Sharks and Jews

A tragedy and the reactions

Amidst the tragedies of soldiers falling in battle, a different type of unfortunate tragedy occurred in Israel last week when a man was killed by sharks. The incident was of innate interest and concern to me, since I myself had gone to swim with this particular group of sharks a few years ago. But I was also concerned by the reactions to this tragedy.

The background is that Israel's largest power station is situated in the coastal town of Hadera, and a byproduct of the facility is that very hot water gushes into the ocean. For reasons not entirely clear to scientists, this is a magnet for sharks. Around forty to eighty sharks gather around the power station between the months of November and May. 

There are two species of sharks found around the power station in Hadera: sandbar sharks and dusky sharks. Sandbar sharks reach around eight feet in length and are not known to have ever attacked humans. Dusky sharks, on the other hand, which are the ones involved in last week's attack, reach about fourteen feet in length and weigh up to 750 pounds. They are listed by the International Shark Attack file as being responsible for six attacks on people and boats worldwide, one fatal (a number that now rises to seven attacks and two fatalities). 

Yet it should be noted that, as a global statistic, this is a very, very small number of incidents. These are not great white sharks, tiger sharks, hammerheads, or other species considered to be more dangerous to humans. Many, many people have waded into the ocean alongside dusky sharks without the slightest problem. If you act responsibly, it has not been considered particularly dangerous (though, a day after I did it, it was sensibly declared illegal).

So what went wrong last week in Hadera? I discussed it with a scientist I know who specializes in shark behavior, and the conclusion was that ultimately, we simply don’t know. And the family of the victim has asked for people not to engage in speculations. What I would like to discuss are the reactions to this story, which I think need a response. Such incidents naturally make the news, not only in Israel but also around the world, and it led to three types of reactions.

One reaction, especially from people in Israel, was panic about going swimming. I would like to state that this is unwarranted. The incident was extremely unusual. It might be prudent to avoid swimming in warm waters around the Hadera power station, but in general there are no significant risks in swimming at Israel’s beaches.

The second reaction was one of joking about the victim. Now, I do understand that if you’re reading a story about someone in a random country who is killed in an extreme scenario that usually only takes place in movies, it’s understandable not to feel emotionally connected. And if you don’t know the particular circumstances here, there can be an (unwarranted) assumption that the person was acting in an irresponsible way and is worthy of a “Darwin Award.” Yet the reality is that there is no evidence that he was doing anything particularly dangerous. And we should also keep in mind that this was a human being, a husband, and a father of four. This was a tragedy and it’s not something to joke about.

But it was the third type of reaction, which I saw in hundreds and hundreds of comments online, that was the most common and which really shocked me. This was reactions of derision and glee that an Israeli Jew got what he deserved.

If these would just have been comments on Twitter accounts of Israel-haters, or to news reports by media channels that are anti-Israel, it wouldn’t have been surprising. But I’m talking about comments on reports posted by outlets that are not anti-Israel. And it was absolutely endless.

Many of these comments included an attempt at making a joke about deserved retribution. Most common was a variation of the following: “The sharks claimed that God promised the sea to their ancestors 3000 years ago, so they had the right to kill people who swim there.”

We are never going to eradicate antisemitism or Israelopathy. But the belief that Jews randomly decided to go to Palestine, steal it from the Palestinians and oppress them is widely and sometimes innocently held. Unfortunately there is no shortage of Jews (and even Israelis) who promote this perspective, giving it an aura of credibility. It is hardly surprising that so many people fall for it. I do not believe that we should not bother trying to correct people; it most cases it will be pointless, but some people will be open to learning the truth. We need to press the following facts:

When Jews were facing genocide and unable to find refuge anywhere else, it was completely legitimate for them to flee to their ancient homeland where they had maintained a continuous presence for three thousand years. It was also perfectly legitimate to establish a sovereign state (with international endorsement) such that they could ensure that all Jews would be able to have a place of refuge. And they initially tried to do this without having to kill or harm or drive out anyone. It was only as a result of the Arabs flatly refusing to share the land, starting to massacre Jews and launching a war of annihilation that many Palestinians ended up leaving, fleeing or being driven out.

Perhaps everyone should have some version of this statement easily accessible such that you can easily paste it as a comment wherever necesssary.