“Schadenfreude, how sweet it is”

There is a word that describes what is unfolding across screens in the Middle East at night: Schadenfreude. The feeling of immense, indescribable pleasure to see your enemy suffer pain, destruction, and death. When Iranian missiles arc across the skies over Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Eilat—trails of fire cutting through the dark, Palestinians, Arabs, Muslims, a great swath of people across the globe, do not watch in fear or terror, but in thrilling exultation. Phones glow in living rooms from Beirut to Baghdad, from Amman to distant corners of the Muslim world. Bloggers, popcorn in hand, narrate the spectacle in real time and colorful language, their voices rising, urging viewers to celebrate, to chant, to scream with joy as every […]