Permission to Publicize

(Written by a friend yearning for some truth in the agenda driven media of today)

The words of the title reverberate in our minds since the beginning of this long war. They gave us the creeps when they open the news and everybody’s tension went up. A bit like reciting the words in our Yom Kippur prayers “who by water, who by fire”… who is it now, how many, do I know any of the names? Even if we don’t know any of the soldiers killed in action our hearts contract, as if all of them were our own sons. We care for each and every one, because we cherish life and we mourn with their families and friends. Let’s hope that there will be no more victims.

Listening to the news has been my habit for years. The radio has been on most of the time, mainly since I live alone. It helps to have someone talking, even if it is in the background. Sometimes the programs are interesting, not only news, but stories of events and experiences of people all over the world. However, in recent years it has become nerve racking and difficult.

Some say that the general news outlets are one sided, manipulative and depressing. Others are sometimes aggressive, but then try to give a more optimistic picture of the developments. Who to listen to?

Talking to my son has become very challenging. If I open the conversation: “have you heard about….” He stops me immediately. “Don’t tell me – I don’t need to know everything!” Where are the interesting and informing talks we used to have? He is adamant not to be inundated by depressing and often faulty news. His argument is that if it is really important, it will get to me somehow. That’s all he needs. He has found for himself some outlets and contacts he agrees to listen to, mainly since they look at the situation from a more refined and trustworthy aspect, allowing faith in a better future.

In the past couple of weeks, since some kind of shaky ceasefire has brought more quiet, the news has changed, not always for the better. On one hand, we all are happy about every hostage being released, but the news again work on our nerves. We really do not need to know every detail and be emotionally challenged all the time. On the other hand, reports and opinions that disunite and split the population have surfaced again and bring back the ugly atmosphere that existed before the war.

Can our country heal from all our afflictions?