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Sad Murky in Turkey Footage
Here’s a little bit more. I find this footage terribly sad and moving. These are good, decent people. They simply don’t understand what happened. The appalling thing, as Okan remarked to me, is that the IHH exploited the Turks’ Achilles heel: their generous natures. No one in Turkey would have supported an act of war against Israel. But the Turks love to think of themselves as charitable, as compassionate, as generous–and indeed they are. They genuinely believe that the Palestinians are starving and that the boat was on a humanitarian mission and nothing but a humanitarian mission. They are simply bewildered that anyone would have interfered with such a noble-minded endeavor. This is really what the vast majority of them believe.
That is surely a good idea.
Sounds like the only news outlet most Turks have access to is MSNBC!
These things have more meaning if they are tied to real life behaviors, don’t they? Suppose you had taken a poll in Samaria in the year 35 CE, and found that all Samaritans returned the Judeans’ hatred and mistreatment of them, but the one actual encounter was on the Judean highway where the beaten and robbed Jew was aided only by the Samaritan? Small sample size, but still reflective of something.
So, the questions are: 1) Do most acquaintances in Istanbul know Claire’s ethnic background, and 2) How do they deal with her- and are they genuine about it?
This, it seems to me, ought to be juxtaposed with the broader data.
These are decent people. I heard no “raving anti-semitism.” Heck, I didn’t even hear a typical campus “teach-in.”
My (pleasant) next door neighbors are under the illusion that they’re selling their home. If they somehow manage it, I’d be happy to welcome your interviewees next door.
Yet, are they broadly representative of Turkish opinion? I think that your documentary would be well served by data.
You know, that is a very good idea.
Claire,
Thanks, I stumble across one from time to time. I’ve always thought that balancing the statistical with the anecdotal creates a whole greater than the sum of its parts.
Would you say the Turkish view of the Palestinian/Israeli state of affairs is shaped by the same kind of one-sided reporting as we have in America? Is there any further religious bias there or a noticeable lack thereof?
It’s absolutely shaped by that–entirely shaped by that. Yes, certainly there’s a religious bias, particularly in some quarters. Raving anti-Semitism? You be the judge. Those are typical folks; I hear that sort of thing all day long.
So, the questions are: 1) Do most acquaintances in Istanbul know Claire’s ethnic background, and 2) How do they deal with her- and are they genuine about it?
This, it seems to me, ought to be juxtaposed with the broader data. ·Jul 27 at 8:37am
Good comment and questions. Maybe you can repost it again in a similar (active) thread. These darned conversations end too quickly. :-)