tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7321349.post130248946481817290..comments2024-03-18T22:21:33.261-07:00Comments on The Debate Link: Israeli Diplomat Attacked in BritainDavid Schraubhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04946653376744012423noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7321349.post-67089217180646063402010-05-01T02:32:28.100-07:002010-05-01T02:32:28.100-07:00Interesting point, but even if I accept that parti...Interesting point, but even if I accept that particular appeal to tradition, the linked article goes a little beyond the host government. It talks about an expectation of a "sweeping denunciation of the event from the local authorities and universities." (And I should add that whenever universities in their institutional capacity are expected to "take a stand" on something I grow leery, given the difficulty of line drawing.)joenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7321349.post-20888296338708787462010-04-30T08:22:47.491-07:002010-04-30T08:22:47.491-07:00I think when a diplomat is attacked, it is wholly ...I think when a diplomat is attacked, it is wholly appropriate for the nation of that diplomat to expect the nation where the attack occurred to apologize for such a thing to have happened on its soil. This isn't from our modern Culture of Umbrage; this is like medieval-era expectations of international diplomacy. The sacrosanct status of a diplomat (as a form of messenger) possibly predates the birth of Christ.PGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09381347581328622706noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7321349.post-50499598474008932242010-04-29T22:43:52.366-07:002010-04-29T22:43:52.366-07:00edit to add: I suspect the reason for this phenome...edit to add: I suspect the reason for this phenomena has to do with the fact that a lot of modern society is an exercise in who can express the most outrage. (Michael Kinsley calls this the Culture of Umbbrage.) <br /><br />Needless to say, this all goes double during election season.joenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7321349.post-68414843556265117812010-04-29T22:32:55.333-07:002010-04-29T22:32:55.333-07:00This is not an observation particular to this inci...This is not an observation particular to this incident, or Israel, or Britain for that matter, but I often find myself bemused when, after some terrible event or insult, the aggrieved party expects a third party to offer strong condemnation of offender. In some ways it seems like the default assumption is that the third party approves. And that doesn't sit right with me. It's a little too "silence is consent."joenoreply@blogger.com