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Friday, July 21, 2006

No sirens in Arabic

Since the fighting broke out, the media has demonstrably ignored the bombs and missiles that have landed on Druze and Arab settlements, and the despair of those citizens has not been heard.

Morning, noon and night, only Jewish voices are heard expressing their fear. Others are forgotten, without a trace, despite the fact that these settlements have absorbed dozens of strikes. There is widespread damage, many injuries and several fatalities.

As opposed to the Jewish sector, the Arab and Druze home front can't take refuge in bomb shelter or reinforced room, and they don't have the benefit of warning sirens.

The Home Front Command does not publish its announcements in Arabic, and the settlements themselves don’t qualify for government aid for being in the "line of fire."

No sirens in Arabic
Yariv Oppenheimer, Yedioth Internet, July 20, 2006

I never thought of it this way. And why would I? Why would I believe that an Arab or a Druze is more resilient to bomb shrapnel or falling debris than a Jew? In guess in some strange way it is even flattering when people think that artillery shells and rockets falling on you is not a big deal, really, and you don't need to be warned about it or given a reinforced shelter in which to weather the attack.

Or maybe it is just racism that's the problem here? Because I would really find it hard to believe that Israeli defense officials who spend a significant amount of their time devising contingency plans in case of enemy attacks have failed to consider the possibility of non-Jewish towns and villages coming under enemy fire in the same areas where Jewish ones were viewed as potential targets.

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