Pictures tell war more than a thousand words. The screaming faces of Vietnamese children fleeing the fire, in the picture of the Napalm Girl, remain etched in the collective memory of the Western world as an intolerable symbol of the "horror of war." This was also the original title of the image. The chilling picture of the "Fallen Man", one of hundreds who jumped to their deaths from the Twin Towers, received quite a bit of criticism in real time, but over time became an iconic image that shouts to the world the last cry of the masses of victims. These images told the suffering of innocent civilian populations without the need for words.
I and many other immigrants are engaged on a daily basis in "hasbara" vis-à-vis the countries of origin, in the simplest sense: conveying information to non-Jewish and Jewish friends and colleagues who are still there. It is not clear to us why the faces of the abducted children have not yet made the world round. And why these pictures, in their non-blurry version, have not yet found their way to the front pages of all Israeli newspapers and news sites?
It is easy for us to accuse the world press of anti-Semitism and ignoring the facts, but if the Israeli newspapers hide and obscure the horror, what will we say about the world's newspapers?
In the absence of a normal hasbara policy in Israel, we are used to experiencing the information gaps in times of war between what we experience here and what we read in the media of our countries of origin. These gaps always exist. Unfortunately, even those whose natural tendency is to side with Israel – the Jewish communities – lack the full picture. Many locals, non-Jews, (who, contrary to what some think, are not Israel-haters) also do not have the information necessary to defend Israel's position as they would like to do.
In the current war, it seems that the gap is particularly deep and the miss is worse than ever. The French press doesn't talk about the abductees. The average Frenchman, horrified by the events, does not even know that women and children were kidnapped into the Gaza Strip.
The miss is especially huge because this time, unlike previous times, the French media is genuinely shocked by the Hamas attack, strong condemnations, and perhaps even a certain token drop. This time, it is harder to accuse the "silencing" of the issue of abductees only on anti-Israeli positions.
This self-censorship, which may stem from the need to maintain public morale, is misplaced. It endangers us with a serious explanatory failure. It is precisely now, at the elusive moment in which a large part of the Western nations are on our side, that the images of mother and babies, of the humiliated elderly woman and the frightened child could and should have become a world symbol
We have no shortage of pictures that tell of this war. Social media is full: a frightened mother holding two red-headed babies in her arms being led to a leash, or a picture of an elderly woman forced by terrorists to check off while holding a Kalashnikov, and the horrific video of the 4-year-old boy standing in a circle of Gazan children cursing him. These are just a few examples of images that could and should have been in all the world's newspapers. And on the way there: in all our newspapers! These are harsh images, but not horrific images of bodies (which we also saw on social media), which are feared to offend public sensitivity or the dignity of the victims. So why? Why doesn't the Israeli media set an example and put the faces of the abductees on the front pages, and thus on the global agenda?
This self-censorship, which may stem from the need to maintain public morale, is misplaced. It endangers us with a serious explanatory failure. It is precisely now, at this elusive moment when a large part of the Western nations is on our side, that the images of mother and babies, of the humiliated elderly woman and the frightened child could and should have become the global symbol of our Middle Eastern September 11. They must engrave this terrible moment in the collective memory of the entire Western world. But we are the ones who have to lead it. Mainly for the abductees and the chance to bring them back, but also for those communities and locals who would have hurt us and acted with us, if only they had seen the anguished faces crying out for help, without words.
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