Language as an Instrument of Crime
By RANNIE AMIRI
CounterPunch
"It is indeed a great irony that George Orwell wrote 1984 in 1948, the same year Israel was created. For this nation, above all others, has proven itself most adept in the use and promulgation of doublespeak.
Defined by Webster's Dictionary as "evasive, ambiguous, high-flown language intended to deceive or confuse," Israeli governments have always relied on it to justify the expansionist nature of their state, excuse the confiscation of land and minimize the extent to which its inhabitants have been mistreated or abused.
A few examples:
The Security Fence
The monstrosity which Israel is constructing along the entire length of the West Bank is no more for security than it is a fence......
Moderate Physical Pressure and Work Accidents
Israel was at one time the only country to officially sanction the use of torture, euphemistically referred to as "moderate physical pressure." Lea Tsemel, a defense lawyer and founder of the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) remarked, "Israel is the only Western country that openly uses torture. This is not some brute in the secret services beating up a prisoner. It's done in the open. There is quiet legitimation by a high-ranking commission and government ministers" (New York Times, May 8, 1997).......
The Absent Present
This bizarre term was used describe those Palestinians who were not driven out of Palestine in 1948, but remained within what was to later become Israel. If they temporarily left their homes or were away from their land during the war, they were prevented from reclaiming it. Confiscation of the property of the "absent present" was then permitted (Haaretz, January 14, 1955).
The Abandoned Areas
"We take the land first and the law comes after."
- Yehoshafat Palmon, Arab Affairs advisor to the mayor of Jerusalem (Guardian, April 26, 1972)......
Definition of Israeli doublespeak: the use of language to hide crimes of the state.
It would surely make Big Brother proud."
No comments:
Post a Comment