A CROSSFIT EVANGELIST IS APOLOGIZING AFTER HE TOOK A
PHOTO AT A HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL, AND DID SO IN A DISRESPECTFUL
WAY.
THE PERSON IN QUESTION HERE IS DAVE DRISCOLL, AND
THAT'S THE PICTURE HE POSTED ON INSTAGRAM, AND LATER TOOK DOWN.
HE TOOK THAT PHOTO IN BERLIN, GERMANY, AND APPARENTLY HE WAS
COMPLETELY UNAWARE OF THE FACT THAT IT WAS A HOLOCAUST
MEMORIAL.
HE DID GET A LOT OF HEAT FOR IT, A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO
COMMENTED ON THE PICTURE SAID IT WAS DISRESPECTFUL, AND THEY WERE
THEY WERE DISGUSTED THAT HE WOULD DO A HANDSTAND IN
A PLACE THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO REMEMBER THE VICTIMS OF THE
HOLOCAUST.
HE HAS APOLOGIZED FOR IT, AND HE TOOK DOWN THE
POST, AND THE QUESTION HERE IS WHETHER OR NOT THERE WAS ANY ILL
INTENT.
I'M GOING TO BE FORGIVING, HERE'S WHAT HE HAD TO
SAY.
"I'D LIKE TO APOLOGIZE FOR ANY OFFENSE THE LAST PICTURE I
POSTED HAS CAUSED.
I HAD A QUICK LAYOVER IN BERLIN TODAY
WITH A GOOD FRIEND, AND WE WALKED ALL AROUND THE CITY
LOOKING AT AND ENJOYING ALL THE BEAUTY THE CITY HAS TO OFFER.
WE WERE NEAR THIS MEMORIAL, NOT KNOWING WHAT WAS AT THE TIME.
PEOPLE WERE WALKING ON THE PILLARS.
KIDS RUNNING AROUND.
PEOPLE
SITTING ON THEM.
IT WAS GORGEOUS AND LOOKED VISUALLY
STUNNING.
AS WITH ALL THINGS LIKE THIS, I WANTED A PICTURE
NEXT TO IT, AS I HAVE BEEN DOING FOR YEARS.
I TOOK A HANDSTAND
PICTURE WITH IT AS THE BACKGROUND, I TRULY DID NOT KNOW
WHAT THE STRUCTURE WAS.
I FEEL COMPLETELY TERRIBLE, AS I WOULD
NEVER PURPOSELY OFFEND OR DISRESPECT THIS MEMORIAL HAD I
KNOWN."
IT WAS A VERY LONG APOLOGY, THAT WAS ONLY PART.
HE
WAS VERY REMORSEFUL FOR WHAT HAPPENED, AND FOR SOMEONE LIKE
ME, I THINK INTENT MATTERS MORE
THAN ANYTHING ELSE.
HE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN IT WAS A MEMORIAL,
YOU SHOULD BE MORE CURIOUS ABOUT WHAT THESE STRUCTURES ARE, SO IT
BOTHERS ME A LITTLE BIT THAT HE DID NOT LOOK INTO IT A LITTLE
BIT, BUT IN HIS MIND IT WAS JUST
A BEAUTIFUL PLACE TO TAKE AN ARTISTIC PICTURE.
I DO NOT
THINK HE MEANT TO DO ANYTHING
BAD.
I ALSO THINK IT HAS TO DO WITH THE ENVIRONMENT AROUND YOU.
PEOPLE DO TEND TO HANG OUT AROUND THERE AND NOT BE
RESPECTFUL, SO MAYBE I'M GIVING HIM TOO MUCH CREDIT ñ
I'M JEWISH, SO OBVIOUSLY IF I WANTED TO BE OFFENDED BY HIS
INTERACTION WITH THIS HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL I COULD PULL THE JEW
CARD AND DO IT, BUT I HAVE NO INTEREST IN THAT.
I THINK HE
OFFERED A SERIOUS APOLOGY, IT WAS SINCERE, IT WAS A SCREW-UP,
WE'VE ALL SCREWED UP, HE WAS TAKEN TO TASK VERY QUICKLY, AND
IT'S CLEAR THAT HE FEELS HORRIBLE.
THIS GUY IS NOT A
RAGING ANTI-SEMITE, YOU HAVE GOT TO ëHANDSTANDí IT TO THE GUY, HE
REALLY STUCK HIS HANDS IN IT WHEN HE DID THIS, BUT I WILL SAY
THAT THE MEMORIAL ITSELF IS NOT A HEAVY-HANDED REPRESENTATION OF
THE HOLOCAUST.
I'VE SEEN HOLOCAUST MEMORIALS WHERE THERE
ARE THE SHOES OF THE VICTIMS, WHERE ITíS SOMETHING THAT IS VERY
BLATANT.
