April
16, 2024
Ann
Arbor (Informed Comment) – American humorist and, oddly, horror author, Ambrose
Bierce (d. 1913), produced a serial, staccato, newspaper column consisting of
humorous and sardonic definitions of words, which he later published as a book,
The Devil’s Dictionary. (He initially had to entitle it “The Cynic’s Wordbook,”
which doesn’t have the same ring, because his pious editors wanted to avoid
referring to Mephistopheles.)
Bierce
often tweaked the white nationalist Establishment. For instance, consider this
entry:
“ABORIGINIES, n. Persons of little worth
found cumbering the soil of a newly discovered country. They soon cease to
cumber; they fertilize.”
A
more concise summation of the genocidal character of white settler colonialism
would be hard to discover.
And
I rather like this one, skewering pretensions of impartiality:
“ABSURDITY, n. A statement or belief
manifestly inconsistent with one’s own opinion.”
My
homage to Bierce at Informed Comment has been The Ghoul’s Glossary. I did mine
as contextual, political satire, and some of the bons mots have faded. But
there are a few I’d keep for a book. For instance, this one from 2008:
“Zionism: The theory that because Nazis
hated Jews, the latter would be much better off all gathered together on
disputed land in the midst of 300 million Arabs and Iranians.”
Or
this:
“Palestinians: Dispossessed, displaced and
stateless persons who are ungrateful for their condition and therefore vaguely
dangerous.”
Or
speaking of the American attempt to pivot away from the Middle East after
causing a spot of bother earlier in the century:
“Withdrawal: A way to avoid the worst
consequences of a moment of pleasurable conquest, which, however, often comes
too late to avoid years of support payments.”
I
bring all this up because the intrepid Jeremy Scahill and Ryan Grim at The
Intercept have sprung the style guide of the New York Times for talking about
Israel and Palestine. If it weren’t so serious, it would be hilarious. It is
sort of a Devil’s Dictionary in reverse, which punches down rather than up. It
more resembles Bierce’s forays into horror fiction.
So
I thought I’d rearrange their fine column as a supplement to the Ghoul’s
Glossary.
CARNAGE:
When Israelis kill Palestinians this word should be avoided since it conveys
more emotion than information. May be used when Palestinians kill Israelis.
Example: “One Israeli said that being high on LSD during the Hamas-led attack
on Oct. 7 prompted a spiritual revelation that helped him escape the carnage at
a desert rave.” NYT, April 12, 2024. May also be used of peoples not under the
Palestine Exception. E.g.: “As the war continues with no end in sight,
Ukraine’s youngest are in increasing peril, at risk of being dragged toward the
carnage of ground combat as they defend their homeland.” NYT, April 11, 2024.
DEADLY
VIOLENCE: When Israeli settlers kill innocent Palestinian civilians. E.g.:
“Deadly violence against Palestinians by Israeli settlers in the West Bank has
also reached record levels,” NYT, Feb. 21, 2024. Contrast to TERRORISM, when
Palestinians kill Israeli civilians.
ETHNIC
CLEANSING: Large scale removal of a people other than the Palestinians from
their homeland. With regard to Palestine (oops, see PALESTINE), it is “another
historically charged term: If someone is making such an accusation, we should
press for specifics or supply proper context.” May be used for other peoples
not under the Palestine Exception. E.g.: “Another Ethnic Cleansing Could Be
Underway — and We’re Not Paying Attention: Azerbaijan is blockading the enclave
of Nagorno-Karabakh, and people are dying.” NYT, Sept. 2, 2023.
FIGHTERS.
This term ordinarily refers to “those who fight,” but cannot be used of
Palestinians lest it imply that they are regular soldiers with a state and an
army, which they are not and never will be allowed to have. It may be used of
non-Palestinian irregulars who are favored by the US government, and who do not
fall under the Palestine Exception. E.g. “The fighters who have claimed
responsibility for a rare assault just over the Ukrainian border in Russia’s
Belgorod region are members of a volunteer unit made up of Russian citizens who
have been fighting with Ukraine’s forces against their own country.” NYT, May
25, 2023. Note: Russian renegades who attack Russian targets in Russia from
Ukraine are never to be referred to as TERRORISTs, since they are not
Palestinian.
GENOCIDE:
This is something that is definitely not being committed by Israel in Gaza,
though it may be reported that some judges expert in international law make the
mystifying charge that Israelis would ever do such a thing. Their charges
should be explained away as a form of incomprehensible legal jargon not
applicable to the real world. The term may, however, be used of peoples other
than the Palestinians, who are not under the Palestine Exception. E.g., re:
Rwanda, “one of the last fugitives charged in connection with the 1994
genocide.” NYT, June 7, 2023.
MASSACRE:
When Israelis kill Palestinians this term should be avoided since it conveys
more emotion than information. It may, however, be used when Palestinians kill
Israelis. . Example: “‘It’s a Massacre’: Inside an Israeli Village Raided by
Palestinian Fighters.” NYT Oct. 10, 2023.
PALESTINE:
A word not to be used “except in very rare cases.” No such place has ever
existed nor does it now. “Do not use in datelines, routine text or headlines,
except in very rare cases such as when the United Nations General Assembly
elevated Palestine to a nonmember observer state, or references to historic
Palestine.” That is, other benighted organizations may use the word, but not
the NYT in its own voice.
OCCUPIED
TERRITORIES: Ordinarily this phrase refers to territories seized in war from
another people, which are militarily controlled. However, because of the
Palestine Exception, it should not be used of the situation in Palestine (oops,
S.V. PALESTINE) “When possible, avoid the term and be specific (e.g. Gaza, the
West Bank, etc.) as each has a slightly different status.” The term may be used
of other occupied territories [which of course actually all have the same
status under the 1949 Geneva Convention] E.g. ” the United States might
establish what amounts to a military base in Ukraine or encourage Ukraine to
retake the Russian-occupied areas of the Donbass by military force.” NYT, Nov.
24, 2021.
REFUGEE
CAMPS: A term be avoided in favor of “refugee centers.” “While termed refugee
camps, the refugee centers in Gaza are developed and densely populated
neighborhoods dating to the 1948 war. Refer to them as neighborhoods, or areas,
and if further context is necessary, explain how they have historically been
called refugee camps.” The term may, however, be used for densely-populated,
decades-old places for non-Palestinians such as Afghans, who are not under the
Palestine Exception. E.g.: “Sarwar selling watches in a camp for Afghan
refugees in Karachi.” NYT, Nov. 24, 2023.
SLAUGHTER:
When Israelis kill Palestinians it should be avoided since it conveys more
emotion than information. May be used when Palestinians kill Israelis. Example:
Thomas Friedman: “Israel’s response to the Hamas slaughter.” NYT, October 29,
2023.
TERRORISM:
When Palestinian guerrillas kill Israeli civilians. E.G. “It is accurate to use
‘terrorism’ and ‘terrorist’ in describing the attacks of Oct. 7, which included
the deliberate targeting of civilians in killings and kidnappings.” When
Israeli settlers kill Palestinians, the term of art is in contrast “deadly
violence.” E.g.: “Deadly violence against Palestinians by Israeli settlers in
the West Bank has also reached record levels,” NYT, Feb. 21, 2024.
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