How Many People Need to Die? The Manipulation of Grief to Incite War
On July 2, I published an article in Haaretz arguing that governments manipulate our grief in order to push forward political agendas. On July 3, my theory came to life when news broke of 16-year-old Palestinian Mohammed Abu Khdeir's murder. Tragically for the Israeli nation, it was all but confirmed that the murder was a revenge killing by Jewish extremists. Major media outlets including the the New York Times rushed to interpret the escalating violence, the riots, and the alleged revenge killing as an ancient 'blood feud' between Israelis and Palestinians. This is misleading and incorrect. The violence sweeping across the country and in Gaza is predictable, though absolutely inexcusable. It is the result of government's manipulation of our emotions. This is not the first time this has happened. The manipulation of grief for political purposes has a long history. Consider the Vietnam War and the rhetoric around the violent brutality that transpired there. During...