Hamasbara indeed. I don’t see the situation changing any time soon with, as you say, Muslims (and other antisemites) outnumbering Jews so enormously.
Just a factual point: even during the era of suicide bombings and the Second Intifada, a lot of the Western media was extremely anti-Israel. This was the era of the Mohammed al-Dura shooting, as you mentioned, the Jenin “massacre” (where Western journalists eagerly repeated Palestinian stories of massacres of civilians, mass graves and claimed to smell a stench of thousands dead. Actually, only about 75 people were killed in the operation, about a third of them Israeli soldiers and most of the rest being terrorists) and egregious reports (the BBC’s most notorious being one in the aftermath of a suicide bombing that interviewed the weeping family of the bomber, but no family members of the Israeli victims). See Richard Landes’ book "Can “The Whole World” Be Wrong?" for more.
I think the thing is that 1990s Palestinian support was still just a fringe, the BBC in their reporting even then didn't reflect the mainstream of British thought. I recall one Labour politician on Question Time then commenting on the subject of suicide bombers, 'I think we have to look more into why Palestinians have become so desparate that they'd kill themselves in such bombings'... which got many boos from the audience. The first signs that in fact parts of Labour were out of touch with the British public... which of course we saw come to fruition with Jeremy Corbyn's trouncing.
But go online at the time and he was reverred as a near saint and looked certain to get in. The Left and ant-Israel brigade are very strong online and very organized. The street marches in London are nearly all organized by Trade-Union linked organizations. Labour is still pretty much rotten to the core with anti-Israel feeling.
So David against Goliath 100:1 against in global numbers and yet the majority of the indoctrinated buy all the crap coming out of Aljazeera and virtually any MSM with maybe exception of GB News.
If I wasn't such a well brought up Catholic I'd probably say fuck 'em.
John, this is my 2nd post to your article now that I’ve read it. As much as I acknowledged and love your headline I was anticipating you had drank the Palestinian kool-aid. I’m greatly relieved you haven’t. I’m a 76 year old Canadian and the Middle East has been a huge part of my life. I kept looking for the good parts but finally gave up in order to get my dignity and self respect back. It breaks my heart that I have a loving Egyptian family in Egypt , including the young generation, that hates Jews and Israel and blames the west for their problems. Your article is the first I’ve found that does such a thorough job of explaining how so much of the superficial thinking West has fallen for the smear campaign against Jews and Israel. When are we ever going to grow up? Jews have disproportionately contributed to the world throughout history. BTW, by fate in my 20’s I lived with a very successful Cdn atheist Jew, and in my 40’s married a very unsuccessful Moslem Egyptian who became more conservative. I’ve lived in Egypt including during the Arab Spring. My estimate is that 30% percent of Egyptians expect something for nothing which explains why they never get lift off. At the same time there are some excellent people in the Middle East and here in Canada. They somehow managed to leave the bad thinking behind them. Canada is richer for it. 🍁🇨🇦 I’ll see if my budget can support Subscribing to you. You’re an excellent journalist and writer.
Hi, Sandra, many thanks for the detailed response. If you want to subscribe, there's a free option... and 95% are in fact free subscribers.
My own reason for writing on this subject is that my father was Jewish, my mother Irish Catholic, but we were raised in my mother's religion because my eldest sister wsas born in 1942, and that year you could toss a coin on whether Hitler won or not. So my father buried his Jewish roots to protect his family. He also contributed greatly to the war effort, did all the main stats in the War Office for bombing raids over Germany.
Yet despite this great contribution, post-war he couldn't join a local golf or tennis club because he was Jewish... which situation lasted until the last 1960s. So when I see anti-Semitism rising again (now thinly disguised as anti-Zionism), I'm reminded of what my father went through and my hackles rise... and my fingers hit the keyboard!
It could not have been easy being the child of a mixed marriage at that time. I would love to hear more about this -- about your relations with your parents' families.
I miss the days in the 1970s when I used to like to watch ABC Evening News and it was hosted by Howard K. Smith and Frank Reynolds, who was later replaced by Harry Reasoner. You never knew what their politics were because they gave the news straight.
Sadly, one of our most positive traits (that we are a non-proselytizing people) is what leaves us vulnerable. We are busy surviving, serving, building, creating. We do not 'market our cause' or recruit followers.
When the “game” is demonstrably rigged, you have to change the rules. I’ll be very surprised if the current US administration does not significantly curtail its funding of the UN over the next few months. In addition, a whole bunch of NGOs are about to be “DOGE’D”.
Yeah, the NYT. For the record, I had been a Dem all my life, and subscribed after the 2016 election, but the anti-Jewish/anti-Israel bias was so egregious in the articles and especially in the comments, that I pulled the plug on my own recognizance--it had nothing to do with any other articles or media calling out the NYT, of which there were almost none at the time. So, there was no outside influence to cancel my long-running subscription, other that what appeared within the four corners of its pages. I also cancelled WaPo, Slate, Salon, Vox and my NPR sustaining membership, and any occasional donations to Wikipedia and the Guardian (yeah, really).
Hamasbara indeed. I don’t see the situation changing any time soon with, as you say, Muslims (and other antisemites) outnumbering Jews so enormously.
