Featured in MSNBC’s “The Week in Pictures” is a photograph of a Palestinian man screaming in agony as an Israeli soldier drives a tractor-hitched trailer over his legs.
It’s a heartbreaking photograph, and the stone cold and carefree attitudes of the soldiers surrounding the man literally adds insult to injury. But first, a backstory: In the West Bank village of Al-Dirat near Al-Khalil, a group of Palestinian construction workers prepared the equipment and materials necessary to begin the construction of a new home. Soon after, a half-dozen or so Israeli soldiers appeared at the scene and ordered the workers to cease construction.
Almost as suddenly as their arrival, the hostile soldiers commandeered the equipment and ordered the Palestinian workers to disperse. At least one soldier boarded a tractor and, although it is unclear what exactly he aimed at, drove the vehicle’s attached trailer over one of the workers. The worker had reportedly been protesting the unfair expulsion of him and his fellow construction workers. Hazem Bader with Agence France-Presse (AFP) captured the photograph above, as well as the first of the two photographs below.
I expect people to argue that the soldier didn’t deliberately run the man over. I was not at the scene but here’s a question for these people: Do you drive over speed humps without noticing? I find it hard to believe that the soldier didn’t feel or notice the resistance from the man’s body as the wheels lurched up and over him. It’s just not practical. [Read more...]
In defense of FouseyTube
FouseyTube is all the rage these days. But lately, this 22-year-old college student from California seems to be attracting as much negative attention as Newt Gingrich. The only difference is, I don’t think it’s fair or even justified. You don’t have to be a fan, but stooping so low is going to break your back before it breaks his.
Yousef Erakat, operating under the stage name FouseyTube, is a Palestinian-American entertainer who devotes much of his downtime to producing parodies, “vlogs”, and comedy sketches to upload to YouTube. After joining YouTube just ten months ago, Erakat’s video’s have gone viral and collectively boast over 15 million views. He has since become a YouTube partner and is now on tour performing sets at community centers and schools throughout the United States. But his quick rise to fame has been met with a great deal of heat and the ad hominem attacks on his character are getting far too out of hand to let slide any longer.
Every entertainer realizes at one point or another that the content of his or her work is entirely subjective. Some will laugh, others won’t. Some will find pleasure in a comedy routine and others will want to put their foreheads on the table. Erakat, a comedian himself, knows this all to well. I am sure he doesn’t set his sights on the impossible feat of evoking laughter from every single person in the world at any given time.
Still, much of the criticism leveled against Erakat is that he simply isn’t as funny as people make him out to be. I’ve come across comments ranging from “he’s bland now” to “even his loved ones never thought he was funny” to “no self-respecting person would dare watch his videos”. Therein lies the problem. The first comment is perfectly acceptable. It’s an opinion. Not everyone is obliged to think he’s funny. The second comment is a rude judgment. Since when did the Erakat family befriend internet trolls and share with them family secrets (assuming this particular one to be true)? And the third comment reeks of arrogance. Is society expected to conform to one individual’s perception of something as subjective as a one-man comedy skit? I’ve watched a few of Erakat’s videos. Does this mean I disrespect myself? If I spinelessly conform to that particular audacious comment, would I be respecting myself again? [Read more...]