Pity Us

Tammy, who blogs for Liberate America offers a rather fanciful account of and edifying context to the Haitian catastrophe. In some logic understood only by her she somehow sweeps both Gazans and Haitians under the same tent.

Here is Snoopy the Goon's portrait of the lady

I left the following comment on her blog:

"The tragedies of Haiti and Gaza "??

There is something grotesque about the need of pro-Palestinian "supporters" to have Palestinian suffering included in some of the worst calamities that have befallen humanity in modern times, be them man-made or natural disasters.

I don't even know what to call this pathological envy for other people's catastrophes.

If Jews have the Holocaust to enjoy, Palestinians make up their own Holocaust so as not to be outdone by the Jews.

If Black South Africans had apartheid to boast of, Palestinians start fantasizing about their own version of apartheid.

If Haitians are struck by a major natural catastrophe that claims 150,000 dead and over a million homeless, then Palestinians, too, need to place their claim to glory by manufacturing similar straights, of suffering from an invented man-made flood disaster (or whatever you might call Tammy's fanciful account of the rain floods in Gaza) and clamouring for the world's pity.

Pity us, pity us, the Palestinians plead. Not them. Us. Aren't we the most pitiful of all victims, ever, in the history of the world?

***

There is, actually, a medical term for this psychiatric disorder. It is called "Munchhausen syndrome", a mental disease in which those affected fake disease, illness, or psychological trauma in order to draw attention or sympathy to themselves. It is in a class of disorders known as factitious disorders which involve "illnesses" whose symptoms are either self-induced or falsified by the patient. It is also sometimes known as hospital addiction syndrome.

A variant of this disease is known as "Munchhausen Syndrome by Proxy":

Fabricated or Induced Illness is the formal name of a type of abuse in which a caregiver feigns or induces an illness in a person under their care, in order to attract attention, sympathy, or to fill other emotional needs.

I have always preferred to relate to this pathological need for pity from the Palestinians as a rhetorical fallacy.

***

Addendum:

Previously, I left a request for some clarification on one of Tammy's unsubstantiated allegations, made here.

The comment reads as follows:

"The King-Crane Commission is relatively unknown, buried under a century of Zionist propaganda and attempts to discredit Dr. Henry Churchill King and Charles R. Crane as Nazi sympathizers."

An interesting document.

I googled King-Crane and could not find any evidence that they were both denounced as Nazi Sympathizers. Who denounced them? When? On what sources do you base these accusations?

Thus far, no explanation has been furnished.

Parked comment:

The following appears in the Crane-King report:

"4. We recommend, in the fourth place, that Emir Feisal be made the head of the new united Syrian State. “ (1919)

Yet, in spite of the authors' assessment of the hostility towards the Zionst Project, their own recommended ruler signed the following accord:

"Agreement Between Emir Feisal Husseini and Dr. Weizman

His Royal Highness the Emir FEISAL, representing and acting on behalf of the Arab Kingdom of Hedjaz, and Dr. CHAIM WIEZMANN, representing and acting on behalf of the Zionist Organization.

mindful of the racial kinship and ancient bonds existing between the Arabs and the Jewish people, and realising that the surest means of working out the consumation of their national aspirations is through the closest possible collaboration in the development of the Arab State and Palestine, and being desirous further of confirming the good understanding which exists between them,

have agreed upon the following Articles;-

ARTICLE I

The Arab State and Palestine in all their relations and undertakings shall be controlled by the most cordial goodwill and understanding and to this end Arab and Jewish duly accredited agents shall be established and maintained in the respective territories.
ARTICLE II

Immediately following the completion of the deliberations of the Peace Conference, the definite boundaries between the Arab State and Palestine shall be determined by a Commission to be agreed upon by the parties hereto.

ARTICLE III

In the establishment of the Constitution and Administration of Palestine all such measures shall be adopted as will afford the fullest guarantee for carrying into effect the British Government's Declaration of the 2nd of November, 1917.

ARTICLE IV

All necessary measures shall be taken to encourage and stimulate immigration of Jews into Palestine on a large scale, and as quickly as possible to settle Jewish immigrants upon the land through closer settlement and intensive cultivation of the soil. In taking such measures measures the Arab peasant and tenant farmes shall be protected in their rights and shall be assisted in forwarding their economic development." (1919)

Something does not quite fit. Have you any explanation?