In response to the horrific murder of the Fogel family in Israel, the American tele-journalist Glenn Beck stated that this is an indication of the dark times in which we live. He added that even more indicative of the evil of our times was the celebratory response in Gaza to the news of these barbaric murders which he showed on air. In watching these clips, I wondered, given the tight control of the media in Gaza, why would Hamas want these celebrations to be filmed and then distributed world-wide. Would they not be concerned about negative responses such as the one demonstrated by Mr. Beck?
In my latest Jewish Tribune article, I present my thoughts in response to this question. This article is reproduced below.
Rabbi Ben Hecht
Evil's Sleight of Hand
It is not only the Jewish community that is
reeling from the horrific attack on the Fogel
family ztz”l in Israel. American tele-journalist
Glenn Beck powerfully expressed his
emotions in his Fox News show.
“What kind of monster can butcher an
infant, a small child?” Beck reiterated
many times that while he had the photos
of the murder scene in his hand, because
of their gruesome nature he could not
show them to the television audience. His
heart went out to the family and indeed
all of Israel, in shock as a result of this
inhumanity.
Coming upon a break in his show, he then
made a most interesting comment enticing
his audience to return. He stated that there
is “great and powerful evil and darkness,
but if you think this is evil, wait until I tell
you how the story ends.”
I was immediately intrigued. What could
be a worse expression of “evil and darkness”
than this horrific attack on the Fogel
family? To what could Beck possibly be
referring? I waited with interest.
When he continued with his presentation,
he stated that while he could not show the
audience the pictures of the murder scene,
he could show them other pictures which
he, in fact, found more disturbing. They
were pictures of the reactions of the Gaza
residents to news of this brutal slaying.
They were passing out candies. One resident
said that the “joy was a natural response to
the pain the settlers inflict on the Palestinian
residents.”
To Beck, this was a more disturbing manifestation
of powerful evil than even the murders
themselves – people celebrating the
slaughter of children.
There would seem to be some truth in
his assessment. As I looked at the pictures
that he showed, I wondered,
though, whether the smiles on the people
who were taking the candies were real or
whether they were doing what they were
told to do, in fear of the consequences of
not listening.
The greater question for me, though,
was: why would the terrorists in Gaza
evenwant these pictures to be taken?
Media is highly controlled in the Arab
world. They are very adroit at public
opinion. Would they not know that Beck
would not be singular in his response?
They must have known that people who
saw these pictures of celebration would
be disgusted by such a response to murder.
The fact is that this may be the precise
emotional response they desired.
I was watching an Arab-produced video
recently about the Jewish historical presence
in Europe. The agenda of this video was
clearly antisemitic, yet the Holocaust was
still not ignored. In fact, many of the infamous
pictures that reflect the treatment of
the Jewish people by the Nazis were shown.
The narrator further pointed out the cruelty
of how the Jews were treated, even expressing
empathy and sympathy. But then came
the line that reflected the whole purpose of
showing this footage – it was clear that
what the Nazis did was terrible, but imagine
how horribly they must have been treated
previously by the Jews to have responded as
such.
An emotional response to the pictures of
people taking candy and celebrating the
death of children similar to that of Glenn
Beck is exactly what is desired. They want
people to be disgusted, but then their goal is
to assure that Beck’s moral response will not
be the only one forthcoming. Indeed, there
will be those who will question what could
possibly have motivated these people to
have acted in such a barbaric manner. The
terrorist’s objective is then to promote a different
moral conclusion: not that people
really are that evil, but that these people
only act in this way as a result of despair.
Through barbarism, the terrorist knows that
he can actually evoke sympathy. The more
horrific the act, in fact, the greater the sympathy;
the contention presented is that there
must be some human reason for people to
act in this manner. A desire for evil is rejected.
This is the real challenge that we are now
facing. I applaud Beck for declaring the
truth – that the brutal attack on the Fogel
family and the presented response of the
Gaza people were manifestations of powerful
evil. The greater question, though, is
why is it even necessary for someone like
Beck to state what would seem to be so
obvious. There is such a desire to not see
evil, though, that segments of the population
are motivated to always explain it
away. Such people cannot accept that
human beings can simply choose evil
motivations and thoughts, and so they
have to find a reason why such people do
horrific acts. It must be that they are
oppressed, that they are suffering, that
something inhuman is pushing them to do
these acts – for it cannot be the person’s
true choice. The sad truth, though, is that
people can choose to be evil.
Indeed, within Torah thought we also find
recognition that there may be, at times,
explanations for a person’s evil acts; there is
room for understanding. There really is only
One True Judge.
Nevertheless, the possibility of evil cannot
be denied. Evil acts still can be defined and
declared – and no explanation can allow us
to lessen the impact of and response to such
acts. There is no justification for brutality.
There is no justification for the celebration
of brutality. Unexplainably, the Fogel family
confronted evil that Shabbat. That is the
only message of this tragic event. Our
greater challenge may be the multitudes of
individuals who cannot accept this, who
always try to explain evil away. As Beck
stated, though, there is a powerful evil in
the world. We are not only at war with
those who commit atrocities, but also with
those who wish to rationalize atrocities.
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