But especially since October 7, we have seen lots of academics making arguments against Israel that violate basic logical fallacies. One would think that educated people, especially those who teach students, would be embarrassed to say these arguments out loud.
From a master list of logical fallacies found at the University of Texas- El Paso website:
2.Affective fallacy: "I feel Israel is wrong, so it must be true."
3. Alternative Truth fallacy: "Palestinians have their narrative and it is just as valid as any other."
4. Appeal to Closure fallacy: "Israel must concede land because otherwise the conflict will never end."
5. Appeal to Heaven fallacy: "The Hadith says that the last hour won't come before the Muslims would fight the Jews and the Muslims will kill them."
6. Appeal to Pity fallacy: "Palestinians are weaker than Israel so we must support them.." "Palestinians are suffering so they must be right."
7. Appeal to Tradition fallacy: "Jews prospered in the Diaspora and therefore they should properly stay there."
8. Appeasement fallacy: "Divest from Israeli companies and the student protesters will stop destroying the campus."
9. Argument from Consequences fallacy: "Israel cannot possibly have any legal right to the West Bank because then Palestinians will have nowhere to go."
10. Argument from Incredulity fallacy: "We are supposed to believe that Jews have rights in the land because the God of the Bible says so?"
11. Argument from Inertia fallacy: "Jews weren't allowed to pray on the Temple Mount for centuries so we must keep the status quo."
12. Argument from Motives (reverse) fallacy: "Too many Palestinian men beat their wives and children, but it is understandable because they live under occupation."
13. Argumentum ad Baculum: "We can silence Zionist voices by bullying them and anyone who wants to listen to them."
14. Hyperbole Bias: "Israel has wreaked more destruction on Gaza than any war in history." "Israelis are worse than Nazis."
15. Bandwagon Fallacy: "We are on the right side of history!" "Most young people now support Palestinians."
There are lots more where these come from. This will probably be a four or five part series.
