First, The Radical Left Defended Palestinian Terrorism; Now They Are Excusing The Murder Of A CEO (Daled Amos)

By Daled Amos

The world was horrified when it learned of the Hamas massacre. Palestinian terrorists invaded Israel, massacring over 1,200 men, women, and children, while taking hundreds hostage. World leaders condemned the murders and kidnappings.

But not everyone did. Some defended it.

According to the Anti-Defamation League, Students for Justice in Palestine "hailed and defended" the massacre, and "some, like the SJP chapter at Columbia University, have published social media posts that openly support acts of terror against Israel." The ADL points out that: 

many of the organization’s campus chapters have explicitly endorsed the actions of Hamas and their armed attacks on Israeli civilians and voiced an increasingly radical call for confronting and “dismantling” Zionism on U.S. college campuses.

The Democratic Socialists of America were no less enthusiastic in their defense of Hamas. The ADL writes that the DSA, Salt Lake City Chapter:

published a “Statement on Palestinian Liberation” on October 7, expressing their “unwavering solidarity with the people of Palestine in their decades long fight for national liberation” and urging Americans “to stand up against settler-colonial, Zionist apartheid.” The statement proclaimed the group’s full support for the attack on Israeli civilians, writing that “it is not terrorism or anti-semitism to fight against this injustice.”

The day after the attack, The Times of Israel reported how quickly anti-Israel groups jumped to endorse the massacre: 

In New York, the pro-Palestinian groups Within Our Lifetime, Samidoun, Decolonize This Place, Al-Awda and others announced rallies on Sunday in Times Square and on Monday at the Israeli consulate “to defend the heroic Palestinian resistance.”

WOL enthusiastically said that “supporting Palestinian liberation is supporting whatever means necessary it takes to get there. Freedom has only ever been achieved through resistance.”

Just three days after the massacre, The Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee came out with a statement defending Hamas. The statement declared that they “hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence,” and excused the murders on the basis that “today’s events did not occur in a vacuum.”

The Secretary General of the UN, Antonio Guterres, also equivocated, in his remarks to the UN Security Council three weeks later, that "it is important to also recognize the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum." 

While radical anti-Israel groups did not hesitate to come out in support of the Palestinian terrorists and the atrocities that they committed, it did not take long for others to hedge on their condemnations and assign responsibility to Israel.

It is shocking to see how uninhibited anti-Israel groups were to excuse the attacks, and how others--whom we might have expected better of--were quick to fall in line with the message of the ongoing pro-Palestinian riots that defended the mass murders.

The question arises: just how far will some go to defend murder, outside of the events in the Middle East?

It sounds like a ridiculous question, especially in the context of Western values. Still, you have to wonder, especially when Americans came out in defense of the recent murder of Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare. Luigi Mangione was charged with first-degree murder in furtherance of terrorism in Thompson’s death.

As shocking as Brian Thompson's murder is, the reaction to it is even more unnerving.

According to Emerson College Polling, 68% of voters said the murder was unacceptable, while 17% found the action acceptable. Digging deeper, the poll found:

“While 68% of voters overall reject the killer’s actions, younger voters and Democrats are more split — 41% of voters aged 18-29 find the killer’s actions acceptable (24% somewhat acceptable and 17% completely acceptable), while 40% find them unacceptable; 22% of Democrats find them acceptable, while 59% find them unacceptable, this compares to 12% of Republicans and 16% of independents who find the actions acceptable, underscoring shifting societal attitudes among the youngest electorate and within party lines,” Kimball said.

Of those in the 18-29 year old age group, 41% found Thompson's murder acceptable to some degree. To a large extent, these are the people protesting on college campuses and on the streets in defense of Hamas terrorists.

Social media was full of posts approving the murder. Alex Goldenberg, a senior adviser for The Network Contagion Research Institute at Rutgers noted that “the surge of social media posts praising and glorifying the killing of UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson is deeply concerning." But, according to Goldenberg, some people online went beyond approval:

“We’ve identified highly engaged posts circulating the names of other healthcare CEOs and others celebrating the shooter. The framing of this incident as some opening blow in a class war and not a brutal murder is especially alarming.”

The justification given for the murder was that insurance companies are primarily interested in making a profit, even if Americans are killed by denying them coverage.

Politicians and public figures chimed in.

