Israeli Soldier Attacks Demonstrator … and Thoughts on All the Eisners in the World

These frames of Israeli army Lt. Col. Shalom Eisner attacking an unarmed, Danish, pro-Palestinian protester in the West Bank are clearly the “money shots,” the isolated electronic views of the offending act currently pinging around the globe. The frames instants earlier, however, depicting “state of mind,” hold as much significance for me.

The screen shots vividly illustrate that moment in the head of a seething man — it’s hard not to feel a chill in the looking for trouble and those crazy eyes — when a switch suddenly flips and he goes off.

With this living example from a protester’s camera, what you can’t help but be painfully aware of also — retrospectively as well as prospectively — is how the slightest combination of tension, frustration and fear can lead to the highly potent Israeli army lashing out. It’s no doubt a black day for hard-line Israel in the eyes of the world. Perhaps we can also “appreciate,” however (whether the background is Israel or Kabul or Fort Bragg, a poker game, a marriage or a school yard), how the slow-motion here throws a focus on all the Eisners in the world.

(Video: LIKMA38, via YouTube)