Moshe Silman, Media Agenda, and Media Suicide

Yisrael Medad/Eli Pollak
Media Comment: JPost..
18 July '12..

Moshe Silman is a tragic figure. He is described by many as being a successful businessman for a time, who became bankrupt due to the cruelty of bureaucrats. His personal and business assets were all lost to his debtors. He claimed that the National Insurance Institute caused his financial downfall and he did not have enough money to demand what he felt was his in court. His repeated requests for help, whether they involved a waiver of court fees, an increase of his national insurance benefits due to illness or a request for housing aid, went unheeded by the various agencies.

Every story has two sides and when one delves deeper, it appears that a State Comptroller’s Office document does not justify Silman’s claims against the National Insurance Institute. But whatever his mistakes may have been, and there seem to have been many, this was a man in anguish who with forethought decided upon a radical step – to immolate himself in public in an apparent attempt to commit suicide. It appears he understood that such an act would provide ample ammunition for his friends who were attempting to demonstrate for social justice, and indeed this was the case. His self-destructive and thus immoral act was political.

The letter he wrote prior to his suicide attempt left no doubt as to his motivation.

He pointed a finger specifically at the prime minister and the finance minister, hurling at them the Hebrew epithet “nevelot” – despicable scoundrels.

In the days following his act, the papers and broadcast media had a ball, all on account of Mr. Silman. Instead of discussing the weather and the expected electricity stoppages, they had a real issue on their hands. The headlines were huge. “The tragedy” blared Israel HaYom. The Ma’ariv webpage had a special “Moshe Silman” entry, which guided the user directly to all of the latest “hot stories” about the man and his issues. Kol Yisrael’s Reshet Bet anchor Arieh Golan used Silman’s tragedy to pitch in his two cents of criticism on Israeli society.

Seeking a tragedy, creating a symbol. All in a day's work for a social justice activist.

Dr. Haim Shine..
Israel Hayom..
16 July '12..

The social protest of 2012 is changing direction. Last summer's protests belonged to the middle class, which felt it was carrying too heavy a weight on its shoulders. This summer, the protests became the province of a small group of people in Israeli society, the socio-economically weak, whose members have reached a dead end and now feel they have nothing to lose.

In Israel, the social justice activist has been cast in a new mold. It is a new profession that aims to fan the flames of social dissent, getting people into the streets and pitting protesters against the legitimate, elected government.

The chosen time is always the summer, because that's when protesters have free time. The social activists are more interested in the act of protesting than in the actual people doing the protesting, because after all, organizing protests is their area of expertise . In fact, the same social activists who led last summer's protests are organizing them again this time around.

I don’t know any of the organizers personally. However, I don't get the impression that they have a track record of helping those desperate and hungry people who have now filled the ranks of the renewed protests, following the collapse of the previous protests.

The Fantasy World Israel’s ‘Social Protesters’ Live in

Jonathan Spyer..
pajamasmedia.com..
01 July '12..

The attempt to revive the “social protest” in Israel this summer has so far failed to attract the large crowds that characterized last year’s demonstrations. The protests are succeeding in hitting the headlines in Israel, however, after demonstrators clashed with the police in Tel Aviv, and a number of acts of vandalism took place.

These protests reflect a curious situation in which successful security policies are enabling a section of Israelis to live in a kind of fantasy world.

The protests reignited after police arrested one of the symbols of last year’s demonstrations, Daphne Leef. The arrest appears to have been entirely legal. Leef and some of her colleagues attempted without permission to establish a tent camp in an affluent area of Tel Aviv.

But while apparently above-board, the apprehending of Leef triggered fury among the core of activists of the social protest movement.

The following day, more than 6,500 people converged on the city’s Habima Square in an unlicensed demonstration. The protest quickly degenerated into a riot. Two main traffic arteries were blocked. Protesters then broke into and vandalized branches of the Hapoalim, Leumi, and Discount banks.

An additional demonstration in Tel Aviv this weekend attracted around 10,000 participants. Rallies elsewhere in the country were much smaller.

There are two main reasons for the failure so far of the revived protest to attract a mas following:

Firstly, despite the slogans of the protesters, Israelis are generally aware that in uncertain times, their own economy is doing quite well. There was moderate GDP growth of 3% last year. The Bank of Israel forecasts 3.1% growth this year, and 3.4% next year. Inflation remains stable at around 2.4%. Unemployment in 2011, meanwhile, was at its lowest for 32 years – averaging 5.6% of the adult workforce.

Medad - Why not call it "price tag policy"?

Yisrael Medad..
Green-Lined/JPost..
25 June '12..




This paper, as all the others, is reporting on violence perpetrated by social/ideological activists. Like this of what occured now in Jerusalem:

Two demonstrators were arrested in Jerusalem on Sunday night as the social justice protests took a violent turn a day after 85 were arrested in Tel Aviv. Around 200 protesters gathered outside the Prime Minister's residence at 8:00 as a response to the Saturday night protest in Tel Aviv, and then marched through downtown Jerusalem to Zion Square.

The protesters did not have a permit to gather outside the PM's residence or to hold a march. Demonstrator Khen Tsubery said the protest was intentionally done without a permit because permits have been difficult to obtain since the light rail began operated on Jaffa Road.