Recently I had a rather odd exchange with Mr. Ali Abunimah, co-founder of the website Electronic Intifada, a publication that dedicates its coverage to the Israeli-Palistinian conflict from a definitive and unapologetic Palestinian perspective. Without venturing deep into the muddy waters that is Israeli/Arab politics, I will just say that if you have any interest at all in the subject they are a vital source of information (Aussie Dave writes: I disagree). But to be clear, I don’t agree with everything they publish, and there are times where my disagreement with them goes beyond a simple difference of opinion. This is one of those times.
Ali’s contention is that throwing vinegar at someone doesn’t constitute an acid attack. And he’d be right if he wasn’t completely wrong. Just speaking categorically; vinegar is, after all, an acid. Ali admits as much but only facetiously. In his article he writes:
http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/guardian-reports-acid-attack-israelis-never-happened
[V]inegar is indeed a weak acid, but wouldn’t cause severe or life-threatening injuries or “chemical burns” – that’s why people are able to put it in salads, on their french fries or even use it as a treatment for skin conditions.
Later on twitter he doubled down on this sentiment:
His last statement I found particularly astonishing, because the report that the victims of this attack needed medical treatment for their injuries and the report that the assailant used vinegar are one in the same.
Now to be fair, household vinegar, the kind Ali uses as salad dressing, is only 5% acetic acid and does not pose much harm to the skin (although I would avoid putting it in contact with the eyes). But at higher concentrations vinegar is no longer a viable salad dressing – at higher concentrations it is much better suited as an eco-friendly bleach substitute, great for aggressive cleaning and weed removal. Said varieties of vinegar can be purchased from Amazon for your convenience. Here is one of the reviews for the product:
I got a very bad sinus infection from breathing in the fumes and mist from this product. There should be some warnings about wearing a mask if spraying the vinegar. There is only cautions about skin and if swallowed.
Unfortunately none of this matters to Ali, to him this is all “Hasbara”, the hebrew word for “explaining” and a euphemism for Israeli propaganda. He has yet to acknowledge the mere possibility that his initial reaction is wrong. According to Ali, a harmless Palestinian man was shot by the IDF for sharing salad dressing with an Israeli family.
What saddens me is that Ali is not a dumb person, nor do I think he harbors bad intentions (Aussie Dave writes: I disagree again). But he is being willfully dishonest here. And there are two tragic ironies that can be drawn from all of this – the most obvious is that he is demanding The Guardian to “correct” their initial report while refusing to correct his own interpretation of the facts. But more importantly, by trivializing this tragedy and tragedies like it – solely because they are inflicted upon the “wrong side” – the only thing he manages to accomplish is self-marginalization.
I have also since learned that Mr. Abunimah has blocked me on twitter.
