A pogrom

… by Israeli settlers against an Arab family. And a rescue by the journalists on the scene.

Carried out by Israeli settlers against an Arab family.in Hebron. Avi Isacharoff reports in Ha’aretz. The Israeli security forces, having battled the settlers over a building they were occupying illegally, seem to have been remarkably blase about dealing with a potential massacre.

One extraordinary feature of the story: at some point, the (Israeli) journalists present decided to stop just taking notes and rescue the victims. Obviously, in my view, the ethically correct thing to do. But virtually unheard of. Contemporary journalism has largely achieved the ideal Churchill derided: being objective as between the firefighters and the fire. I’m glad to see that Israel is a partial exception to that depressing rule.

Author: Mark Kleiman

Professor of Public Policy at the NYU Marron Institute for Urban Management and editor of the Journal of Drug Policy Analysis. Teaches about the methods of policy analysis about drug abuse control and crime control policy, working out the implications of two principles: that swift and certain sanctions don't have to be severe to be effective, and that well-designed threats usually don't have to be carried out. Books: Drugs and Drug Policy: What Everyone Needs to Know (with Jonathan Caulkins and Angela Hawken) When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment (Princeton, 2009; named one of the "books of the year" by The Economist Against Excess: Drug Policy for Results (Basic, 1993) Marijuana: Costs of Abuse, Costs of Control (Greenwood, 1989) UCLA Homepage Curriculum Vitae Contact: Markarkleiman-at-gmail.com