Breaking the haredi 'conspiracy of silence' on domestic abuse
By Calve Ben-David
Jerusalem Post - April 11, 2008
Note: BETWEEN THE LINES. Covering such extreme cases of domestic abuse always poses a series of challenges
No local media coverage has been more compelling - and disturbing -
the last few weeks than that dealing with the two horrendous cases of
child abuse, one in Jerusalem and the other in Beit Shemesh, exposed as
having in part been the result of a twisted religious fanaticism in
the families involved.
It is the latter fact
that has made it unavoidable in reporting on these cases that the
accused abusers belong to the haredi community (evident anyway from the
appearance and behavior of the two accused mothers in the television
footage of their arraignments). This has sparked complaints from that
sector that mainstream media coverage of the crimes is being
deliberately highlighted in such a way as to unfairly tarnish the
entire community.
Covering such extreme cases of
domestic abuse always poses a series of challenges. To protect the
privacy of the victims, the media is obligated (legally and morally) to
tread carefully when it comes to identifying the individuals
involved.
The press must also walk a fine line
between accurately reporting on the specific type of abuse involved,
and indulging in sensationalist overkill of the specific details - a
particular problem with the kind of truly gruesome acts involved in the
Jerusalem incident. (I could have lived without the front-page photos
in the tabloids this week of the various household items used to
torture the children in that horrific home.)
Then
there's the issue of judging to what degree the background of the
participants in the abuse - if they belong to a specific subculture -
is relevant to the story.
Sometimes it is
unquestionably so. For example, "honor killings" of young women would
make no sense to the media consumer unless presented in a specifically
Arab, Beduin or Druse context. The same could be said of the many cases
in recent years of spousal abuse in the Ethiopian immigrant
community, which experts have asserted has been in large part due to
the extreme cultural shock and displacement its members have undergone
following their sudden immigration here.
REGARDING THE two child abuse cases now making headlines, it has become
clear that the bizarre religious beliefs of the cult-like groups to
which the families belong is a direct factor in the criminal behavior
of the parents and other individuals involved. Certainly any
responsible reporting of this story has to delve into the circumstances
behind the development and sick ideology of these sects.
Some haredi commentators have argued that the media has not put enough
stress on the fringe nature of these groups, or on the fact that most
of their adherents were ba'alei tshuva (newly religious). They have
also claimed, as in the past, that such abuse is no more common - or is
even less so -- than among the secular public, yet the media never
specifically talk of "secular families" when reporting on such cases.
Those are legitimate points. But while it's certainly debatable to
argue that mainstream haredi ideology is not in any way relevant when
domestic abuse takes place in such households, certain sociological
aspects of the community - in particular, its increasing poverty and
the overcrowding in homes - could be said to be a contributing factor.
But those are issues for another column. One aspect definitely
relevant to media coverage, though, is the perceived reluctance within
the haredi community to openly discuss and deal with these issues.
As Tali Farkash, the Ynet columnist born and raised in the haredi
community, wrote this week: "The famous conspiracy of silence among the
haredi population, which the welfare services and police are dealing
with, is a mark of disgrace to the entire sector. Wanting to maintain
an image of morality at any cost, they fall into the hole dug by
negative elements in the name of Torah, in the name of righteousness.
An intensive brainwash has turned psychologists into 'religion's
enemies,' social workers into those 'causing people to leave religion'
and the police into the messenger of the foreign regime. In this glass
house, monsters grow and thrive among us."
Farkash also this week went on Channel 2's media review program Tik
Tikshoret (Communications File) to specifically accuse the haredi media
of failing to report or comment on such cases, thus reinforcing this
"conspiracy of silence."
This certainly seems to
have been true of the Beit Shemesh case, which apparently went on for
years until one of the family's neighbors alerted the authorities and
later told a journalist he knew that in doing so he was going against
the mores of the community.
Farkash did
acknowledge that there has been some progress in this matter in recent
years, but not enough. It seems to me the haredim cannot have it both
ways - arguing on one hand that behavior like this is exceptional in
their environment, usually committed by someone not "really haredi,"
yet still showing reluctance to expose crimes being committed right in
their own backyard in order to stop (or prevent) them.
This is an issue on which the haredi media should be taking a lead
among their public - as has been the case with the secular media - and
not holding it back by reinforcing negative patterns of behavior.
Perhaps I'm being a bit naive about a press which still won't publish
any images of women, no matter how modest - even children - but I hope
this isn't entirely the case, especially in the future.
One last point: Whenever such charges are made, haredi commentators
are often too quick to shoot back that it's not only such abuse - or a
media reluctance to deal with it when it involves certain individuals -
that's not unique to their sector.
Well, that's true to some degree. A notable example in Israeli secular society was the exploitative behavior of leftist icon Dahn Ben-Amotz, which was only revealed (by Amnon Danker) after his death.
There have also been several cases involving among non-haredi and
Orthodox religious figures in the US in recent years. I myself pleaded
guilty in these very pages two years ago to having failed as an editor
in not having more vigorously followed up on rumors that reached me
about the sexual misbehavior of the now-disgraced "New Age rabbi"
Mordechai Gafni. All that only argues for more coverage of these
issues, both within and without the haredi community, as long as it is
done in a responsible manner - one that avoids salacious
scandal-mongering, properly respects the privacy of the victims, and
puts such actions in the proper sociological context when necessary.
The stories told these last few weeks out of Jerusalem and Beit
Shemesh have been truly stomach-turning. The proper response, though,
is not to avert our eyes, but openly to address them in a manner that
will only encourage those who learn about such incidents in the future
to make sure the proper authorities are notified.
ON ANOTHER very related matter: Just six weeks ago, I wrote a column
summing up the media's role in the sex scandal of former president
Moshe Katsav, "as it hopefully draws to a close."
Oy vey iz mir - woe is me - or all of us, as is in the case here.
Alas, I'm afraid the shower of sleaze this affair has already dredged
up, every sordid detail reported in the press and broadcast on the
evening news, will soon turn into a deluge. This will surely be so if
this case goes to trial, and Katsav's alleged victims testify in court
expounding on some of the accusations against him already aired by the
media.
That's at least one reason to regret that
the ex- president decided this week to turn down the plea bargain
deal offered him by the State Attorney's Office.
So be it. But perhaps, because I now have two daughters old enough to
want to watch the evening news - though not to understand everything on
it - I hope the anchors will at least do us the courtesy of giving us
the obligatory: "Some of the details in the following story may not be
appropriate for children," before they start providing us with X-rated
accounts of what allegedly went on in Katsav's offices in the Tourism
Ministry and Beit Hanassi.
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