A Tale Of Two Narratives

Duane V over at Eschaton today linked to an important post.  I noted it made a point that I have a couple times this week in comment threads and he reminded me that it's really something that bears repeating.

I've remarked kind of obliquely here about the violence in Iran, lamenting the usual bouncing ball coverage and the missing acknowledgement of repression in which we share complicity.  Yet I haven't explicitly made a connection between the media's constant replay of one martyr and their resounding silence regarding another.

Here's Neda Agha Sultan, the new sympathetic figure and symbol of courageous Iranian dissent:

A lovely woman, full of life.  A life that drained away in the streets of Tehran as people watched helplessly.  A life and death that has been shown countless times in Western media and online.

Now here's Basem "Phil" Abu Rahme, a beloved friend of the villagers in Bil'in, West Bank:

Basem was also full of life, shown here flying a kite much as we did in solidarity actions at Erez.  His name means Smile, while Neda's means Voice.  Neither now smiles or has a voice, but so many people know of her voice and not his smile.

Did anybody see this picture in our media back in April?

I stood right in that place--right where Basem was shot--a couple months later with the IDF firing tear gas and other weapons.  I came out okay, as did all but two wounded that day; Basem did not.

Why, then, with his courageous stand against oppressors in nonviolent protest, do we not see constant replay of his death?  It's on Youtube.  He's an attractive person, young, makes good visuals.  His story is sad.

Okay, that might be a rhetorical question. 

It's nice that twitterers and bloggers and everybody are making their avatars and backgrounds and whatnot green to show support for the Iranian protesters, and of course being a compassionate human being isn't a zero-sum game.  I'd just like to remind everybody that American money paid for Basem's death, not Neda's.  You might want to add black and red to your color palette for the people who yet struggle nonviolently under the Israeli-American occupation.

ntodd

[Update: Sadly, I'm sure more attention will be paid to The King of Pop's death...]