Today we read about two strange phenomena in foreign travel – “slum tourism” and
The men of Munich: Would they make good tour guides? “counter-terrorism tourism.” Slum tourism, as it’s called in the Times, gives do-gooders and adventure-minded tourists the chance to visit impoverished neighborhoods in places like Brazil and India, offering them a more “real” perspective on life in other countries. "Counter-terrorism tours," however, as described by Slate, are aimed at police officers who come to Israel to see the country’s strategies for fighting terrorists firsthand.
While both of these travel trends raise ethical questions, they also evoke a reluctant sense of admiration at the business brains behind the tours, and their ability to capitalize on taboo subjects with a “when life gives you lemons” mentality. There’s something about the counter-terrorism tours that seems uniquely Israeli: Who else would see the business potential in even the grimmest circumstances? From a detached perspective, it’s difficult to deny the marketing genius behind these tours. As the article in Slate succinctly notes, “What can a country do when its tourist industry is eclipsed by terrorism? The answer, it seems, is to market terrorism to tourists.”
But the ethical questions still remain, shedding light on the issues at the core of both tours. They share the same basic premise: Outsiders viewing frightening situations in a brief and controlled way, then returning to their safe, comfortable lives. While slum tourism at least claims to offer some kind of improvement or humanitarian aid in exchange for its presence in the neighborhoods, counter-terrorism tours exploit a culture of violence without asking any of the obvious questions. How successful are Israel’s counter-terrorism efforts, really? What are the consequences of prolonged violence? What does this mean for people like the citizens of Sderot, for whom violence is an ever-present aspect of their lives? Ultimately, ignoring these questions trivializes the plights of those affected by terrorism and war, and turns their suffering into a commodity.
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Ismail
"From a detached
"From a detached perspective, it’s difficult to deny the marketing genius behind these tours."
The real marketing genius is describing the activities of the occupation forces as "counter-terrorism".
If you listen closely, you may hear the sound of a spinning Orwell off in the distance.
naftali
Ismail, You're Lying Again. Tch. Tch.
That distance would be the acreage between Israel and the industry called "Pallywood" that stages atrocities and murders and blames Israel and the Jews. They market to the AP, Reuters, and AFP. They do this to camouflage the real terrorists, those receiving money to kill Jews, just like the events of last week.
Or if you prefer, which you don't, that spinning is the sounds and voices inside your head that do the same thing as Pallywood, you lying fool you.
Anonymous
Why Not?
Why the fuck not? How safe is it anywhere... especially in the US with our insane gun laws, or lack of them. The situation exists whether witness it first hand, or just read about it in your kitchen. Not only is it good for Israel economically, but also for PR. Let those who would not otherwise have reason to visit, fully appreciate the dangers of living in the region's only democracy, surrounded by those whose dream and reason to get out of bed, is it's destruction.
zbird
what's controversial about teaching cops?
Perhaps I'm completely naive or dense, but I fail to see what's so controversial about police officers and counter-terrorism experts trying to learn more about their trade from Israeli specialists who might have more experience.
You ask: "How successful are Israel’s counter-terrorism efforts, really?" Sounds like a legitimate question for a foreign police department to ask before agreeing to fund a trip to Israel. But it doesn't make the trip ethical questionable.
Then you ask: "What are
the consequences of prolonged violence? What does this mean for people
like the citizens of Sderot, for whom violence is an ever-present aspect of their lives" --Why do you assume these questions are not asked on the tours? And even if those questions are ignored, why would that ignorance make the trips ethically troubling for cops who wanted to learn how to better protect the public?
--Z
Anonymous
agree with zbird
You're trying to apply some thematic generalization where it doesn't really exist. Tours for wealthy do-gooders cannot be compared to professional training courses. The former is tourism, the latter is professional education. What's the connection?
Vyvyan Richards
See if Ismail is in this
See if Ismail is in this video
http://youtube.com/watch?v=dMxPUzEBWDU
Gazans rejoice killing Israel's children (but Israel is guilt
ridden if they mistakenly kill a Gazan civilian.)
