A Loop de Loop of Violence

I used to think a violent loop was something associated with dangerous roller coasters.

But the New York Times looped me into a different understanding.

In recent weeks, I’ve read in the pages of the Times how “Leaderless Palestinian Youth, Inspired by Social Media, Drive Rise in Violence in Israel” and how violent Palestinian music whips up West Bank teens. The Times give an editorial soapbox to Micah Lakin Avni, denouncing the Facebook Intifada and its role in the murder of his father, Richard (who, ironically, used Facebook to promote coexistence and tolerance and whose funeral was covered very nicely by the Gray Lady.)

Now I’m told that Palestinian kids aren’t being incited to violence after all, and bear no responsibility for choosing to stab Israelis. The kids are just passively engulfed by violence, according to this New York Times headline.

A related NYT tweet describes the phenomenon as a “cycle,” which implies no beginning, no end. That’s a scarier spin than the Full Throttle at Six Flags Los Angeles.

Loops and cycles are a polite way for lazy journalists to really say, “C’est la vie.”

Featured image: CC BY-SA Shijingshan via pixabay with additions by HonestReporting