From: Baardwijk, J>
> > > > > Speaking of jails: how about Israeli civilians in the Occupied
> > > > > Territories? Is the Israeli government doing anything to
> > > > > prosecute and jail Israeli settlers that kill Palestinians?
> > > > >
> > > > Is this just a rhetoric question or do you have any real cases in
> > > > mind? Can you describe an incident where Israel has failed to
> > > > prosecute when it should have done?
> > >
> > > It is not a rhetorical question. From news reports over the years, I
> > > learned that Palestinians get killed by Israeli settlers in the
> > > Occupied Territories. I do not know if Israel prosecutes those
> > > settlers, so I ask.
> >
> > Asking the question like the way you did in that context strongly
> > implies you know the answer to be yes. If you don't know you should
> > have phrased the question more neutrally.
>
> I thought it was neutral. How, IYO, should I have phrased it then?
>
The problem is that the qustion assumes that Israeli settlers who
kill Palestinians should be prosecuted and jailed, without exception
In fact, they should only be jailed if guilty of crimes, and only prosecuted
if there is adequate evidence.
A neutral phrasing would seperate the assumptions from the question.
Eg.g ' I understand that Palestinians have been killed by Israeli settlers.
Are any of these incidents as severe as the Hamas terrorist acts? How
does Israel treat these incidents? If they don't properly prosecute
they are no better than the Palestinian terrorists.'
>
> > Israel is a civilised country, with an independent judiciary. In the
> > absence of positive evidence you should not slur them by accusing them
> > of such crimes.
>
> The question was "does Israel prosecute settlers who kill Palestinians".
If
> the answer is "yes", then that would be a positive thing, wouldn't you
say?
> How would "Israel prosecutes criminal Israeli's" be "slurring" and
accusing
> Israel of crimes?
>
The problem is that the question assumes the answer is no, and that
is a slur. It's made worse by using used in response to a question about
Palestinian terrorists, since the context implied you viewed the cases
as parallel, i.e that you saw no difference between Hamas terrorism
(which includes suicide bombing and mass murder of children) and
the actions of Israeli settlers. That would be a strong claim, for which
I know of no evidence.
However I now see that you aren't a native English speaker, so it's
understandable if your phrasing contains occasional unintended
implications. I regret any misunderstandings.
--
Robert
