancient and important center of Jewish life.

In November 1947, when the UN voted to partition Palestine into Jewish and Arab sectors, the 2,000-year-old Jewish community in Aleppo numbered about 10,000.

After the UN vote, the Syrian government encouraged Aleppo’s Arab residents to attack the city’s Jews. Dozens of Jews were murdered and hundreds were wounded. Ten synagogues, five schools, an orphanage, a youth club, many Jewish shops, and about 150 Jewish homes were set on fire and destroyed. The damage was estimated at $2.5 million.

After the pogrom, the Jewish community rapidly dwindled, with most going to Israel. The wealthy escaped the following day and most of the others left in small groups during the next few months. All fleeing Jews forfeited the property, and on December 22, 1947, the Syrian government enacted a law forbidding Jews to sell their property.

By 1959, only about 2,000 Jews remained in Aleppo. As of 2012, there were no Jews left in the city.