Ridicule of a Terror Victim
On his radio program this morning, Don Imus interviewed Tom Rose, publisher of The Jerusalem Post. The interview was fine until toward the end, when Imus mentioned (without name) Goldie Taubenfeld, a chasidic mother of 13 from New Square, New York, who was killed in yesterday's bombing, with at least one of her daughters wounded. Rumors suggest that a 6-month-old child of Taubenfeld was also killed, but at this time that has not been confirmed.
Derisively referring to Mrs. Taubenfeld, Imus asked Rose: "What was that woman thinking? I mean, what'd she say to herself, let's go to Jerusalem and get on a bus?"
Instead of objecting to Imus' offensive statement, Rose meekly responded that the woman was probably an immigrant to Israel who needed to ride the bus to get around. Not only is that factually inaccurate, but it suggests that one needs to be defensive about riding buses in Israel, something most visitors frequently do.
UPDATE: It has now been confirmed that six-month-old Shmuel Taubenfeld was killed in the suicide bombing. The family had come to Jerusalem for a wedding.
posted on 8/20/2003
