Friday, June 19, 2015

Worth Reading: The Life and Death of Steven Sotloff

This week, Tablet Magazine published a 30,000 word essay titled "The Life and Death of Steven Sotloff", written by Jonathan Zalman.  

It is absolutely worth taking the time to read Part One and Part Two.  

I do not want to comment on it too much, but it should definitely be read in its entirety.  Aside from providing a detailed account of Steven Sotloff's life, it also details the tremendous efforts of his friends and family to secure his release and to stop the media from identifying Steven as both Jewish and Israeli.  Shortly after ISIS released the video of Steven Sotloff in captivity I learned that he was Jewish and had ties to Israel (I did not know him and have no connection whatsoever to his family).  It was clear to me that there was some type media blackout on this information, rightfully so, and I read the details about how this came to be with great interest.  After Steven's death, when news that he was Jewish and a dual Israeli-American citizen spread rapidly, I wondered what terrible impact the release of that information would have on other prisoners being held by ISIS.  Zalman also addresses this (although briefly) in his writing.

This is a very important piece of writing.  Please read it.

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