“And people wonder why we want these executives dead,” Taylor Lorenz, a former New York Times and Washington Post journalist, wrote on Bluesky a few hours after the CEO, Brian Thompson, 50, was gunned down in Manhattan by a man with a silenced pistol. After a backlash, Lorenz later posted, “no, that doesn’t mean people should murder them.”

Senator Elizabeth Warren chimed in:

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said in interviews this week that the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was wrong but also served as a "warning" of sorts that "you can only push people so far."

"We'll say it over and over," Warren said on MSNBC. "Violence is never the answer. This guy [Luigi Mangione] gets a trial who's allegedly killed the CEO of UnitedHealth[care], but you can only push people so far, and then they start to take matters into their own hands."

And so did AOC:

“This is not to say that an act of violence is justified, but I think for anyone who is confused or shocked or appalled, they need to understand that people interpret and feel and experience denied claims as an act of violence against them,” the congresswoman told CBS News’ Jaala Brown on Thursday.

...AOC’s comments drew a slew of backlash from those who are fed up with those excusing the cold-blooded murder, lovers of the accused killer, Luigi Mangione, and posters across the Big Apple warning other CEOs that they’re next on the hit list.

And sure enough, if you do a search, you will find responses that echo the Secretary General's excuse for Hamas, applied now on social media to Luigi Mangione:

o  This act of violence did not occur in a vacuum. UnitedHealth Group, and its subsidiary UnitedHealthcare, are corporate behemoths on a scale the world has never seen.

o  You are trying to simplify it because it makes the situation easier in your head if you think of it in black and white, but as always, it did not happen in a vacuum.

o  It doesn’t mean that I endorse the assassination of Brian Thompson; it means that I empathize with John Quincy Archibald [reference to movie John Q.]. This murder didn’t happen in a vacuum.

o  Many people see Luigi Mangione as a hero because they understand, consciously or not, the fundamental violence of the system in which we live. Luigi didn’t act in a vacuum; his actions were born of desperation, anger, and a sense of moral reckoning. 

The point is that this attitude, this support for murder as acceptable, may be part of a trend.

Remember when Representative Maxine Waters egged people on to violence against people associated with the Trump Administration:

I have no sympathy for these people that are in this administration who know it’s wrong for what they’re doing on so many fronts. They tend to not want to confront this president or even leave, but they know what they’re doing is wrong. I want to tell you, these members of his cabinet who remain and try to defend him, they won’t be able to go to a restaurant, they won’t be able to stop at a gas station, they’re not going to be able to shop at a department store. The people are going to turn on them.

They’re going to protest. They’re absolutely going to harass them until they decide that they’re going to tell the president, ‘No, I can’t hang with you.’

 At the time, Legal Insurrection pointed out that Americans were responding to Waters and her call:

o  DC Socialist Group Chases DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen Out of a Restaurant Shouting, “Shame!”
o  “Justice-minded” Website Doxes Sr. White House Advisor Stephen Miller
o  #TheResistance crosses another line, confronts DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen at home
o  Sarah Sanders Kicked Out of Virginia Restaurant Because She Works For Trump
o  Florida AG Pam Bondi Accosted By Protestors At Tampa Movie Theater

Those incidents, and the provocations, have ceased. But with Trump starting his second term and the continued anti-Israel protests, there is no way to know if "moral indignation" will be used to excuse more violence.

As Erich Fromm wrote:

There is perhaps no phenomenon which contains so much destructive feeling as 'moral indignation,' which permits envy or hate to be acted out under the guise of virtue.

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Buy EoZ's books  on Amazon! "He's an Anti-Zionist Too!" cartoon book (December 2024) PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022)

 

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When Dictators Fall: Iraq (Whack-a-mole) VS Syria (Dominoes) (Daled Amos)

By Daled Amos

Following the defeat of Saddam Hussein and his capture during the Iraq War in 2003, there were multiple reactions. Some saw it as freedom from oppression and an opportunity for democratic government. Sunni Arabs who benefited from Hussein's rule were afraid of being marginalized and thought what others saw as liberation was more of an occupation.

Western allies celebrated the removal of a vicious dictator as a victory for democracy and human rights, but critics were concerned about potential instability.

While it was not difficult to see that Iraq's defeat resulted in the removal of Iran's premier enemy, it is not clear if anyone actually predicted the degree to which Iran would gain influence and dominate the region.

The victory over Iraq was a game of whack-a-mole: Saddam's Iraq was replaced by Iran.

