The Sony Corporation just lost over 200 million dollars, but we may have lost something far more precious.
The story just came to a dramatic conclusion as the studio which produced the as yet unreleased movie, “The interview”, threw in the towel. They abandoned all plans for distribution of the film in which they had invested a small fortune. After being hacked by agents of the North Korean government, upset over the story line which mocked their glorious leader Kim Jong, Sony found itself threatened with a 9/11 style attack on moviegoers unless it pulled the plug on the film’s showings. Major movie chains all canceled out of fear for their theaters.
And so North Korea won the battle without having to fire a single bullet. What has once again become evident is the new paradigm of the West’s confrontation with terrorism: When threatened with violence, the only response is surrender.
Mind you, in this instance what was at stake is clearly negligible. The world will surely not miss a silly comedy about a CIA plot to assassinate the dictator of North Korea. But what those across the globe who seek to destroy us will assuredly note is that the default position of our current response to threats is simply appeasement – and it is a reality that has surfaced in the recent past in far more serious ways than the headline -grabbing problems of a major movie studio.
It took just a little while after this summer’s Gaza war against Israel for the truth to slowly begin to filter out. Journalists covering the story from inside Gaza were well aware of the numerous violations of the Geneva Convention that they witnessed. Hospitals were used as military centers. UNESCO schools stored weapons and missiles. Civilians, including women and children, were forcibly detained as hostages in dangerous areas in the hope that if injured or killed they could serve their PR purposes. Missiles were fired from the midst of civilians. The existence of tunnels was known to many. Yet none of this was reported. Why? Because the journalists were told in no uncertain terms what they could report and what they dare not make known, on penalty of expulsion and death.
The Gaza fighters threatened and the media cowered in abject fear and submission. And even after the war was over, only a few brave souls had the courage to admit it.
Threats work against democracies. So all too often evil gets its way.
The current list is long and it is truly frightening. Those opposed to Western ideas have learned to challenge what displeases them, secure in the knowledge that mere threats of violence will be sufficient for them to get their way:
- School systems in England which taught the Holocaust were warned that this “offended” Muslim sensitivity – so many dropped these courses as part of their curriculum.
- Random House canceled plans for publishing The Jewel of Medina, a romance novel about the prophet Muhammad and his child bride Aisha, because it feared death threats similar to those that greeted Salman Rushdie’s book The Satanic Verses or the kinds of riots that followed the Danish publication of printed cartoons of Muhammed.
- A Joint Terrorism Task Force ad put out by the FBI featuring ‘Faces of Global Terrorism’ was forced to reconsider its publication because they were warned that the “ad featuring sixteen photos of wanted terrorists is not only offensive to Muslims and ethnic minorities, but it encourages racial and religious profiling” – never mind that almost all the people being sought as terrorists were in fact Muslims.
It seems there is much that offends Muslim sensitivity – and the incipient threat of a violent response to follow if not eliminated all too often carries the day.
From the sublime to the ridiculous, recent headlines capture the incredible possibilities for Muslim anger: Beauty pageants; sale of pork products; the letter X; the number 39; the story of the three little pigs; the Apple store on Fifth Avenue; the bottoms of shoes; the Pope; Mickey Mouse; Barbie dolls; neckties; music on radio stations, in taxicabs, on elevators and on public transportation vehicles; a Vermont restaurant which posted a sign depicting bacon; a football stadium where the chanting of “USA, USA” by fans was considered offensive; as well as the parents of a 15-month-old autistic baby riding on a bus who started singing the theme song from Peppa Pig to keep their child happy during the ride and were then aggressively approached by a Muslim woman in a jihab, who was upset over their song choice – after which, in order to “keep the peace” parents and child were then forced to get off the bus!
Burger King will be withdrawing and changing the logo for its ice cream cups because, if one looks very closely and has a good imagination, the logo appeared to some Muslims to look sort of like the word Allah in Arabic if it was viewed from just the right angle. Not wanting to offend, Burger King caved in.
And that is how we begin to lose the American way of life.
The aftermath of North Korea’s “victory” over Sony needs to serve as a dramatic wake-up call. The greatest enemy of civilization is appeasement to evil. Those who threaten violence cannot be allowed victory simply because we fear to confront their challenge. That is a lesson history has taught us many times over and the bitter truth is, as Santayana well put it, “those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it.”
(15) Paul Robins, January 2, 2015 3:41 AM
Appeasement of the rest of the world , keeps Israel;s hands tied, but for how long ?
