Evil triumphs when good people are afraid to stop it - Phyllis Chesler

by Phyllis Chesler

Acting as a whistle-blower got Albert Nisman killed. Is that how evil succeeds?

Evil triumphs when good people are afraid to stop it.

Evil also triumphs when such frightened people see that they, too, may prosper in the wake of wrong-doing: a Jew’s appointment—or apartment, a dissident’s library or chinaware may become their ill-gotten gain.
 
Evil triumphs when good people look away and remain silent; or when they side with the oppressor, not his victim; perhaps doing so will allow them to feed their children, keep their jobs, and to live another day.

Few wish to suffer a whistle-blower’s fate which includes being shamed, demonized, ostracized, fired, and being prevented from working at that factory, in that city, in the same profession.

Some whistle-blowers are forced into exile.

In 1977, Christoph Meili exposed the Swiss bank where he worked for destroying the records of Holocaust survivors. He fled his country and received political asylum in the United States.

Some whistle-blower[s] are murdered.

In 2015, Argentinian prosecutor, Alberto Nisman, was killed for having documented the enormous, government-level cover up of Iran’s role in the bombing-murders of Jews. 

The challenge of stopping radical evil exists whether we are referring to genocide, exile most cruel, and mass murder, or crimes against women and racially despised minorities.
 
What must good people do?
 
First, we must find ways to remain connected to those whom prejudice silences, renders less than human.
 
Survivors of serious atrocities say they are haunted by those who heard their screams but turned their backs, closed their doors, remained neutral, refused to take any stand other than an opportunistic one.
One cannot remain a bystander without becoming complicit. Morally, one must "take sides". 

But, once a person takes the side of anyone who's suffered a grave injustice, listens to her, believes what he says, tries to help him--that quiet act of humanity and courage may be viewed as a traitorous act.

My advice? 

Commit such treason as often as you can.

Prof. Phyllis Chesler,  a Shillman-Ginsburg Fellow at the Middle East Forum and recipient of the 2013 National Jewish Book Award, is the author of sixteen books, including Women and Madness, Woman's Inhumanity to Woman, and The New Anti-Semitism. She has written four studies about honor killing, Her latest books are An American Bride in Kabul, (Palgrave Macmillan) and Living History: On The Front Lines for Israel and the Jews. Professor Chesler may be reached at her website www.phyllis-chesler.com

Source: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/21498

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