Language in the War on Gaza | Israel resorts to outright lies and dangerous deceptions.
- Thread starter oil&gas
- Start date
Last edited:
The truth is often the first casualty in war. Consider, for instance the Gulf War, where claims of Saddam killing babies in incubators and the heroic rescue of a female US soldier were later revealed to be false. Today, Israel is facing unprecedented scrutiny, largely due to the influence of social media.Dubravka Žarkov
April 01, 2024
Israel’s political and military leaders have produced so many outright lies regarding Gaza and Hamas that it might seem there is no point in wasting one’s breath on them. Consider the following statements and the contrary evidence for those not yet convinced:
The IDF does not deliberately target civilians, journalists, medical facilities and staff, or restricts aid. In fact, the IDF has deliberately targeted civilians (as widely reported), journalists (as Human Rights Watch has detailed), and medical personnel (according to Amnesty International). It has also put various restrictions on aid.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is harboring among its employees Hamas militants who took part in the October 7 massacres. Yet, Israel has not shared any information or evidence to back up its assertions while UNRWA has screened its 13,000 staff in Gaza on a biannual basis.
Israel’s declared war on Gaza and the ongoing, undeclared war against Palestinians in the West Bank are “against Hamas” and “terrorists.” In fact, multiple Israeli governments, including the current one, have committed to appropriating all Palestinian territory and committing genocide against the Palestinians currently living there.
Iran is the main financier and supporter of Hamas. In fact, other entities like Qatar have been the main supporters of Hamas, and Israel too was instrumental in creating Hamas to divide Palestinian sympathies.
Other statements, however, made by Israeli and other world leaders, that may appear to be true, and that continue to be taken at face value, are in reality dangerously deceptive. Their aim is to justify Israeli politics regarding violence towards Palestinians, actions in support of the current war, or inaction in stopping it. Careful examination of a few of these will expose the ways in which such statements operate.
Dictionary of Deception
Probably the most repeated statement proffered by Israeli politicians and their supporters is that Hamas and Palestinians in general deny the Israeli state’s “right to exist.” This statement entirely ignores—and diverts attention away from—the unquestionable reality that Israel has existed as a state since 1948 and continues to exist, whether or not Hamas or anyone else objects to it.
At the same time, the Israeli complaint occludes the reality that it is Palestine whose right to exist as a state has long been denied. Although the majority of world governments have recognized Palestinian statehood, the State of Palestine has only an observer status in the UN. This is so because Israel and the United States, Canada, Australia, and an absolute majority of European states have refused to recognize Palestinian statehood (though this might change in future). Israel’s current government has explicitly and loudly proclaimed that it has no plan to recognize a Palestinian state. It is, thus, Israel that denies any Palestinian state’s right to exist.
Instead, Israel is expanding the occupation of Palestinian territory, and when faced with resistance, it asserts its own “right to self-defense.” However, in 1983, the UN General Assembly explicitly affirmed Palestinians’ right to self-defense “by all available means, including armed struggle,” a right they share with all nations under “colonial domination, apartheid and foreign occupation,” as asserted in the Geneva Conventions. This right does not include violence against Israeli civilians, which Hamas militants have perpetrated. Such violence may qualify as war crimes. Nevertheless, the Geneva Conventions make clear that the “right to self-defense” belongs to the occupied, not the occupier. Any military or police action taken by an occupier against the occupied—even when the occupied uses violence against occupation—is violence, not self-defense.
Another instance of Israeli deception can be seen in Israeli politicians’ regular insistence that Palestinian schools teach their children to hate Jews. UNRWA—the main sponsor of education in the West Bank and Gaza—was accused of spreading incitement of violence and hatred of Jews in their textbooks. However, the European Union review of Palestinian schoolbooks has concluded that they include “a strong focus on human rights…express a narrative of resistance within the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and…display an antagonism towards Israel.” None of this equates to hatred of Jews. The accusation of Palestinian schoolbooks spreading hatred is also debunked by The European Middle East Project.
The EU report further notes that textbooks produced by Israeli authorities removed “entire chapters on regional and Palestinian history”, which “fundamentally changes the [Palestinian] national narrative.” Israeli state school books often simply ignore the Palestinian presence, and perpetually depict Israel and Jews as victims of Palestinian and Arab enemy.