Gazans launch missiles and intentionally target Israeli citizens
Gazans launch their missiles from mosques, schools, homes,
trucks, rooftops.
Gazans cry "foul" when Israel destroys the rocket launchers.
Gazans use human shields as part of their terrorist strategy but
cry "foul" if they are in the way of Israels retaliation.
If Gazans stopped all these acts of terror there would be peace.
If Israel stopped defending the country, there would be no
Israel!
Nadia Matar
YULI TAMIR'S PROVOCATION
YULI TAMIR'S PROVOCATION WILL BE OF NO AVAIL
by Nadia Matar
Minister of Education Yuli Tamir did not know what to do with herself, she was so frustrated. For two whole days she suffered. For two whole days the Israeli media broadcasted reports sympathetic to the public that she hates the most: the national-religious public. Since her youth in the pro-Arab extreme leftist organization Peace Now, she has acted tirelessly to break exactly that public which threatens her anti-Jewish worldview: lovers of Eretz Yisrael and the Torah of Israel.
Her entry to the Education Ministry gave her even more effective tools to implement her machinations. While in Peace Now most of her efforts had been directed against settlers and the settlement enterprise in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza. In the Education Ministry, she was given the opportunity to also act against the educational network of the entire population. Quietly, very quietly, she acts to close the flow of funding to all the educational institutions of the national-religious public that has produced a wonderful generation of lovers of the people and the land. Ulpanot (girls' seminaries), Mechinot (pre-military academies), Yeshivot, National Service programs - all the projects of the national-religious public are on the verge of collapse, because of Yuli Tamir's anti-Semitic decrees.
And now, all of a sudden, the massacre in the Merkaz Harav Yeshivah occurs, and a spirit of sympathy for the public that the Yeshivah represents fills the country: in the newspapers, in the news broadcasts, and on the radio. And this is intolerable for Yuli Tamir and her friends of the extreme left. This cannot happen! Not that she and her friends care about those who were murdered - she and her fellow leftists pushed forward the Oslo Accords, in the course of which thousands of rifles were given to Arafat and his fellow murderers. Because of them thousands of Jews were murdered and wounded. Now, Tamir is a minister in the Olmert government - the same government which recently gave the Arab enemy thousands of additional rifles, two million bullets, and dozens of armored vehicles. Obviously, this weaponry was given to the murderers, with the knowledge of the danger that they might use it to murder Jews. I will go so far as to state: The Olmert Government may even have hoped that with these weapons the Arabs will execute so many terror attacks in Judea and Samaria that they will succeed in causing most of the settlers to flee. All this without the government having to bother with compensation and an expensive and complicated expulsion plan. Whatever the reason for the giving of the weapons, one thing is clear: whoever gives weapons to Arab terrorists invites the murder of Jews. So the leftist government should not weep now, that they "feel the pain" of the slaughter in the Yeshivah. This reminds me of the story about the son who murdered his parents, and then cried that he was an orphan.
But Yuli Tamir and the rest of the extreme leftist haters of Eretz Yisrael and the Torah of Israel did not anticipate one thing: the media sympathy. Yuli Tamir quickly cooked up a brilliant provocation to try and put an end to this sympathy: she would visit the Yeshivah and pretend that she came "to offer condolences." It was clear to her that such an insolent visit would not pass quietly. The plot succeeded. The Yeshivah students responded in a healthy manner and castigated Tamir. Surrounded by her body guards, she had to flee the angry crowd of boys. The media immediately stood by Tamir. For most of the people in the media, it was also difficult to shower love and sympathy on the public which they usually attack or just ignore.
Tamir and her friends rejoiced. The color returned to their cheeks. She succeeded in returning us to the time of the leftist hatred following the Rabin assassination. Instead of castigating her and her cynical and cruel provocation, all the media reported of the "poor minister who was 'attacked' and experienced the hatred of the national camp." But, after all, what can we expect from the leftist media and public figures?
