Logical fallacies that Israel haters use, part 4

Continuing the series of logical fallacies that Israel haters - including academics who should know better - use when making their anti-Israel arguments.

46. The Half-Truth: "Israel had Baruch Goldstein, Palestinians have suicide bombers. What's the difference?"

47. Hero-Busting: "The Megillah itself describes a genocide by Jews planned by Mordechai!"

48. Identity Fallacy: "Israelis have stolen the Palestinian dishes of hummus and falafel!"

49. Infotainment: Every Pallywood picture and video.

50.The Job's Comforter Fallacy: "Allah turned Jewish sinners into apes and pigs."

51. "Just Do It":  "Israel must be destroyed by any means necessary (even if that means murder, rape &c.)"

52: The Law of Unintended Consequences: "Since Israel cannot predict what will happen in Gaza, it is best that they don't do anything militarily."

53: Lying with Statistics: "Israel has 51 laws discriminating against Palestinians."

54. The Tiny Percentage Fallacy: "The number of Palestinians who actually try to murder Jews is quite small, don't exaggerate their importance."

55. Mala Fides (Arguing in Bad Faith): "Zionists partnered with Nazi executioners of Jews with the Haavara Agreement."

56. Measurability: "Antisemitism is a thing of the past; when you ask people if they hate Jews for no reason nearly all say they don't."

57. Mind-reading: "No matter what they say, Israel intends to kill innocent Palestinian civilians."

58. Moral Licensing: "Hamas supports a lot of poor people in Gaza; they are allowed to defend them by shooting rockets at Jews."

59. Moral Superiority: "Since Muslims are so much more moral than Jews, they can do whatever is necessary to destroy the evil"

60. Moving the Goalposts: "Okay, so there are witnesses to rape on October 7 who have come forward, but they are all unreliable."

61. "Mind Your Own Business": "I don't have to justify my tweets glorifying Hamas on October 7. Blocked."

62. Name calling: "Never read her column. She's an Islamophobic racist."

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Logical fallacies that Israel haters use, part 3

31. The "Draw Your Own Conclusion" Fallacy: "35,000 Gazans are dead. Whose fault is that?"

32. The Dunning-Kruger Effect:  "I read Mondoweiss, so therefore I know everything I need to know about Israel."

33. Noble Effort fallacy: "For decades, the US and EU invested countless hours into trying to achieve a two state solution and building up a Palestinian government. It is the only path to peace."

34. Either/Or fallacy: "If you do not boycott Israel you are a genocide supporter." "Either Israel gives citizenship to millions of Palestinians or it is an apartheid state."

35. Equivocation: "I am against Israeli occupation," but without saying that they consider all of Israel to be occupied territory.

36. Esoteric Knowledge: "How can you claim Khamenei's anti-nuclear weapons fatwa is not a binding legal ruling? You aren't a Muslim!"

37. Etymological Fallacy: "How can I be an antisemite? I'm an Arab Semite myself!"

38. Middle of the Road fallacy: "My articles/decisions as president of the university get complaints from both Zionists and anti-Zionists so they must be fair and correct."

39. The Excluded Middle fallacy: "I read that Israel tortures terrorists in prison, therefore they should all be released."

40. The  False Analogy: "Israel censors some news articles, just like Nazi Germany did!"

41. The Free Speech Fallacy: "I'm allowed to threaten the lives of artists who perform in Israel; it's free speech."

42. The Free Speech Fallacy counterpoint: "Zionists are not welcome to speak on campus/to enter our encampment because they make Palestinians/me feel uncomfortable." 

43. The Fundamental Attribution Error: "We cannot believe anything the IDF spokesperson says because Zionists/Jews are liars."

44. Gaslighting: "Jews on campus aren't being attacked. They always exaggerate the slightest events." "All the protests are non-violent." 

45. Guilt by Association: The entire David Miller body of "research," energetically defended by many academics.

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Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism  today at Amazon! Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.  Read all about it here!

 

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Logical fallacies that Israel-haters use, part 2

A continuation of a series about the many, many logical fallacies that we hear in anti-Israel arguments. When academics or supposedly wise pundits engage in these fallacies, it shows that they do not have any real arguments.  Part 1 here.

16. Big Lie technique. "Israel is an apartheid state." "Israel is committing genocide in Gaza." "Most Palestinians are against terrorism." "Most Palestinians support a two state solution." "Hamas has shown flexibility in its demands." "Israel is the obstacle to peace." "There were no rapes on October 7." "Israel bombed the Al Ahli hospital." "Fatah is moderate." etc. etc. 

17. Blind Loyalty fallacy: "I don't know enough about history or current events, but everyone else on campus/my favorite professor says Israel is evil."

18. Blood is Thicker than Water fallacy: "As a Muslim (or Arab,) I support Palestinians no matter what they do."

19. Brainwashing: "There is only one solution, Intifada Revolution" chants repeated over and over. Or this:

20. Calling "Cards": "Zionists on campus are playing the antisemitism card."

21. Circular reasoning: "We know Israel is so evil, it has been trying to wipe out Palestinians for 80 years. Israel is performing genocide, which proves Israel is evil."

22. Complex Question or Loaded Question: "Why do you support Israel's genocide of Palestinians?"

23. Confirmation Bias: "I read about a study that says all Ashkenazi Jews come from Europe; that proves they cannot be real Jews." "All the evidence Amnesty/HRW gathered proves Israel is an apartheid state" without mentioning all the counter-evidence they ignored. 

24. Default Bias: "Israel cannot stop Palestinian terror/'resistance' so it must learn to accept it."

25: Nihilism: "Everything is Israel's fault. Dismantle it."

26. Defensiveness: " I supported Hamas' pragmatism and how they appeared to care about Gazans. After October 7, I still support Hamas' decision to start a war that destroyed Gazan's lives." 

27. Deliberate Ignorance: "Why am I protesting Israel?  Don't ask me, ask one of the leaders."

28. Diminished Responsibility: "After decades of occupation, what else can you expect from Palestinians?"

29. Disciplinary Blinders: "Modern Middle East studies discount the idea that there was ever a powerful Jewish kingdom in the region, so we can ignore recent archaeological evidence to the contrary."

30.  Dog-Whistle Politics: "She's a Zionist. Enough said." 


Lots more coming.

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Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism  today at Amazon! Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.  Read all about it here!

 

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Logical fallacies that Israel haters use, part 1

I expect most anti-Israel voices to be idiotic, just as I expect more antisemites to be idiots.

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:

1. Token Endorsement fallacy: "We cannot be antisemitic because we have some Jews who agree with us."

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.

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Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism  today at Amazon! Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.  Read all about it here!

 

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