No wonder, then, that Israeli girls sing about the annihilation of Gaza on an online Israeli TV program, and Israeli soldiers in Gaza make videos broadcasting their mocking, humiliation, and killing of Palestinian civilians as well as their destruction or looting of Palestinian property. These soldiers are not necessarily right-wing Zionists like some of the Jewish citizens blocking aid to Gaza or trying to build houses within Gaza’s borders. Nor are they necessarily the Jewish settlers from the West Bank. Many of them are just ordinary citizens. But in their ordinariness, they provide a frightening and accurate picture of Israeli society’s general views of Palestinians. This is why a majority of Israeli citizens support the genocide in Gaza even if they do not support Israel’s prime minister and his government.
Finally, contrary to their lament of “grave concern” for “suffering in Gaza,” and their often self-serving statements, politicians outside Israel are far from powerless to stop the bloodshed in Gaza. Even within the classical diplomatic arsenal, individual states can expel Israel’s ambassadors and recall their own. They can impose sanctions or boycott Israeli businesses, politicians, cultural and sports representatives (as they have done, with vigor, with regard to Russia and Russians). They can stop their arms exports to Israel, sever economic relations, and multiply their financial support for humanitarian organizations operating in Gaza (rather than cutting that support). Only a handful of states have actually recalled their ambassadors from Israel. No Western state is among them, and except Bahrain, no other rich Arab state.
How can it be that the people who have demonstrated endlessly in support of Palestinians—and have identified and urged many of these measures—know more than powerful heads of state about strategies to stop the genocide?
The answer, of course, is that governments do know. And that reality brings us to some hard truths.
Hard Truths
Palestinians have no friends among Western governments. They have known this hard truth for a long time, and their knowledge has been confirmed in a most dreadful way. Even though a few European countries (like Spain and Ireland) have used very sharp language against Israel, they have taken no steps that would protect the lives of Palestinians in Gaza and in the West Bank. The United States and a few Western governments have bragged that they have imposed (travel and banking) sanctions on a few Jewish settlers and settlements. But this is a ludicrous substitute for effective action. Some Western leaders and governments now face court cases, brought by pro-Palestinian human rights organizations and lawyers, charging that they have violated both domestic and international laws by supporting Israel’s genocide in Gaza (by supplying of ammunition to Israel), or by their failures to stop it. But, thus far, judicial interventions have not brought effective protections to the victims of genocide.
Palestinians also do not have friends among Arab governments, nor should they expect any. Their “Arab brothers” have expressed “deep concerns” about the Palestinian plight, but they have other, more important concerns, such as importing Israeli surveillance technology to keep checks on political opponents. Saudi Arabia, who long held to a policy of linking normalization with Israel to Israel’s recognition of the Palestinian state, now speaks only about a “path to Palestinian statehood.”
This means that Palestinians need their own new political force to achieve both formal recognition of statehood and peace with Israel. Are either of these two goals feasible? For now, there is no sign that various Palestinian factions will achieve unity, which is an absolutely necessary precondition to any long-term, sustainable Palestinian state. Hamas and Fatah have held numerous talks to no avail. Clearly, it is not easy to reconcile secular and Islamist worldviews, ideas of governance and ideals of societal relations. Even various Islamist factions do not see eye to eye. But without such unity, prior to the end of genocide and occupation, post-genocide and post-occupation Palestine will descend into internal violence and struggle for power. As for peace with Israel, the state of affairs in twentieth-century post-genocide societies does not offer grounds for much optimism. Genocides do not destroy only people, their cultures, and their histories. They destroy hope and imagination, too, which are necessities for building peace.
Israel, too, needs a new political force to build a totally new national narrative based on language from a dictionary very different from the dictionary of deception. The Israeli public’s overwhelming support of the destruction of Gaza, occupation of the West Bank, and expansion of settlements means that creating such a new political force and language could take generations, if ever. Still, it is possible to imagine that one day an Israeli public that is currently supporting the annihilation of Gaza may begin asking itself: “How has a state created to give hope to survivors of genocide turned into a perpetrator of genocide? What have I given my voice to and what have I been silent about?”
Unless and until this happens, there is no hope for either Israel or Palestine. Nor for the world within which all of us exist.
Language in the War on Gaza - FPIF
Israel resorts to outright lies and dangerous deceptions.fpif.org
Over the years, the USA and its Western allies have seen a gradual erosion of their moral high ground that is culminating in a slow but sure fall from grace. Take, for instance, the indifference of many in the "southern" world towards the conflict in Ukraine, a direct result of perceived Western double standards. Do I need to mention of the Israeli attack on the Iranian embassy in Damascus with the latter threatening revenge...now who is considered the pariah?
Another illustrative example is the International Criminal Court (ICC), which nations voluntarily join. The ICC was created to hold leaders accountable for human rights violations and abuse of power. Yet, it's often African leaders who find themselves the most prosecuted under its jurisdiction. The Africa countries at one point threatened to withdraw enmasse. Leaders like Putin rightly face scrutiny, but what about George W. Bush and Tony Blair, who remain free to travel the world? The spotlight will soon turn to leaders like Netanyahu.