Now with the removal of Bashar al-Assad, the defeat of a brutal dictator again has consequences outside of the dictator's own country. This time the consequences play out with a cascading effect:

o  The Hamas massacre on October 7 led both to Israel's crippling of Hezbollah and the weakening of Iran.

o  The weakening of those two entities led to the fall of Syria since they could not lend the support they had given in the past. Similarly, Russia's involvement in Ukraine hampered its ability to defend Assad

o  The removal of Syria from the constellation of Iranian proxies further hurts Iran's ability  to act in the region and reveals its weakness

In addition, going forward:

o  Iran will have difficulty getting arms to Hezbollah.

o  Russia's naval base in Tartus and airbase at Khmeimim are in jeopardy, putting its only Mediterranean port at risk and weakening its ability to project military power in the region.

o  Turkey will increase its influence in the area and could pose a further threat to the Kurds

o  The weakening of Iran may hurt the Houthis too.

o  The fragility of Lebanon is further threatened by neighboring Syria

And then, of course, there is Israel.

A Times of Israel article on December 6 featured the headline, Syrian rebel commander urges Israel to support uprising, strike Iran-backed forces. The article quoted an anonymous rebel commander from the Free Syrian Army (FSA):

We are open to friendship with everyone in the region – including Israel. We don’t have enemies other than the Assad regime, Hezbollah and Iran. What Israel did against Hezbollah in Lebanon helped us a great deal. Now we are taking care of the rest.

The problem is that the FSA is not in charge. Instead, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a jihadi organization, is leading the overthrow of Assad. MEMRI reported on an HTS video that is much less reassuring:

After taking control of Damascus following the collapse of Bashar Al-Assad’s regime on December 8, 2024, HTS Islamist militants, in a video posted by Althawra Network Media on Facebook, declared that just as they entered the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, they will enter the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, the Prophet's Mosque in Medina, and the Kaaba in Mecca. They also advised the people of Gaza to remain patient, suggesting they would soon come to Jerusalem.

This is why Israel not only fortified the buffer zone between it and Syria and extended it, but also struck chemical weapons caches and other missile and air-defense systems in Syria.

However, with such instability, there is no way to be sure what the vulnerabilities will drive the various concerned parties to do to secure their positions and react to real and perceived threats.

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Buy EoZ's books  on Amazon! "He's an Anti-Zionist Too!" cartoon book (December 2024) PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022)

 

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What's Old Is New Again in Antisemitism --And Much Worse (Daled Amos)

By Daled Amos

Going through old articles, I came across this:

The conflict also mobilized anti-Israel views around the world. Turkey and other forces opposing Israel consulted with Iran about a full-court diplomatic press against the Jewish state. Gangs of men in New York, California, London and across Europe attacked Jews and synagogues, threatening to “rape” Jewish women. Rabbis were attacked.

The unprecedented outpouring of far-right Palestinian nationalist hooligans driving around in convoys searching for Jews to attack in the US and Europe was a new phenomenon caused by this conflict.

Obviously, this is not something new.

But this article is talking about May 10-21, 2021, known as Operation Guardian of the Walls.

The ADL reported at the time that "outside of the [Middle East] region, there was a surge of antisemitic incidents targeting Jewish communities and individuals in the United States and around the world."

In the US

The ADL reported a 75% increase in antisemitic incidents, many blaming American Jews for the actions taken by Israel. There were approximately 200 anti-Israel rallies across the US. Many of the rallies were peaceful, but some speakers, signs, and chants used language that attacked Jews and Zionists.

o  May 23 (Redondo Beach, CA): A synagogue received an antisemitic and harassing email from an unknown sender who wrote: "Die fucking jew cockroaches! Israel = racism, apartheid, genocide."
o  May 22 (New York, NY): A Jewish man wearing a Star of David necklace was punched by a man who allegedly asked him, “What is that around your neck, does that make you a fucking Zionist?"
o  May 22 (Brooklyn, NY): Three men allegedly drove around Borough Park harassing and assaulting Jewish individuals, including teenagers. They yelled antisemitic slurs as well as, "Free Palestine." The men also kicked a synagogue's doors and broke a car mirror.
o  May 20 (New York, NY): A Jewish man was beaten by a group of anti-Israel protestors in Times Square. In another incident, anti-Zionist protestors shouted, "Fucking Zionists" and threw fireworks at passersby, injuring one, in midtown Manhattan's Diamond District, which is home to many Jewish-owned businesses.
o  May 18 (Los Angeles, CA): A group of Jewish diners at a kosher restaurant were allegedly assaulted by a group of individuals. The attackers reportedly arrived in cars carrying Palestinian flags and yelled antisemitic slurs.
o  May 18 (Bal Harbour, FL): A Jewish family was walking home from synagogue when they were harassed by a group of individuals in a car who allegedly yelled, “Free Palestine!” “F**k the Jews!” “Die Jew!”

