The Times of Israel published, and then deleted, a piece Friday by a blogger suggesting that genocide was a "permissible" way to solve the conflict in the Middle East.
Yochanan Gordon's opinion piece, entitled "When Genocide is Permissible," wonders if the mass obliteration of a people would be justified if used as a means for Israeli military to "achieve its goal of sustaining quiet."
“Hamas has stated forthrightly that it idealizes death as much as Israel celebrates life,” Gordon wrote. “What other way then is there to deal with an enemy of this nature other than obliterate them completely?”
Gordon said that the UN and U.S. are "completely out of touch" and criticized networks like CNN, BBC and Al Jazeera for only focusing on the "majority of innocent civilians who have lost their lives."
"Anyone who lives with rocket launchers installed or terror tunnels burrowed in or around the vicinity of their home cannot be considered an innocent civilian," he continued.
He concluded:
“If political leaders and military experts determine that the only way to achieve its goal of sustaining quiet is through genocide is it then permissible to achieve those responsible goals?”
The Times of Israel quickly deleted the post, but as Noah Smyth pointed out, the original headline remains in the URL.
The Times of Israel article "When genocide is permissible" has been removed, but the URL still includes the title: http://t.co/MNjsj7eKs2
— Noah Smyth (@Noahpinion) August 1, 2014
Gordon tweeted this message Friday and has been responding to critics on Twitter as well:
— Yochanan Gordon (@ygordon5t) August 1, 2014
UPDATE (4:27 PM): The Times of Israel responded in a post Friday, calling Gordon's op-ed "unacceptable." His blog has been discontinued.
Read more from the Times below:
"This blog post, which was described by our Ops & Blogs editor as both damnable and ignorant, blatantly breached The Times of Israel’s editorial guidelines.
We have discontinued the writer’s blog.
The Times of Israel maintains an open blog platform: Once we have accepted bloggers, we allow them to post their own items. This trust has rarely been abused. We are angry and appalled that it was in this case, and will take steps to prevent a recurrence.
We will not countenance blog posts that incite to violence or criminal acts."
UPDATE (4:50 PM): Yochanan Gordon has issued an apology. Read below:
"I never intended to call to harm any people although my words may have conveyed that message.
I wish to express deep regret and beg forgiveness for an article I authored which was posted on 5TJT.com, Times of Israel and was tweeted and shared the world over.
I never intended to call to harm any people although my words may have conveyed that message.
With that said I pray and hope for a quick peaceful end to the hostilities and that all people learn to coexist with each other in creating a better world for us all.
Yochanan Gordon"