A shift in the world order towards the East is becoming increasingly apparent, challenging Western values on a regular basis
Last edited:
C'mon, smack, we know you think all Palestinians are terrorists so cheer when they kill the kids too.
C'mon, smack.
This is reality.
Gaza is destroyed, you've supported killing 40,000 people and the US thinks Israel is genocidal.
You can't hide your head in the sand forever.
The US had been doing fairly well in rescuing their global reputation but its been destroyed this year by Biden.
It'll take decades now to recover.
Jewish faculty reject the weaponization of antisemitism
Dear President Shafik,
www.columbiaspectator.com
Prove it, Geno.
I have never said anything remotely close to either of those claims.
You, on the other hand, despite your claims, are afraid to even offer a guess as to how many Israeli Jews you think are Zionists, because you are afraid to admit that you hate all Jews and want them all gone.
Are you finally agreeing that Oct.7 was one of the stupidest war crimes/terrorist attacks in history. You support the attack but complain about the outcome. Own it.
Total fabrication, Geno. I support eradicating the Hamas vermin.
You are the one that wants the war to continue since you support Hamas not agreeing to the Israeli ceasefire proposal that's been on the table for weeks. You don't like the idea that Hamas must return all the hostages.
Sure you have, smack.
15,000 children killed by Israel that you continue to defend here by blaming Hamas, in your constant wife beater's defence.
Are you finally admitting that Israel refusing to end the occupation and to continue to try to steal Palestinian land for 75 years was the stupidest colonial plan ever? Are you admitting that genocide will end zionism and you will forever be as loved as nazis?
Bullshit, smack.
You're here defending the Israeli caused famine in Gaza, which threatens to kill 1.1 million children. That's targeting everyone in Gaza, not Hamas.
Same with using 2000 lb bombs on Gaza, those kill everyone.
Last edited:
Historically Ignorant Israelis Are Easy Prey for Propagandists
B. Michael
Wars, by their very nature, are spaces where passions are released. It’s permissible to do everything that is impermissible in times of peace: kill, destroy, rob, loot, abuse, humiliate, become brutal and go wild. Therefore, to purify military actions, the combating parties apply propaganda, the purpose of which is to justify, conceal, and excuse all unnecessary destruction, wanton killing or harsh repression. The same is true in the Gaza war. Here too, Israeli propaganda is busy inventing justifications and excuses for all the acts committed. The global success is quite limited. People aren’t buying it and no wonder. However, the Israeli audience is endowed with two qualities greatly assisting the propagandist: a total lack of self-awareness and the absence of even an iota of historical memory.
An example: IDF public relations is always happy to announce an “arms cache” has been found in a school, hospital, mosque, residential neighborhood… Conclusive proof of the monstrosity of the Hamas enemy desecrating the sacred, exploiting hospitals, and concealing weapon of mass destruction in peoples’ homes. Ugh! They should be ashamed! We never do that. It is therefore good and righteous that we’ve bombed their schools, hospitals, mosques and residential neighborhoods. Indeed, we never did such a thing.
We only had secret arms caches during the Yishuv, which of course is not a despicable arsenal. The Yishuv era caches are part of the heritage of our heroic underground. The arms we concealed there were pure, meant to fight the foreign occupier and those who hate us. There were about 1,500 Jewish arms caches in the Yishuv. They were concealed in schools, synagogues, hospitals (including Hadassah), beneath the Torah Ark in an orphanage, in hundreds of people’s homes, and dozens of public facilities. But how is this comparable? It’s their impure “weapons arsenals,” it’s our clean and pure arms caches. Shame. Shame.
Another example: One of Israeli propaganda’s most successful bluffs excuses the army’s brutality arguing Hamas “hides behind the civilian population.” Truly terrible. Only they could do such a despicable thing. Again, historical ignorance helps market this hypocrisy. Israel, even now, is close to being a world champion in hiding behind civilians sent to the front. Every myth of “settlement” is built on that. The sanctification of “the plow and the goat” as setting borders is based on hiding behind civilians. They are sent with their wives and children to commit the mission of conquest and expulsion. When, Heaven forbid, they are injured, a marvelous excuse is created to send a conquering army to push back the border and expand the kingdom.