In its 2021 report on the international reaction, ADL points out:

During the 2014 conflict between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas, dangerous incidents occurred in a similar context: attempts to breach synagogues while worshippers were inside; Molotov cocktails and other projectiles thrown at synagogues; and unprovoked assaults on Jews on the street with expressed linkage to the conflict. Jewish communities remember these incidents and worry about similar attacks.

The ADL mentions 2014, but not Operation Black Belt in 2019. In its 2019 report, the ADL reports that
Antisemitic Incidents Hit All-Time High in 2019, but does not mention the operation or of November, when the operation took place.

That 2014 ADL report, Violence And Vitriol: Anti-Semitism Around the World During Israel’s Operation Protective Edge – July-August 2014 begins:

Once again, “Death to Jews!” and “Jews to the gas!” are heard in Europe. Once again, Jewish communities around the world are paying for the perceived “sins” of Israel.

Going a step further, the 2014 ADL report notes that in response to antisemitic incidents during Operation Cast Lead during December 2008-2009:

As Israel defends her citizens from Hamas’ missiles, Jews around the world have also come under attack. Jews have been beaten on the street. Synagogues have been fire-bombed. “Jews to the gas” has been chanted at anti-Israel demonstrations. Newspapers in the Arab world and in Latin America have published pieces making blatant comparisons between Israel and the Nazis’ perpetration of the Holocaust.

The point is that public attacks on Jews in the streets today is not something new, nor should it have been unexpected. But we are seeing a change in degree as well as in kind. The groundwork has been laid for those taking advantage.

The ADL reported that during the one month between October 7 and November 7, 2023, there were 832 antisemitic incidents, including assault (30), vandalism (170), and harassment (632) in the US--an average of almost 28 incidents each day. That is a 316% increase over the 200 incidents during the same time in 2022. 

But now there are rallies showing admiration for the Hamas terrorists. Anti-Israel activists are coming out publicly in support of Hamas without fear of consequences. 

This is not an issue of spontaneous attacks on Jews and Jewish institutions. Nor is it just a problem of these attacks becoming more intense and widespread. And the protests are more public and in-your-face as we saw during the Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Screen grab of YouTube video

Now there are groups behind the protests, orchestrating for maximum effect. They are taking advantage of a phenomenon that has existed for many years. In the process, they go beyond free speech and deliberately disrupt both the US and Europe.

In the US, the Biden administration has not confronted the situation. One would like to think that the Trump administration will be more active in dealing both with antisemitism in general as well as with the threat to society in general. 

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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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American Jews Voters And American Arab-Muslim Voters Are Not So Different (Daled Amos)

By Daled Amos

The Jewish vote tends to be consistent.

The American Jewish Committee regularly releases its Survey of American Jewish Opinion. In 2007, for example, the AJC survey found that 58% of Jews in the US identified as Democrats, while only 15% saw themselves as Republicans (26% identified as Independent, and 2% were not sure).

No surprise there. Nor was there any surprise on how American Jews said they felt about Israel. According to that survey:

34. How important would you say being Jewish is in your own life?
Very important	61
Fairly important	29
Not very important	10

 

 

 

37. How close do you feel to Israel?
Very close	30
Fairly close	40
Fairly distant	21
Very distant	8
Not sure	1
38. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? “Caring about Israel is a very important part of my being a Jew.”
Agree	69
Disagree	28
Not Sure	3

So according to these results:

o  90% said being Jewish was important.
o  70% said they felt close to Israel.
o  69% said caring about Israel is very important to their being a Jew.

However, that same 2007 survey indicated that those numbers did not predict how Jews would vote on the issues.

