So an Israeli soldier posts photos of herself hanging out with Palestinian prisoners, up on Facebook. Wait, why am I overcome with an overwhelming sense of deja vu? Eden Abergil, posted them on her Facebook account under an album titled “The Army… the most beautiful time of my life :)”
I mean, come on. Doesn’t the Israel have better uses for Facebook to deal with?
Here’s what she had to say about the erupting controversy: “I still don’t understand what’s wrong…the pictures were taken in good will, there was no statement in them.” [source]
That has to be the quote of the year.
She went on to say:
“There’s no violence or intention to humiliate anyone in the pictures. I just had my picture taken with them in the background. I did it out of excitement, to remember the experience. It wasn’t a political statement or any kind of statement. It was about remembering my experiences in the army and that’s it.”
So when you’re an excited Israeli soldier (who’s not trigger happy at the moment and happens to have a digital camera around) you first instinct is to take pictures next to blindfolded and bound prisoners as a way to “remember the experience”? Seriously?
Many were shocked at the images while some found them amusing. “You’re super sexy here,” one of her friends wrote. Eden responded, “Yeah I know, ha ha, what a day that was, see how he completes my picture, I wonder if he’s on Facebook! I have to tag him in the photo! Ha ha.” [source]
What is perhaps even more interesting about this controversy is that the international media is deeming it a controversy at all. In the context of this conflict, and with all the well documented barbaric acts of the Israeli occupational force, why is a girl taking a picture next to bound prisoners all that important? I’m essentially re-framing the very idiotic question Abergil posted in her own defense, but merely contextually. A simple Google search will yield unending results of Israeli acts on Palestinian lives, images that are simply haunting. And yet, this is what gets the media machine talking? It would definitely be interesting to analyze simply why this is so appealing to mass media? Is it the Facebook element? The digital, viral element? Is it a “caught red-handed” moment?
I mean, sure, this doesn’t look good. But seriously, I think Israel has been caught doing much worse things in the past.
Remember the time they illegally bordered those boats and shot a few activists?
Or the time they bombed that city back to the stone age using illegal weapons and killing mostly civilians?
Or the time they tried to cut a tree down?
Or…
Because they are the “most moral army in the world” so when the mass media see this, its a shock! After all, when they bombed Gaza and Lebanon in recent years and killed thousands of civilians, it was war and sadly, collateral damage is unavoidable during war…although rest assured, in both those wars Israel did “everything possible” to avoid civilian casualties…if they had actually been targeting civilians, then they would have killed at least 10,000+…we should be thankful…like we should be thankful to dear Eden – she didn’t humiliate the prisoner, she didn’t violently abuse him – she simply took pictures with him tied and blindfolded after he was arrested for simply being Palestinian.
It really is a sick world. The older one gets, the sicker it seems to be.
يا Øبيبي هاد العالم للاقوى هذا قانون الØياة من Ùجر التاريخ ÙˆØ±Ø ÙŠØ³ØªÙ…Ø± هيك اليهود اكثر تÙوقا الان Ùشي طبيعي يدعسو عالÙلسطينيين بس المشكلة انه الÙلسطينيين بعد اكثر من 100 سنة اØتكاك مع اليهود مش قادرين يستÙيدوا من عبقرية اليهود وما بطلعوا الا عاهات مثل اØمد ياسين وهنية والرنتيسي ودØلان والزهار والرجوب وابو مازن وابو ******
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Eden Abergil is just another Jewish princess. The photos are offensive and her acts a small part of the big picture about Israel: It has been from the beginning an abusive, manipulative and very aggressive organization.
i’ll tell you what’s wrong with this, she’s a dog!!! typical ugly jewish woman and her being in the frame with palestinians on its own is an offence!
It seems ok to her to have her photo taken like this because the people in the background are not seen as people in her eyes. she & the rest of the soldiers in the israeli army do not feel or acknowledge palestinians as equal human beings. they never refer to palestinians as that, they call them ‘arabs’ and all arabs are the same: an inferior race to jews!
First of all I think this caught people’s attention because it quite accurately portrays who is in power, how they are abusing it and how they do so right in the international community’s face. Its almost like she (representing Israel in the larger context of things) is saying “So! what are you gonna do about it!”.
If anyone has time. They should watch a documentary on youtube about the “Stanford Prison Experiment”. It is a very interesting psychosocial study of humans and power.
Also, there is a already a facebook group that commends and admires eden.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Eden-Abergil/121040374611881?ref=search
I think most Israeli’s are a living example of what hell would be like. They even look like little devils.
It’s sad to see how very valid criticism of the Israeli state, military and one individual takes on misogynist and antisemitic traits (“They even look like little devils”, “typical ugly Jewish woman”, “just another Jewish princess”).
Matt… Antisemitism is old news alright? Its being used as a tool to advance Israeli policy. They want the world to sympathize with Israel based on an old ideology of anti semitism. The world loves Jews. Jews are arguably and even statistically the most successful people in the world. They built an entire state for them selves in under a century. On the other hands, us Arabs are the new niggers. sorry to use the word. The world hates us far more than we hate jews. U wanna be helpful and bring change, then use a little bit of logic and be realistic about the situation. This lady’s actions represent what most people in Israel feel. The Israeli left wing is as right wing as it gets, and look who they voted into power. Even the liberal livni hates Palis and Arabs. Logic Matt, logic.
I’m not sure I agree 100% with your definition of logic there, Fares. IMO it crosses from valid complaints and criticism into blanket statements and stereotypes – which may be cathartic, but I don’t think it’s accurate, nor does it help. What’s logical about statements like “[Jews] even look like little devils”?
Israeli’s, not Jews… Read what I wrote again. I have nothing against Jews or Judaism.
Israeli’s like the one in the picture above, to be more specific…
Okay, got it. You do go on about Jews, Jews, Jews in post 8, mind you, but I did misattribute your devil quote.
I said nothing wrong about Jews or Judaism in post 8. I have plenty of real leftist Jews. Not like the ones in Israel.
These pics are no different from the pics of American soldiers in an Iraq prison and they were prosecuted! Let’s see if Israel will do the same.
Israel regards these people as animals and nothing more. See this “democracy” for what it is.
To Donna~excellent point. Although the American soldiers were prosecuted because they did this on foreign soil. No doubt that the Isreali gov’t won’t dare prosecute one of their own kind.
mhmd
لونك طرت Ø£Øسنلك ØŒ قتل ألاطÙال والنساء عند بعض الصهيانه الأردنيين يعتبر “”عبقريه ÙˆØنكه”” يا سلام على هيك تØليل وتÙكير عنصري أجوÙ
I can’t believe that this post is a real thing!
the free”jordanian”
shimon perez said int 80’s that palestininas are the only arab people that can have real democray becuase they have learnt alot from jews, at that time i was feeling the same , of course palestinian let him and let us down ,i am always wandering why palestinians can’t live up to the level which they can have a realistic approach to deal with israelis ..i mean their heads are still filled with religious superstitions and …..and am not racist i hate palestinians because they occupy jordan the same reason why palestinian hate israleis
@mhmd & The Free Jordanian
TROLL FAILED
“Trolling is throwing a plastic bone in a cage with hungry wolves – they’ll fight for it to the death just to find it’s not edible”