"Visualizing Palestine" lies, claims Arabs banned from Israeli buses

Over the past few months, there has been an initiative - called "Visualizing Palestine" -  to push the Palestinian Arab narrative graphically.

Not surprisingly, these infographics can lie.

The lies in the graphics are harder to counter than lies in speeches and essays, because the nature of graphics is that they are visceral and engage the subconscious. As a result, it is very important to emphasize that these guys are, to put it bluntly, liars.

The latest example from them:

The truth is that Palestinian Arabs are not banned from any Israeli bus, period. Here is a press release from the State of Israel regarding this issue:

The Minister of Transport, National Infrastructures and Road Safety, Israel Katz, instructed the Ministry's Director General, Uzi Itzhaki, to ensure that Palestinians entering Israel are able to travel on all public transport in Israel, including all lines operating in Judea and Samaria.

The Minister of Transport directed the Ministry's Director General to ensure that all announcements regarding the new lines that began operations today, will be posted in both Hebrew and Arabic, and to ensure that the service will be unrestricted and equal for all populations. Itzhaki has also been instructed to closely follow operation of the new service and to take into account any changes that need to be made for improving the service for all public transport users.

The story was irresponsibly reported and then spread. And the haters at Visualizing Palestine jumped on board with their own lies, even though the initial stories made it clear that nobody was being banned, and, indeed, couldn't be under the law. As Haaretz noted in its own "segregated bus lines" story:

In response to the report, the Transportation Ministry said it "has not issued any instruction or prohibition that prevents Palestinian workers from riding the public bus lines in Israel or in Judea and Samaria. Furthermore, the Transportation Ministry is not authorized to prevent any passangers from riding those lines."

"The two new lines that will be run as of tomorrow (Monday) are intended to improve the services to Palestinian workers that enter Israel via the Eyal Crossing," the ministry's statement continued, adding that the new lines will replace the "pirate" driving services who have been transporting Palestinian workers "at exorbitant prices and in an irregular fashion."

Others have debunked the story more thoroughly; see for example CiFWatch. But there is no indication that VP will ever pull down that lying graphic.

Some lies are more pernicious than others, and lies that appear as professional graphics are among the worst lies of all.