I know the headline says this is of A-Z guide to anti-Israel lies, slurs, smears and libels, and it  was certainly supposed to be an A-Z  guide. The problem is that there were so many lies, slurs, smears and libels that this blog was turning into a book (publishers please note).

It was only up to G (and I bet you can guess what ludicrous libel “G” stands for) and it was already up to 3,000-plus words, so I’m stopping half-way, at M (for “Media Bias” since you ask.) Part two, N-Z is coming soon. It will include the Naqba myth, Terrorism and Useful Idiots. Maybe not as comprehensive as planned, but I hope it’s helpful.

ANTISEMITISM/ANTIZIONISM

For those who think Antisemitism and Antizionism are different, the late, great British Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks pointed out in a widely quoted lecture in 2016 that antizionism was merely a mutation of the millennia-old virus of antisemitism  – AKA Jew-hate.

As I can’t hope to explain this phenomenon in a few dozen words (or at all), I will merely suggest reading one of the many excellent books by one of the many erudite authors who explain this ugly mutation in detail. They include Dave Rich (in “The Left’s Jewish Problem”); Denis MacShane ( in “Globalising Hatred: The New Antisemitism”); Shalom Lappin (in “The New Antisemitism: The Resurgence of An Ancient Hatred in the Modern World”) and Dara Horn’s “People Love Dead Jews”.

I will also say that, in my opinion, not all antizionism is an expression of Jew-hate  –or is not intended as an expression of Jew-hate.

There are deluded, indoctrinated people  – including very many deluded, “progressives” (including Progressive, u/c “P” Jews)  – who do not hate Jews. Indeed they all firmly believe they are “good people” for siding with the Israel-haters. They are not good people; they are merely gullible and indoctrinated people. Clearly many of  them think that when they post anti-Israel comments on social-media or join the pro-Palestine marches that they are expressing opposition to the actions of Israel or of its government, or are merely being compassionate to “poor Palestinians” who are the “victims” of Israel because that’s the narrative they have been fed. In reality, however, they are supporting a global extremist-Islamist movement  which seeks far different objectives and hides behind a fig-leaf of “compassion” while making Palestinians forever refugees in order to serve as political pawns, PR window-dressing and, of course to be radicalised  to be attack-dogs for terrorism in pursuit of one of those objectives – the total destruction of the world’s single Jewish state.

This  is frankly so self-evidently absurd that believing it is exactly like believing that the earth is flat. For the epically stupid who insist on believing it, this is the evidence: Israel has a total population of 9 million full citizens, of whom 4 million full citizens are Muslim of mainly Palestinian heritage. Full citizens work in every profession including arts, medicine, media, the judiciary, police entertainment and elite sports  – frequently at the highest level. Israel has over 400 Mosques which indicates religious freedom. Muslim citizens vote and are represented in parliament;  Muslim citizens may serve in the army but are not conscripted. There are no restrictions on where Muslim citizens may live, work, dine, watch a film or perform any activity.

So how, you may wonder, did the myth of apartheid take hold?

Well, if you are setting out to deceive, as the openly hostile Amnesty International was when it set out to “prove” that Israel was “an apartheid state”,  it’s easy.

You use obfuscation and simply ignore facts and complexities which would render your thesis as ludicrous. Such as ignoring the fact that the status of  Palestinian Arabs living in the West Bank and Gaza is necessarily different from that of Arabs who are fully integrated citizens of Israel, but are “citizens” of an entity that has been trying to destroy Israel for almost 80 years. But the openly hostile Amnesty International flagrantly ignored the legal complexities between Arab citizens of Israel and those governed by Israel’s sworn enemies et voila, the illusion of “apartheid” was created.

AGGRESSOR (cf “Coloniser”).

Israel’s ability to win wars and military campaigns, and strike back against terrorism has allowed its enemies to first create  – and then push and exploit– a perception of Israel as an “aggressor” and even a “coloniser” .

But if you were a nation roughly the size of New Jersey with a population of 9.5 million, squaring up to 19 mostly hostile neighbouring states (including Iran with a nuclear programme) in a land area of roughly  570 MILLION sq kms and a combined population of roughly 450 million. And  your enemies had been trying to “push you into the sea” for almost 80 years, you would need to be powerful and creative in defending yourself from total destruction

So, yes, Israel is undeniably a strong nation or it would have been crushed in the wars, campaigns of  attrition and terror attacks that have been launched against it since the moment of its birth in 1948.

In the mid-70s, Golda Meir addressed the issue of Israel’s alleged “aggression” and “war-mongering”, saying that “if the Arabs laid down their arms, there’d be no more war” and “if Israel laid down its arms, there’d be no more Israel.” That is as true today, except it would probably need to be amended to: “If Iran and its proxies laid down their arms, there’d be no more war” etc…

The origin of this vile blood-libel  – an accusation that’s been spat at Jews across the globe  – comes principally from headlines generated by a clumsily-worded United Nations report which gave  a projected estimate  (i.e a prediction) of a possibility that “up to” 14,100 children “could” suffer malnutrition “over a period of more than 18 months” due to the  overall situation in Gaza.

Major media outlets simply ran stories with headlines stating that 14,000 babies were “expected to die in 48 hours” which was categorically not true. By the time the UN admitted the “mistake” the harm had been done. This “conditional risk assessment” became a claim of the “imminent mass deaths of Gaza babies” and “proof” of Israeli “baby-killers”.

A few outlets amended their coverage or apologised  – though not the BBC. But all apologised so quietly and inconspicuously that no-one noticed. (cf  “Famine”) 

We have been seeing remorseless, undisguised, grievously biased coverage of Israel from the BBC for almost three decades.

but since Oct 7, its bias has been ratcheted  up even further with an anti-Israel spin placed on virtually every story from every reporter or correspondent.  We have also seen:

The reporting of unverified allegations, fake stories and fabrications (for further details, see “Media Bias”)

A shameful refusal to retract stories that turn out to be false, or if forced to offer a correction or apology doing it so inconspicuously that no-one notices

Failing to report the Government’s formal determination that Israel was not committing genocide in Gaza

A general refusal to report stories that might disrupt a narrative of Palestinians as “victims” of Israel such as, unbelievably, its failure to report the Bibas Family funeral on what was demonstrably a quiet news day.

Its incessant use of “trusted correspondents” who were clearly partisan and likely to be  Hamas operatives, Hamas fighters or to have at the very  least, Hamas associations  –  which has now been proven with the publication of obituaries by Hamas and other Islamic Jihadist terrorist organisations

Its collusion in keeping “Gaza” on the news agenda by turning any and every Hamas allegation into “news” while failing to report facts, such as rockets falling on Israel from Gaza at a time when Hamas was claiming it had no fuel and no power.

Its repeated, perfidious failure to contextualise stories

Its willingness to give extensive coverage to allegations or “findings” from NGOs or individuals with ties to Palestinians OR from agencies or individuals known to be hostile to Israel

Its repeated failure to explain that “sources” were not only not impartial or objective but were actively partisan on behalf of Palestinians, eg UNWRA, Doctors Without Borders.

Its willingness to repeatedly amplify and embellish libels such as “mass starvation”, with “findings” or “reports” from organisations or individuals that were known to be hostile, but which it portrayed as “humanitarian” and “impartial”.

The failure to instantly cut the feed from Glastonbury when a previously unheard-of band........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)