Is It a “Stir” or a “Riot”? Orthodox Jews Object to Movie on Flight
April 7th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Here’s a great example of word choice in journalism. Yeshiva World News is calling it a “stir,” while Haaretz calls it a “riot.” Either way, Orthodox Jews aboard a flight to Kiev objected to an in-flight film on El-Al.
(Image: NY Times.)
There is no word on what the film was, but YWN calls it “objectionable.” Haaretz reports, “‘It was a pretty frightening sight,’ a passenger on the plane described the events. According to witnesses, the men began shouting and physically trying to prevent the movie screens from unfolding.”
But the real story here might be the comments on the blogosphere. The Life of Rubin adds:
Do you know what happens when a problem is ignored? When you ignore a problem it doesn’t magically go away. No, it gets worse. Time is the enemy of problems and as time marches on, if the problem is not solved, it gets worse and worse and worse.
We are going to see a day when “Ultra Orthodox” is split into two. There will be Taliban style fanaticism Ultra Orthodox, and then the rest of us. Then we’re gonna always have to tell people “I’m so sorry, but what they are doing is not Judaism, and it’s in line with what the Torah wants from us.”
A commenter on YWN adds, “Figures. When are we going to learn that we are in Golus, and we do NOT RUN THINGS. No wonder people hate frum Jews.” A comment on Vos Iz Neias (Yiddish: “What’s News”) wrote, “As we learned in kindergarten you say please ‘Please maam, We were told that a movie will not be shown…’ If that doesn’t work, you sit there and close your eyes. This world is not custom made for anybody - especially us Jews.” Another commenter on VIN suggests Haaretz is anti-Semitic, “Does anyone note the soure [sic] - (haaretz). They’re known for their Ahavas HaShem [love of God] and Ahavs Yisroel [love of Jews]!! Please all sane people - see through these rantings.” [Brackets mine] “See how the Israeli government reacts to those who don’t agree with them,” says another.