Guest Post: Can We Please Dial Down The Hysteria?
Here is a guest post by Dinah Paritzky (my sister), which I thought fitting in light of today's events in Ramat Beit Shemesh, and the aftermath that I see in the community
The panic levels of the general population are (rationally) out of all proportion to the threat – and the media is not helping any. Imagine if every single time someone got injured or killed in a car crash, the headlines would pop up on our screens, along with interviews with eye witnesses. It would happen dozens of times every single day – and would probably terrify us all. Nobody would want to get in a car – or leave their house!
I wonder what would happen if the terrorist attacks were only reported on the regular evening headlines? And not as newsflashes? It's obviously not a realistic wish – but let's just imagine for a moment. Of course the news channels would not get their nice juicy stories – but maybe we would all be that much calmer?
Am I scared when I leave my house in Bet Shemesh and go to work in Jerusalem that I will be stabbed by a terrorist? Well, yes. I am also scared that someone will crash head-on into my car at full speed (as once happened!), that I will get run over, that there will be an earthquake, or I could be bitten by a poisonous snake, or I could fall over and break my back or skull. I could also have a heart attack or a brain aneurysm. Or get struck by lightning. Or catch Asian flu. Or get murdered by a random lunatic as opposed to an actual terrorist.
We all know that some of those things are statistically more likely to happen than a terrorist attack. And yet perfectly rational people lose all sense of perspective. If a terrorist attack happens in Bet Shemesh (a town of 80,000 people or so), you do not need to call me to see if I am okay. I assume that if I were to be murdered then you would be upset. But you do not need to demonstrate your affection for me by calling to see if I am alive and well. You could wait to hear on the news what actually happened. If an attack happens on my street (chas ve...), then sure – go ahead and call. But if it happens in my town? Or my country? You really don’t need to bother. It just adds to the general levels of hysteria.
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Last week my son's school had a 2 day trip to the yishuvim in the south including Sderot, to see how they live. Despite the school getting all possible ishurim, a few parents sent out mails saying how scared they were, and asked if we were sending our sons. I replied that I work in downtown Jerusalem, my daughter is on a kibbutz on the border of Gaza and my son is in the army, and that Sderot seems like a safer option than any of those. The reply? "I want to keep my son 100% safe, not 90% safe." Well, sorry, but I have news for you - you can't. You could try chaining him to his bed wrapped in cotton wool and never letting him go near a road – but you won't do that.
I do realize this is a sliding scale: anyone more scared than me is hysterical and anyone less scared is an idiot :-). However, can we at least try to be slightly rational?
To be sure, we can take some basic precautions - after all, I don’t cross the road with my eyes closed. But can we a) carry on with our lives and b) not frantically phone/ sms/ whatsapp/ facebook the minute there is a pigua?