19. In deciding who you would like to see elected president next year, which issue will be most important to you? Please select one of the following:
War in Iraq	16
Economy and jobs	23
Terrorism and national security	14
Health care	19
Support for Israel	6
Immigration	6
Education	4
Energy crisis	6
Not sure	5

Only 6% of American Jews said a politician's support for Israel would help them decide who they would vote for in the presidential election. On the plus side, those numbers serve as a rebuttal to those who accuse Jews of dual loyalty, yet it also calls into question to what degree Israel is a consideration when Jews vote.

So how did Jews view the issues in 2020?

According to the AJC's 2020 survey, nothing changed:

We have to assume that concern for Israel falls under the category of "Foreign Policy" for Israel to even show up on the radar of American Jews as an issue in the 2020 election.

In its 2024 survey, the AJC did not ask about the most important issues. Instead, it focused on Israel:

There is no question that Israel figured in how American Jews voted in 2024--unlike in past elections.

How about Arabs and Muslims in the US? How have they been voting?

According to the AI Perplexity, here are the issues most important to Muslims and Arabs in the 2020 election:

While foreign policy/Middle East was a major concern to Arab and Muslim voters, in 2020 it ranked behind healthcare, the economy, and civil rights.

And like the Jewish vote, the war in Gaza affected their vote as well in 2024:

This appears to indicate that the American Muslim/Arab voters might not be so different from American Jewish voters. Both are concerned and feel connected to the Middle East, but generally, both are more concerned with local issues such as the economy when things are relatively quiet. However, when things heat up, both groups focus on the Middle East when considering who to vote for in an election year.

Not surprisingly, some are framing the Muslim vote this year as a general warning to Democrats on how they should act in regards to the Middle East. Al Jazeera reports that ‘We warned you,’ Arab Americans in Michigan tell Kamala Harris, while The New Arab reports Muslim and Arab voters refuse to take the blame for Democrats' 2024 US election defeat.

Meanwhile, the Jewish vote is also being framed differently, depending on which side you are taking. J Street has a poll that assures us that Harris won the Jewish vote 71-26, with Halie Soifer--CEO of the Jewish Democratic Council of America--crowing, "Jewish voters are the only segment of the electorate where Trump did not make meaningful inroads." The poll claims that Harris won 75% of the vote in Pennsylvania. But according to the Orthodox Union-Honan Group, Harris beat Trump only by 48-41 among Jewish voters, and according to the Fox poll, Harris beat Trump nationally by a 66-32 margin with Jewish voters, indicating Harris underperformed previous Democrats.

Let's face it--whether we are talking about the Arab-Muslim vote or the Jewish vote, there is going to be a major effort to frame the results in a way that makes each group a king-maker.

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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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The cultural reason behind Israel's failures at explaining itself to the world (Daled Amos)

By Daled Amos

The current Gaza War highlights a point made in previous wars between Israel and Hamas: Israel is not very good at hasbara. It is not good at defending itself or presenting its own case.

Why is that?

If you ask ChatGPT, it will give you eight reasons Israel is bad at public diplomacy.

Complex and Controversial Policies: Israel’s policies, particularly in relation to the Palestinians, involve a complex mix of history, religion, and geopolitics. Issues like the Gaza blockade, West Bank settlements, and military operations against Hamas often draw criticism internationally. Explaining these policies in a way that aligns with Israel’s security concerns while resonating with global audiences—who may lack context or see these actions as overly aggressive—is a significant hurdle.

Reactive Rather than Proactive Messaging: Often, Israel’s hasbara efforts tend to be reactive, responding to crises as they occur rather than establishing a strong, proactive narrative. This reactive stance means Israel is frequently on the defensive, trying to counter criticisms or viral images that have already shaped public opinion, rather than setting the terms of the debate.

Media and Cultural Differences: The media landscape in the West, particularly in Europe and the U.S., can have biases, or they might frame issues in ways that amplify the Palestinian narrative. Furthermore, Israeli communication style—often direct and sometimes confrontational—doesn't always translate well in other cultures, where diplomacy and softer rhetoric might be preferred.

Lack of Unified Messaging: Israel’s messaging often lacks coordination. Various ministries and agencies in Israel, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Defense, and the Prime Minister’s Office, may put out different messages, leading to a lack of cohesion. This disunity can result in inconsistent narratives that dilute Israel’s main talking points.

Underestimating Social Media Impact: Social media has amplified global awareness and activism, making it easy for images and stories to go viral, often before Israel can issue an official response. Additionally, Palestinian activists have been more effective at creating emotionally resonant content that tends to resonate more powerfully on platforms like Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram. Israel’s response on these platforms can feel less impactful or, at times, unrelatable to the younger generation that dominates these spaces.