Just a factual point: even during the era of suicide bombings and the Second Intifada, a lot of the Western media was extremely anti-Israel. This was the era of the Mohammed al-Dura shooting, as you mentioned, the Jenin “massacre” (where Western journalists eagerly repeated Palestinian stories of massacres of civilians, mass graves and claimed to smell a stench of thousands dead. Actually, only about 75 people were killed in the operation, about a third of them Israeli soldiers and most of the rest being terrorists) and egregious reports (the BBC’s most notorious being one in the aftermath of a suicide bombing that interviewed the weeping family of the bomber, but no family members of the Israeli victims). See Richard Landes’ book "Can “The Whole World” Be Wrong?" for more.
I think the thing is that 1990s Palestinian support was still just a fringe, the BBC in their reporting even then didn't reflect the mainstream of British thought. I recall one Labour politician on Question Time then commenting on the subject of suicide bombers, 'I think we have to look more into why Palestinians have become so desparate that they'd kill themselves in such bombings'... which got many boos from the audience. The first signs that in fact parts of Labour were out of touch with the British public... which of course we saw come to fruition with Jeremy Corbyn's trouncing.
But go online at the time and he was reverred as a near saint and looked certain to get in. The Left and ant-Israel brigade are very strong online and very organized. The street marches in London are nearly all organized by Trade-Union linked organizations. Labour is still pretty much rotten to the core with anti-Israel feeling.
Great forensic analysis John 👍!
So David against Goliath 100:1 against in global numbers and yet the majority of the indoctrinated buy all the crap coming out of Aljazeera and virtually any MSM with maybe exception of GB News.
If I wasn't such a well brought up Catholic I'd probably say fuck 'em.
Stand for Israel 🇮🇱 !
John, this is my 2nd post to your article now that I’ve read it. As much as I acknowledged and love your headline I was anticipating you had drank the Palestinian kool-aid. I’m greatly relieved you haven’t. I’m a 76 year old Canadian and the Middle East has been a huge part of my life. I kept looking for the good parts but finally gave up in order to get my dignity and self respect back. It breaks my heart that I have a loving Egyptian family in Egypt , including the young generation, that hates Jews and Israel and blames the west for their problems. Your article is the first I’ve found that does such a thorough job of explaining how so much of the superficial thinking West has fallen for the smear campaign against Jews and Israel. When are we ever going to grow up? Jews have disproportionately contributed to the world throughout history. BTW, by fate in my 20’s I lived with a very successful Cdn atheist Jew, and in my 40’s married a very unsuccessful Moslem Egyptian who became more conservative. I’ve lived in Egypt including during the Arab Spring. My estimate is that 30% percent of Egyptians expect something for nothing which explains why they never get lift off. At the same time there are some excellent people in the Middle East and here in Canada. They somehow managed to leave the bad thinking behind them. Canada is richer for it. 🍁🇨🇦 I’ll see if my budget can support Subscribing to you. You’re an excellent journalist and writer.
Hi, Sandra, many thanks for the detailed response. If you want to subscribe, there's a free option... and 95% are in fact free subscribers.
My own reason for writing on this subject is that my father was Jewish, my mother Irish Catholic, but we were raised in my mother's religion because my eldest sister wsas born in 1942, and that year you could toss a coin on whether Hitler won or not. So my father buried his Jewish roots to protect his family. He also contributed greatly to the war effort, did all the main stats in the War Office for bombing raids over Germany.
Yet despite this great contribution, post-war he couldn't join a local golf or tennis club because he was Jewish... which situation lasted until the last 1960s. So when I see anti-Semitism rising again (now thinly disguised as anti-Zionism), I'm reminded of what my father went through and my hackles rise... and my fingers hit the keyboard!
It could not have been easy being the child of a mixed marriage at that time. I would love to hear more about this -- about your relations with your parents' families.
Follow the money behind the facade…Qatar
I miss the days in the 1970s when I used to like to watch ABC Evening News and it was hosted by Howard K. Smith and Frank Reynolds, who was later replaced by Harry Reasoner. You never knew what their politics were because they gave the news straight.
Ah. The good ol' days when news was news.
Sadly, one of our most positive traits (that we are a non-proselytizing people) is what leaves us vulnerable. We are busy surviving, serving, building, creating. We do not 'market our cause' or recruit followers.
Our enemies, if nothing else, are opportunistic.
This is an excellent summary of what happened over the years.
When the “game” is demonstrably rigged, you have to change the rules. I’ll be very surprised if the current US administration does not significantly curtail its funding of the UN over the next few months. In addition, a whole bunch of NGOs are about to be “DOGE’D”.
I can't believe I actually subscribed to that vile rag for seven years. Good riddance.
You mean The New York Times rather than me? I've only been on substack 5 weeks. :)
Yeah, the NYT. For the record, I had been a Dem all my life, and subscribed after the 2016 election, but the anti-Jewish/anti-Israel bias was so egregious in the articles and especially in the comments, that I pulled the plug on my own recognizance--it had nothing to do with any other articles or media calling out the NYT, of which there were almost none at the time. So, there was no outside influence to cancel my long-running subscription, other that what appeared within the four corners of its pages. I also cancelled WaPo, Slate, Salon, Vox and my NPR sustaining membership, and any occasional donations to Wikipedia and the Guardian (yeah, really).
I suppose that's where the jibe comes from 'All the News that's sh*t to print' :)