What infuriates me are those innocent mamlachtiyim (state-oriented individuals) within our own national camp who, once again, fell into the trap laid for them by the extreme left, and joined the chorus of condemnations against the yeshivah students. In Mekor Rishon-Hatzofeh from Tuesday, March 11, several of them write pathetic sentences such as: "It's better to be guilty of gratuitous love" (p. 9); "Yuli Tamir came with good intentions, to identify with the grief of the yeshivah students, and therefore her expulsion from the yeshivah cannot be forgiven" (p. 9), or "the Education Minister represents the state, and she should be given the proper respect" (p. 3).
I read these sentences, and I ask myself: Have we learned nothing? Don't we know that it is written in our sources: "Lovers of the Lord, hate evil"? And what about: "a time to love and a time to hate"? Is it still not clear to us that in order to guard the people of Israel, the Land of Israel, and the Torah of Israel, we must castigate and denounce the minority in our midst that collaborates with the Arab enemy and brings destruction and ruin on us all?
Do we still not comprehend that more than 1,500 Jews have been murdered since Oslo because of these evil people who gave weapons, ammunition, and cities of refuge to the Arab enemy, and therefore we must not embrace them, welcome them, nor grant them legitimacy? Yuli Tamir is only one of a long list of Oslo, Expulsion, and Annapolis criminals whom we must denounce, specifically out of love for the People and the Land. Whoever loves the People of Israel, the Land of Israel, and the Torah of Israel is obligated to castigate those who collaborate with the Arab enemy!
And I ask the mamlachtiyim among us: Have you still not understood that Gush Katif and northern Samaria were destroyed because of an excess of gratuitous love in our camp? The Kassams on Sderot and the Negev are not the fault only of the implementers of the expulsion; they also are the fault of everyone in our camp who refused to truly fight the expulsion plan and preferred to dance with the expellers. If everyone had heeded the calls to refuse orders and for nonviolent civil disobedience, we would have been capable of preventing the expulsion from Gush Katif, and thereby prevent the Kassams from falling on Ashkelon. Yes, at times, gratuitous love causes damage to the people and the land, and this is not the way.
The good news is that this will be of no avail for Yuli Tamir. Thank G-d, the majority of the People is not stupid and does not accept the incitement and brainwashing by Yuli Tamir and her friends in the leftist media. Most of the people know who most faithfully represents the love of the People, the Land, and the Torah - exactly those whom Yuli Tamir and her ilk love to besmirch, persecute, and repress. And we will not be broken. Not by giving weapons to the Arabs, not by expulsion decrees, and not by building freezes.
Despite Yuli Tamir and those like her, we will continue to build Eretz Yisrael and to spread Torah everywhere. "But the more they were oppressed, the more they increased and spread out" (Exodus 1:12). The day draws near when, with G-d's help, our wonderful youth in yeshivot such as Merkaz Harav and on the hills of Judea and Samaria will take power and Yuli Tamir and her friends will be relegated to the pages of history, together with all those who stabbed a knife in the back of their own People and Land.
All that remains for us is to say to the wonderful students from the Merkaz Harav Yeshivah: We are with you in your heavy mourning. We are proud of you for the loyalty you show for the People, the Land and the Torah.
We will conclude with what was written in 1945 by Yehoshua Hankin, redeemer of many parts of Eretz Yisrael:
"I wish to say to our youth: I believed in the power of the individual to blaze new paths for the many, and the battle between David and Goliath always served as an example and encouraged me. In the place where the individual stands today, scores will come tomorrow, and thousands and myriads the following day [...] We must know that only by stubborn perseverance and unbridled faith in the justness of our sublime idea shall we attain our complete redemption in our precious homeland."
Dedicated with love by Women in Green to the wonderful youth that loves the Land of Israel, the Torah of Israel, and the People of Israel.
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