THE IDEA OF THIS IS THAT IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE
INTERPRETIVE, IN FACT IT IS CONTROVERSIAL.
SOME PEOPLE LOVE
IT, SOME PEOPLE HATE IT, BUT THE WAY THAT PEOPLE INTERACT WITH IT
IS A FLUID, DYNAMIC THING.
ACCORDING TO HIM AND OTHERS WHO
HAVE BEEN TO THIS MEMORIAL, PEOPLE ARE SITTING AND DRINKING,
AND HANGING OUT.
THIS MEMORIAL IS REALLY SEEN AS A PLACE THAT
IS ALIVE, THAT YOU INTERACT WITH.
DOING A HANDSTAND AND
TAKING A PICTURE, THE PROBLEM WAS THAT HE NEVER ACKNOWLEDGED
WHERE HE WAS.
HE DID NOT DO THE RESEARCH.
IF HE HAD SAID, I'M
DOING THIS HANDSTAND IN THE CELEBRATION OF LIFE AND MEMORY
OF HOLOCAUST VICTIMS, THAT WOULD BE A DIFFERENT SITUATION.
I DON'T NECESSARILY RECOMMEND THAT, BUT
CROSSFIT CULT ASIDE, IF THAT'S HOW YOU WANT TO CELEBRATE ñ AND
REMEMBER THIS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING, THAT IS THE CALL OF
HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS IS THAT WE NEED TO REMEMBER THIS.
HE JUST
DID NOT REMEMBER, OR DID NOT KNOW, DID NOT ACKNOWLEDGE WHERE HE WAS.
THAT WAS A SCREW-UP, BUT I DON'T THINK HE DESERVES ANY LONG-TERM
PUNISHMENT.
I MEAN COME ON,
GIVE ME A BREAK.
HIS APOLOGY WAS SO SEVERE.
THE LESSON THAT PEOPLE LEARN MEANS EVERYTHING, AND IT SEEMS
AS THOUGH HE LEARNED A LESSON.
THIS IS ONE OF THE FEW
SITUATIONS WHERE IGNORANCE IS NOT BLISS, IGNORANCE ACTUALLY
LEADS TO A WORLD OF PAIN.
WE
ALL HAVE LAPSES OF JUDGMENT, AND I LIKE THAT HIS APOLOGY WAS
SINCERE.
PUT IT IN CONTEXT, LOOK THROUGH HIS INSTAGRAM HISTORY.
THE
MAN TRAVELS AROUND, HE SPREADS A LOT OF JOY, HEíS GOT AN EIGHT-PACK,
WHATEVER.
I DON'T THINK
THIS IS A PERSON WHO IS A THREAT, OR INVOLVED IN SOME
SORT OF INSIDIOUS PREJUDICE AGAINST THE JEWISH PEOPLE.
I'M MORE OFFENDED ABOUT THE CROSSFIT ñ
THAT'S ANOTHER DEBATE ñ
WORD, I RESPECT THEM FOR LOVING WHAT THEY DO AND WANTING
TO STAY HEALTHY.
AND I APPRECIATE THAT HE KICKED UP A DEBATE ABOUT HOW WE
INTERACT AROUND MEMORIALS, AND
HOW WE REMEMBER TRAGEDIES.
IS IT SOMETHING THAT IS DYNAMIC AND
ALIVE, OR IS THIS PLACE A
SANCTUARY OF SOLEMNITY?
A PLACE WHERE WE'RE SUPPOSED TO BE RESPECTFUL AND SILENT?
SOMBER.
EXACTLY, THAT IS UP FOR DEBATE AND A WORTHY
CONVERSATION TO BE HAVING.
WE WANT TO ASK YOU WHAT YOU THINK, AND WE PUT UP A POLL
ON OUR TYT APP.
IF YOU DO NOT HAVE THE TYT APP, SUPER EASY TO DOWNLOAD,
JUST GO TO THE APP STORE AND SEARCH TYT.
WE ASKED YOU GUYS, "A CROSSFIT LEADER AND EVANGELIST IS
BEING CRITICIZED FOR POSTING A PICTURE OF HIMSELF DOING A
HANDSTAND ON A HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL.
IT IS OFFENSIVE?"
FIFTY-SEVEN PERCENT OF YOU DISAGREE WITH US AND SAY IT
IS OFFENSIVE.
IT NEEDS THAT CAVEAT THAT HE DID NOT KNOW.
THAT IS THE DIFFERENCE.
THE UNFORTUNATE THING ABOUT THESE POLLS IS THAT WE DO NOT
HAVE ENOUGH ROOM TO ASK YOU A
SUPER DETAILED, NUANCED QUESTIONS.
GIVEN THE INFORMATION
YOU KNOW NOW, PLEASE CHIME IN, YOU CAN COMMENT AND VOTE ON THE
POLL.
WE DO READ THEM AND WE DO
RESPOND TO THEM.