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(Yes, apparently sometimes I'm going to include non-technical posts here. I'm going to label them as "off-topic").
In the past few months, there's been some tension between my government and the Turkish government. The tension started over a TV Series depicting Israeli soldiers and Mossad (secret service) agents as animals and child killers.
There's been mutual slander thrown between the two governments over this series, but on the whole things were kept on a low key.
For some obscure reason yesterday, even though this thing had been going on for a few months, the Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister decided to summon the Turkish Ambassador to Israel in order to lodge an official complaint about the show.
That's all well and good (if you happen to agree with forcing other countries to censor their citizen's media, which I don't, but that's another discussion), except that Mr. Ayalon decided to publicly humiliate the Turkish Ambassador by refusing to shake his hand in front of the cameras, removing the Turkish flag from the Ambassadorial meeting and forcing him to sit on a lower sofa.
Yes, that is what the elected representatives of my country see as diplomacy.
So after this idiotic charade, the Turkish government - for obvious reasons - demanded an apology from the Israeli government and from Mr. Ayalon himself. The Deputy Foreign Minister, while still standing steadfast behind what he had done, expressed regret about the way he had done it and about the humiliation of the Ambassador.
Turkey did not accept this non-apology, and threatened to pull its Ambassador and reconsider its relations with Israel if it doesn't receive an apology for his treatment by the Deputy Foreign Minister.
After much debate in the high levels of my government (reaching both the Prime Minister and the President), over a Deputy Minister uttering three words and acting like a Human Being for a change, an apology was issued and Turkey accepted it.
Now, what most irks me about this entire story (and believe you me, quite a few things irk me about this story) is that for some reason an apology in our society is deemed as something that humiliates the person apologizing. People seem to think that if you apologize for a mistake you made, then you reveal yourself to be a person capable of making mistakes - and thus reveal your weakness in a world where... no one... makes... mistakes... ever...? what?!
We are Human Beings. We make mistakes. All of us. Every day - multiple times. True - not all of them as colossal as the one Mr. Ayalon made by publicly humiliating a foreign official. But mistakes are made all the time.
If I hear a person apologize for a mistake he made, it doesn't make me think less of that person. On the contrary, it just makes me respect them all the more. I gain respect for them as people who are willing to accept their mistakes, accept the fact that said mistakes hurt someone else, and apologize for having done so.
In this case, the Deputy Foreign Minister actually admitted that the treatment of the Ambassador was wrong, and promised not do that in the future. But he refused to utter those oh-so-important three words: "I am sorry." Why? Who knows. I certainly don't understand it.
I regret that Mr. Ayalon only apologized because he was forced to do so, but I'm glad that he did at least that. It doesn't gain him much respect in my eyes, but it's better than nothing.
Great is the man who knows to admit his mistakes, and thus admit he is Human. If people learn that lesson, a lot of needless conflicts and blood-shed would be avoided. Apologies are after all, not a sign of weakness - they are a sign of greatness.
In the past few months, there's been some tension between my government and the Turkish government. The tension started over a TV Series depicting Israeli soldiers and Mossad (secret service) agents as animals and child killers.
There's been mutual slander thrown between the two governments over this series, but on the whole things were kept on a low key.
For some obscure reason yesterday, even though this thing had been going on for a few months, the Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister decided to summon the Turkish Ambassador to Israel in order to lodge an official complaint about the show.
That's all well and good (if you happen to agree with forcing other countries to censor their citizen's media, which I don't, but that's another discussion), except that Mr. Ayalon decided to publicly humiliate the Turkish Ambassador by refusing to shake his hand in front of the cameras, removing the Turkish flag from the Ambassadorial meeting and forcing him to sit on a lower sofa.
Yes, that is what the elected representatives of my country see as diplomacy.
So after this idiotic charade, the Turkish government - for obvious reasons - demanded an apology from the Israeli government and from Mr. Ayalon himself. The Deputy Foreign Minister, while still standing steadfast behind what he had done, expressed regret about the way he had done it and about the humiliation of the Ambassador.
Turkey did not accept this non-apology, and threatened to pull its Ambassador and reconsider its relations with Israel if it doesn't receive an apology for his treatment by the Deputy Foreign Minister.
After much debate in the high levels of my government (reaching both the Prime Minister and the President), over a Deputy Minister uttering three words and acting like a Human Being for a change, an apology was issued and Turkey accepted it.
Now, what most irks me about this entire story (and believe you me, quite a few things irk me about this story) is that for some reason an apology in our society is deemed as something that humiliates the person apologizing. People seem to think that if you apologize for a mistake you made, then you reveal yourself to be a person capable of making mistakes - and thus reveal your weakness in a world where... no one... makes... mistakes... ever...? what?!
We are Human Beings. We make mistakes. All of us. Every day - multiple times. True - not all of them as colossal as the one Mr. Ayalon made by publicly humiliating a foreign official. But mistakes are made all the time.
If I hear a person apologize for a mistake he made, it doesn't make me think less of that person. On the contrary, it just makes me respect them all the more. I gain respect for them as people who are willing to accept their mistakes, accept the fact that said mistakes hurt someone else, and apologize for having done so.
In this case, the Deputy Foreign Minister actually admitted that the treatment of the Ambassador was wrong, and promised not do that in the future. But he refused to utter those oh-so-important three words: "I am sorry." Why? Who knows. I certainly don't understand it.
I regret that Mr. Ayalon only apologized because he was forced to do so, but I'm glad that he did at least that. It doesn't gain him much respect in my eyes, but it's better than nothing.
Great is the man who knows to admit his mistakes, and thus admit he is Human. If people learn that lesson, a lot of needless conflicts and blood-shed would be avoided. Apologies are after all, not a sign of weakness - they are a sign of greatness.