But what was shocking wasn't the fact that an accident took place, or the fact that it was a school bus filled with children under the age of 10, or the fact that most of the children didn't die from the crash but instead were burned to death as the bus went into flames, but no this was not what was shocking, what was shocking were the comments written by some Israelis in Hebrew about the subject.
Different social media sites had various comments on the subject, one person wrote "relax, these are palestinian children" another wrote "Great! Less Terrorists" and another "I hope everyday there's a bus like this".
This was not enough though, there were similar comments left on Prime Minister Netanyahu's page, of which no one apologized. This bashing is shocking, the fact that people write what they truly believe is disturbing. Is this how Israelis feel? or is this a small minority? Nonetheless what has happened to society, when people are relieved that an accident took place, have the Palestinians and Israelis become so separated that they would write such things. But to me these are simply cowards sitting at home, and judging the world with the press of a button. It makes a person wonder, if they were standing right in front of that bus when the accident occurred, would they be shouting "Less Terrorist" or would they be pulling their hair out at the sight of another human being (regardless of their background) frying to death, or the sight of a small girl being burning, and screaming from the excruciating pain. If they were standing right in front of that bus when the accident.
Even though the Media will probably not give this story as much attention as it does when Palestinians celebrate the death of Israelis, there is a more powerful tool that's already at work. A tool that does not get paid to work, a tool that is unbiased, and a tool that practices free speech, The Social Media. The same weapon that was used by Egyptians, and other Arabs in their struggle for freedom, and their struggle to show the world the injustice they live in, hopfully will be the same weapon used to help balance the propaganda on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.I don't ask that Israelis are demonized, but instead I only asks that there is a balance; a balance that is weighed not by how many "Benjamins" you can give your TV broadcaster, but by how many "tweets", and "shares", and "likes" you have. Will social media create a better world? Will Israel be exposed to it's true nature? Will this new form of media help bring a balance to the lopsided conflict? I am optimistic, but for this balance to exist, an enormous effort is required, all our efforts put together, and tweeted at the world in a struggle against injustice.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php/opinion/887-only-cowards-can-write-such-things
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