Changing Global Perceptions: Public opinion globally has become more sensitive to human rights issues, and there’s a growing skepticism of military power and occupation-style control over other peoples. This has made Israel’s security-driven messaging less effective over time, especially with younger audiences who may sympathize more with Palestinians as an oppressed group.

Language and Accessibility: Hebrew-centric narratives or content that presupposes knowledge of Jewish or Israeli culture may not always resonate with global audiences. Similarly, English-language messaging is critical, but without nuanced, culturally aware English-language communicators, messaging can feel disconnected or out of touch with international sentiments.

Perception of Overreach: Sometimes, efforts in hasbara can backfire, particularly if seen as propaganda rather than genuine engagement. International audiences may become distrustful if they perceive a heavy-handed or overly defensive communication style, potentially diminishing Israel’s credibility.

These are technical reasons, focusing on the nature of the message that Israel is trying to present, on the kind of audience, or on the nature of the medium. These reasons don't completely explain why it is that the Palestinian Arabs are so adept at overcoming these hurdles.

But, another perception of Israel's hasbara problem was expressed by Haviv Rettig Gur in an interview posted on YouTube. At one point he was asked about a lecture he gave where he contrasted the claim that early settlers were inspired by the Herzl and the Zionist ideology as opposed to the fact that the early settlers were refugees fleeing pogroms in Russia -- the difference being the greater sympathy garnered by the latter interpretation.

Haviv Rettig Gur (YouTube screencap)

Gur attributes the failure in Israeli hasbara to a basic Israeli attitude:

First of all, we don't tell it [that the early settlers were refugees] to the rest of the world because we don't talk to the rest of the world about these things. One of the hearts and soul of the center of our DNA and understanding of History, is the idea that we don't justify ourselves to the world...we don't justify ourselves because in the mind that is watching us, that is observing us, that is making demands of us. we're a moral cartoon serving, the needs of the cartoonist and that is not a fight you can win...

By the way, this creates a real cultural incapacity to explain ourselves seriously And you see it everywhere. I mean, you see it in Israelis literally having trouble on CNN explaining, you know, whether or not Israel is right or wrong because the feeling that you're justifying is something that is antithetical to their basic cultural identity.

It's why the Israeli government has established a Public Diplomacy Ministry five times and the last time it closed the public diplomacy ministry was I think October 16 or October 18. The public diplomacy minister of Israel got up on national television. She was a Likud appointee to the Knesset by an ally of Netanyahu and she said obviously this is a fake thing, public diplomacy...I'm an Israeli Patriot, she said and in wartime, I will not waste public funds on a fake ministry and so she resigned and she shut down her ministry on national television To me, that's astonishing because what's even more astonishing is nobody in the government blinked, there is nobody in Israeli government responsible for public diplomacy in any way responsible for synergizing, different branches, and everyone speaks their own mind...

The biggest drink company in Israel is Coca-Cola. Israel's marketing department is brilliant. It can hack the human brain stem like Coca-Cola everywhere. It's not that the Israelis are incapable of marketing, of telling stories of building out of selling ideas. It's that they can't do it for themselves because we don't justify ourselves...[transcribed and edited for clarity and conciseness]

Here is the Haviv Rettig Gur interview:

If Gur is correct, the solution to Israel's hasbara problem is even harder to address than the solutions to the technical issues in the ChatGPT list.

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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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A first-hand account of anti-Israel media bias (Real Jerusalem Streets)

Guest essay by Real Jerusalem Streets:

After October 7, the mainstream media picked up anti-Israel stories and flew with them, the truth left languishing in the dirt. 

The story of the twelve spies sent by Moses to view the Promised Land shows that ten men's opinion against two is nothing new. Ten professional photographers work on an event, ten different albums will be produced. Each observer has a subjective way of viewing the same scene. Two journalists may attend the same event and publish very different stories. 

I began walking the Jerusalem March/Flag Parade. Every time what I saw did not match what media outlets were publishing. 

How many saw that this year Reuters Fact Check put out a correction two weeks after they published stories of Jews chanting death to Arabs? Two little too late; the damage was done. I saw no corrections in other media.

Though proven to be not true, the false claims coming from Gaza are consistently revived by anti-Israel pundits. The exaggerated death count in the Gaza hospital story is one glaring example. Readers of Elder of Ziyon are well aware of bias in reporting from sources coming from the UN agencies relying on Hamas.