Israel and it's people know from history , that when it all comes down to it , it can only ever really rely on itself ....
All of it's conflicts have proved that it cannot depend on anyone else to assist , and every Jewish man woman and child around the world know's where their responsibility lies.
It will come to the time , that when a rocket is fired from Gaza into Israel , Israel will finally have to make the decision... should we consistently allow this to happen ? Or should we take action to permanently neutralize this threat on the border?
No peace treaty in Gaza will be backed by the rest of the Muslim world , as there are too many factions with different idea's of what peace is .... and the Palestinian Authority has proven it does not have control over it's own state ...
So , we come back to the same question , will Israel continue to allow acts of aggression on it's border ? I guarantee the USA would have neutralized it by now if they had rockets flying over the border so often , threatening it's people ...
(14) S.Levy, December 23, 2014 2:34 PM
Spineless Nations.
Until a couple of hundred years ago, any slight or insult -however tiny- to a citizen of a foreign country would mean all-out war. Today, following the lead of that infamous "League of Nations", we have a bevy of spineless, cowardly, racist nations led by the UN who only bring their pants down and bend over to primitive Arab terrorists and murderers. How base, disgusting, nauseating can one get? Why don't ythese nations open their borders and frontiers and let all their ennemies come in unhindered? Oil-filthy Money?
(13) Dave, December 23, 2014 9:03 AM
Sony's surrender to terror
A well thought out and well written article,highlighting more than just the Sony surrender; this new form of terrorism is difficult to counter or ignore,because it involves potential danger to innocent people - collateral damage,really.
What I haven'[t seen (perhaps I missed it ?) is any meaningful response from Sony,at least to decry the threatening aspects of their cowardly attackers,and that they have surrendered for the potential danger to their theatre patrons,not because they agree with the sentiments behind the threats.
Sony could quite easily recover some of their losses by reshooting parts of the movie in more general fictitious terms - an easy Hollywood procedure - and it might even be more popular anyway !
Dave, Johannesburg, South Africa
(12) GeeM, December 22, 2014 12:59 PM
Well, I'd immediately sell the flick to a Jewish Group, who'd tell N Korea "Vega hagid!)...buy a ticket!
It would probably equal Avatar in it's World Premier, from the ublicity and the opportunity to show N Korea a nation united in lifting it's middle finger in a salute to Kim JingleBells.
You just know everyone would see it at least once...would THAT annoy N Korea!
(11) H.E.Brown, December 22, 2014 11:37 AM
Appeasement
It's getting that people are scared of their on shadow. Stand up a fight for what is right and wrong. Good gravy be a man or woman with some morals.
(10) Anonymous, December 22, 2014 7:07 AM
Ban film - but for the right reasons!
I agree 100% with Rabbi Blech's stance in regards to the error of appeasement, and with the detail examples provided.
- except hat this latest response to the cancellation of "The Interview" has not been fully thought through.
As Rabbi Shudnow has commented, we need to be "concerned when general terms such as 'terrorism' are used instead of more specific terms that do give greater clarity to actual responsibility. We can never properly deal with our problems unless we stand up bravely, assigning clear terms and definitions." This implies that each circumstance must be assessed on its merits/characteristics and properly argued.
My rationale is:
- what if a similar film were made (by a Hollywood studio, Russians, Koreans or whomever) about a plot to assassinate US President Obama - or Israeli PM, Benjamin Netanyahu, etc ??
- farce or not, do you think that such a movie would be considered appropriate and there wouldn't be a strong reaction by Americans (or Israelis) to ban the film?
- what is totally wrong, is the response by some other 'loonies' to conduct terrorism attacks against theaters showing it (similar to Mori's hostage siege of Sydney's Lindt cafe).
- therefore, I feel that the appropriate media, government and commentator response would be to identify the above arguments and properly educate the population:
e.g. "The film should not be shown, for the reasons of .... - not because we are giving in to the threats of terrorists."
Plots of assassination of deceased and fictitious leaders are common. And farce has been successfully used against the likes of Hitler by none other than Charlie Chaplin and Mel Brooks, etc, but Borat was felt by many to have crossed the line in his 'mockudrama' about Kazakhstan. It is certainly a very tricky genre, but some bounds have to be acknowledged.
And, if we still believe in a 'fair go'/equal standards for all, I believe those bounds may have been crossed in this film.
