Q&A: Bereaved Family
Bereaved Family
Question
The Bibas family is asking that people not go into detail about the circumstances of the deaths of their family members, of blessed memory.
Netanyahu is giving details freely, as though under God’s good hand.
The family says this is abuse.
Does a bereaved family have any right or authority to prevent the dissemination of that kind of information about relatives?
And even if not, should such a request be respected? Let’s say the Prime Minister has his own justifications, but what about me, just an ordinary curious person?
Answer
I have no idea what the considerations are. All things being equal, I would assume it is proper to comply with their request (although of course there is no obligation). But if there are countervailing considerations, such as refuting Hamas’s accusations about Israeli Air Force bombings and showing their cruelty, then it is certainly proper to publish it.
This is just nonsense.*
Yarden Bibas said to publicize to the world what they went through; Ofri Bibas argues that his words were taken out of context and attacks Netanyahu: this is deliberate abuse (“abuse for its own sake”).
I’m not judging; it’s hard to imagine the experience. But there isn’t a shred of logic in thinking that the first thing that should be before Netanyahu’s eyes is a deep clarification of exactly what and exactly how the family is comfortable having said. This wasn’t some detailed, graphic description; it was said that they were murdered with bare hands.
You can criticize the incident and say that a regulator should be set up to coordinate between the wishes of bereaved families and the various spokespersons, but let’s keep some proportion.