One recent piece from the BBC, "Why 800 people fled a sun-kissed Mediterranean Village," related the woeful tale of Alma al-Shaab, in southern Lebanon just over a kilometer from the Israeli border. "Since October last year, it has been caught in cross-border fighting between Israeli forces and "Hezbollah, the Shia Muslim organization which is politically influential and in control of the most powerful armed force in Lebanon." 

BBC didn’t bother to state that Hezbollah is a terrorist organization which, since October 7 has bombarded northern Israel with rockets, missiles, and deadly drones, forcing close to 100,000 Israelis to find refuge for safety. Those thousands, homeless for nine months, are not worth a mention by the BBC.

At least BBC's Ali Abbas Ahmadi admits,  "Hezbollah and its allies fired waves of rockets from Lebanon into a disputed area along the border in an apparent show of support for the armed group." Northern Israel is not a “disputed area." The BBC ignores UN Resolution 1701,  which requires “the disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon,” which Ahmadi and Hezbollah both ignore.

BBC news anchor Helena Humphrey asked former IDF spokesman Jonathan Conricus why the army didn't warn Palestinians before the rescue of the four hostages in Gaza. After years of dealing with hostile media, Conricus kept his composure before responding. His even temper and his eyes opening wider did not get the same attention as Eylon Levy's eyebrows when asked a similarly outrageous question.

Over the years I have witnessed bias against Israel from journalists, not only online but also on organized international media tours. 

November 2016, with Arafat staring down from a larger-than-life photo on the wall, we sat in the Silwad community center to hear the emotional retelling of an old Arab woman's story. 

She remembered her young days on her father's land. Not one of the international journalists asked to see a deed or any proof of her tale. It was accepted. It fits the narrative. The group leader had tried to convince me not to get on the bus leaving from Jerusalem. He warned me to keep a low profile after I insisted on coming using my US passport and identification.

After safely leaving, I researched the deed. It appeared to be a flimsy piece of paper the size of an index card from a manual typewriter issued in Jordan in 1964 by some office for tax purposes. Israeli families were forced to move in part because of her testimony. Their homes and community were destroyed. 

Contrast this with the October 17, 2023, media presentation in Jerusalem where journalists insisted on seeing photographs of the death and destruction described by the ZAKA volunteers fresh from the horrors of southern Israel. 

In October, the world did not want to believe the horror stories of burnt bodies. No matter the evidence, there is still denial from Israel haters.

On another occasion, from a scenic lookout on an international media tour, there was a carefully detailed presentation of illegal Arab construction with diagrams, charts, and Google map images by the NGO Regavim.  Moving away to the next destination, three men were walking. 

I overheard the one in the middle say to his friends, "That was a good presentation. 

"But we are journalists. We know it's all lies."

There lies the problem. 

On October 12, 2023, the tone of the British journalists' repeated questions caused President Herzog to lose his temper in responding. The number of nationalities involved in the 250 people kidnapped in southern Israel and held hostage was not of interest. His call for their immediate release was ignored. 

Image - October 11, 2023, shown to the international journalists at Bei Hanasi

On Day 257, Rachel Goldberg Polin and Jon Polin were interviewed on CNN. She said in the US people still do not know after all these months that 8 US dual citizens are still held captive and 24 nationalities were involved.

 

Journalists have a right and obligation to question. However, they also must present factual information, not their opinions as facts.

Agence France-Presse (AFP) wants a dynamic journalist for its Jerusalem bureau to cover news in Israel and the Palestinian Territories. The deadline for applications was June 23. Journalists with a perfect command of Hebrew and French, a strong grasp of social networks, and a deep understanding of Middle Eastern news, particularly the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, were invited to apply. 

It will be interesting to see who fills the position. 

Actress Sharon Stone was quoted: "We see terrible things about Israel on TV, but when you come here you realize that what they broadcast is not true, this is a wonderful country!"

After making aliyah and living in Jerusalem, Israel, the scenes I saw daily were not what I saw in the media, prompting the creation of  The Real Jerusalem Streets. After posting close to 14,000 photos, it is still hard to believe how different the real streets are from the fake narratives and how easily the fake news is shared. 

Thank you, Elder of Ziyon, for posting multiple Real J Street blogs over the years, to share what's really happening and what the mainstream media ignores.

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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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