It’s hard to find one colonialist who has not used this contemptuous trick. Europeans in North and South America, the English in Australia, the Dutch and French in Africa… always the same way: fast conquest, bring in the conqueror’s people, and destroy, deport or enslave the native population. The malignant “settlement enterprise” explicitly declares this is its reason for existing. I fear that Israel is quite wrong to accuse others of hiding behind civilians. To again get permission to apply this argument, you should first clear all the settlements behind whose inhabitants are used to hide behind and conceal its intentions.
We haven’t yet talked about the lie of “the number of terrorists killed,” or “we didn’t mean to harm,” or “we warned them to move” before bombing the hell out of them. Maybe in the next chapter.
informationclearinghouse.blog
B. Michael
Wars, by their very nature, are spaces where passions are released. It’s permissible to do everything that is impermissible in times of peace: kill, destroy, rob, loot, abuse, humiliate, become brutal and go wild. Therefore, to purify military actions, the combating parties apply propaganda, the purpose of which is to justify, conceal, and excuse all unnecessary destruction, wanton killing or harsh repression. The same is true in the Gaza war. Here too, Israeli propaganda is busy inventing justifications and excuses for all the acts committed. The global success is quite limited. People aren’t buying it and no wonder. However, the Israeli audience is endowed with two qualities greatly assisting the propagandist: a total lack of self-awareness and the absence of even an iota of historical memory.
An example: IDF public relations is always happy to announce an “arms cache” has been found in a school, hospital, mosque, residential neighborhood… Conclusive proof of the monstrosity of the Hamas enemy desecrating the sacred, exploiting hospitals, and concealing weapon of mass destruction in peoples’ homes. Ugh! They should be ashamed! We never do that. It is therefore good and righteous that we’ve bombed their schools, hospitals, mosques and residential neighborhoods. Indeed, we never did such a thing.
We only had secret arms caches during the Yishuv, which of course is not a despicable arsenal. The Yishuv era caches are part of the heritage of our heroic underground. The arms we concealed there were pure, meant to fight the foreign occupier and those who hate us. There were about 1,500 Jewish arms caches in the Yishuv. They were concealed in schools, synagogues, hospitals (including Hadassah), beneath the Torah Ark in an orphanage, in hundreds of people’s homes, and dozens of public facilities. But how is this comparable? It’s their impure “weapons arsenals,” it’s our clean and pure arms caches. Shame. Shame.
Another example: One of Israeli propaganda’s most successful bluffs excuses the army’s brutality arguing Hamas “hides behind the civilian population.” Truly terrible. Only they could do such a despicable thing. Again, historical ignorance helps market this hypocrisy. Israel, even now, is close to being a world champion in hiding behind civilians sent to the front. Every myth of “settlement” is built on that. The sanctification of “the plow and the goat” as setting borders is based on hiding behind civilians. They are sent with their wives and children to commit the mission of conquest and expulsion. When, Heaven forbid, they are injured, a marvelous excuse is created to send a conquering army to push back the border and expand the kingdom.
It’s hard to find one colonialist who has not used this contemptuous trick. Europeans in North and South America, the English in Australia, the Dutch and French in Africa… always the same way: fast conquest, bring in the conqueror’s people, and destroy, deport or enslave the native population. The malignant “settlement enterprise” explicitly declares this is its reason for existing. I fear that Israel is quite wrong to accuse others of hiding behind civilians. To again get permission to apply this argument, you should first clear all the settlements behind whose inhabitants are used to hide behind and conceal its intentions.
We haven’t yet talked about the lie of “the number of terrorists killed,” or “we didn’t mean to harm,” or “we warned them to move” before bombing the hell out of them. Maybe in the next chapter.
Historically Ignorant Israelis Are Easy Prey for Propagandists
By B. Michael Wars, by their very nature, are spaces where passions are released. It’s permissible to do everything that is impermissible in times of peace: kill, destroy, rob, loot, abuse, h…
informationclearinghouse.blog
Geno, Hamas are terrorists, hiding behind their human shields They created the situation. They are beating their wife.
Hamas is deserving of every iota of blame and I am not defending them. Hamas and Gazans are intimately connected.
Google. You are going to have a lot to answer for
Smack, Israelis are terrorists, using settlers to commit way more terrorist attacks than Hamas has ever done, ruling through apartheid and committing genocide by bombing women and children and starving 2 million people to death.
Nothing Hamas has done is anywhere near as evil as Israel.
Yes, smack, every time you relate your personal experiences to the subject with the use of the wife beater's defence you are just justifying the support of killing 15,000 children and starving 1 million more.
This is why my nickname for you is so much better. It captures the essence of every one of your posts on top of the fact that Geno is a real name.
Congrats to you for finding a word that rhymes with shack. How long did it take you?