(9) Miguel, December 22, 2014 2:41 AM
in reply to Dorinna and Kim
It is pathetic that you DID NOT understand the article. Y"S Hitler did NOT change his ways after Chamberlain and the 'powers' disgusting cave in on Checkoslovakia. Your take on appeasement is simply WRONG!!
(8) Alice, December 21, 2014 9:42 PM
Kim, are you kidding me?!
Kim, I would be more than happy to agree with you except for one very important point: THE OTHER SIDE ISNT CONSIDERING OUR VIEWPOINT!!!! Sorry for yelling but you just don't get it! The more one gives in, more is demanded. When ISIS, the Taliban, AlQaida, Communists, whomever, sits down and says I'm free to believe/do/see/wear/say/eat/pray where, and to whom I want, then I'd be happy to agree with you. Otherwise, thank you, I think I'd prefer NOT to try and make nitey nice with them.
(7) Mike, December 21, 2014 8:33 PM
Now is the time for caution and planning.
It is a crime that North Korea has threatened Sony into pulling this movie. Naturally, people want to retaliate by releasing the movie. I like Mitt Romney's idea of releasing the movie online world wide. However, maybe we should take a step back and consider what North Korea is capable of doing. Also consider the weakness that our President has shown. His support of the doomed Arab spring which led to Benghazi, his failure to make good on his threat to Syria over there use of chemical weapons, and his disastrous decision to withdraw all troops from Iraq which gave us ISIS. If we call North Korea's bluff will President Obama have the guts to face the consequences or will he capitulate. Let us not be hasty, but rather carefully consider the possible outcomes before acting.
(6) Harry Pearle, December 21, 2014 6:19 PM
N.Korean Loses in the Long Run
Rabbi Blech's response, like that of Rabbi Simmon's is naive. Sony has not have an army to defend itself against attacks and hacking. Sony is a business, not a nation. But I agree with his statement: "The aftermath of North Korea’s “victory” over Sony needs to serve as a dramatic wake-up call." The cyber-attack is likely to backfire for N.Korea. They will not be trusted and they will suffer, in the future.
(5) Eva, December 21, 2014 5:03 PM
Well said.
And terrifying.
(4) Daveed, December 21, 2014 4:17 PM
Surrender
Indeed, I believe it was a collective posture of "surrender" that propelled millions of American Jews to vote not once, but twice, for Obama--an Islamic Jew-hater. I believe mass-teshuvah is in order. Do you think not? Hashem help us...
gina, December 21, 2014 8:47 PM
wow
so the "he is an islam follower" deranged meme is still going around? He is christian. He was held to the fire for being in a christian church for 20 years that liked to "say it like it is" about racial inequities. (as do we amongst ourselves)
People, ya gotta choose...he is either with Rev. Wright and christianity, or with Mohammed. K?
i don't agree with our president all the time. I don't agree with any "person" who decides to go into politics all that much,nowadays, what with all the money and the outside ownership of said person it implies...correctly... but truth is truth. Lason Hara is an ugly thing.
(3) Dorinna, December 21, 2014 4:13 PM
What is the alternative?
If Sony did not cancel and theaters were then attacked and lives lost then what? Wouldn't a greater war follow with the USA going after North Korea they way we did in Iraq. Can you see it beginning WW III? Please tell the readers what the alternative to caving in to evil is?
Dvirah, December 24, 2014 7:24 PM
One Suggestion
The alternative would be to publically address the ligitimate concerns (see comment #10) and make changes as appropriate, then release the film.
(2) Lawrence J. Goldstein, December 21, 2014 3:11 PM
Excellent
Excellent piece. Excellent thinking. I sent it to President Obama, my Congress woman and my Senatirs and suggested to latter three they read it on the floor of Congress and I am sending it to CEO''s of Comoanies I am invested in. Recommend you do same.
(1) Kim, December 21, 2014 2:40 PM
Another side of the coin.
Perhaps in some of these instances the threats remind us that we aren't being kind. Maybe Sony learned that they can't make fun of world leaders and call it entertainment. I understand that the cost of caving in to threats, but I think that the benefit of such actions is that they makes us reflect more on how we are treating others.
Moriah, December 21, 2014 9:11 PM
Violation of Freedom of Speech
You're completely missing the point. There can be no place for use of such terror tactics in a civilized society.
Miriam, December 22, 2014 9:49 AM
If you treat "others", like the murderer dictator with respect,
you are encouraging his murder of many, many, many people. The Talmud says it best; "Anyone who has pity upon cruel people, at the end he is being cruel to people who deserve pity."