The ramped-up Pallywood game
The MSM falls for Pallywood deception – or knowingly cooperates with it and promotes it. I think at this point it would have to be the latter, because if the press is ignorant at this point, it’s willful. Richard Landes – who coined the phrase “Pallywood” – exposed this twenty years ago with the al Durah hoax (extensively covered on this blog), and already the French media knew about the hoax aspect and thought it was okay because of A Higher Truth about suffering Palestinians.
The mendacious press coverage falsely accusing Israel is destructive and vicious. Here’s a recent article describing some of it:
A recent investigation by Germany’s Süddeutsche Zeitung casts serious doubt on a number of highly circulated Gaza images, suggesting that several were either selectively staged or carefully framed to serve a broader propaganda agenda — one that plays directly into Hamas’s media strategy. …
As foreign journalists have virtually no access to Gaza, most war photography is conducted by Palestinian freelancers — some with open or suspected ties to Hamas. According to historian and photography expert Gerhard Paul, Hamas exercises “100% control over image production” in southern Gaza. Every frame is curated. Every shot is a message.
The goal? Elicit sympathy from Western viewers. Stoke anger against Israel. Blur the moral lines between terrorist and victim.
Here’s a link to the German article; you can use a translation program to translate it.
And here’s Legal Insurrection on the same subject:
The problem is not limited to a few rogue Hamas-linked journalists. Palestinians have an entire industry dedicated to fabricating and disseminating fake statistics, imagery, and news. These Pallywood lies travel halfway around the world before the truth even has a chance to put on its proverbial shoes.
We’ve known that for literally decades. Images are merely one aspect of it – although an important and highly emotional one.
TabletMag, “Feeding the Enemy”: https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/israel-middle-east/articles/feeding-enemy-hamas-gaza
What would they do if Israel actually was genocidal.
Via powerline this morning https://evebarlow.substack.com/p/hooray-for-pallywood. She includes this nugget, horrible if true (and completely believable to me): “…another Spanish airline is continuing the tradition of terrorizing and intimidating Jews. It was Vueling last month, and now it’s Iberia, whose staff have been writing the words Free Palestine on pre-ordered Kosher meals, and then delivering them to passengers.”
@Mrs X: writing the words Free Palestine on pre-ordered Kosher meals, and then delivering them to passengers.
Rude certainly, but it doesn’t rise to the level of “terrorizing and intimidating Jews” or “dehumanization”. I think it’s better not to trivialize those words–that’s the Leftist tactic “your speech is violence”.
Look at what she compares it to: “Imagine doing this to a vegetarian or vegan meal, and drawing a cartoon pig on the packaging?” Well, vegans are pretty fragile and they would bitch about it, but I doubt they’d be “terrorized” or “intimidated” and if they were foolish enough to say they were, people would point and laugh, not be horrified.
The rest of the article is otherwise pretty good.
Related:
“The secret system Hamas uses to pay government salaries”—
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1kz42j92jmo
H/T Blazingcatfur blog.
Okay, under the category of “It’s the Jews, dummy!”
What is it about the Palestinian Arabs that’s even likeable? Seriously. They lie daily, and the press knows it. They stage “atrocities” badly, and still the press hangs on their every word. One can sort of excuse college students because they are susceptible to bullshit.
I’m so old it was considered generally admirable for college Jews to spend a semester or two on a kibbutz.
Well peter jennings among others seem to have a certain fixation
What does free palestine mean in context juden frei Btw why is it written in arabic or some cognate of same falastin
@miguel cervantes:What does free palestine mean in context
The Jewish and Jewish-led groups that use “Free Palestine” are probably not trying to terrorize themselves. Different people mean it different ways. The ADL has this to say:
“Free Palestine” is not synonymous with “kill all Jews” or even “from the River to the Sea”, which the ADL DOES describe as antisemitic. Depends on who wrote it what they intended. Could very well have been a Leftist Jew who wrote it.
The ADL doesn’t speak for everyone, of course, but I think they’re usually a reliable guide to respectable discourse.
Not Jewish, but if I were and received a meal with “Free Palestine” written on it I would assume it was adulterated. Of course it’s an attempt to “terrorize or intimidate”.
@Dwaz: I would assume it was adulterated. Of course it’s an attempt to “terrorize or intimidate”.
If someone may have spit or whatever in your food, indignation or anger is certainly appropriate. Terror and being intimidated are overreactions. (People adulterate cops’ food all the time, somehow they handle it without PTSD.)
Let’s use Eve Barlow’s analogy of the a pig drawn on a lunch box, let’s say it’s a halal meal. A Muslim might claim it was Islamophobic, and we’d roll our eyes. If that Muslim claimed to be intimidated and terrified, what would our reaction be? (Muslims do order kosher meals sometimes.)
Or suppose “picnic” was scrawled on a lunch box served to an African American and they claimed to be intimidated and terrified, because “everyone knows” that “picnic” is a sekrit white code word for lynching.
If “Kill all Jews” was written on that meal it would be different, of course. Lots of white people don’t know how some black people react to the word “picnic”, and lots of people who use “Free Palestine” don’t know that some people might mean by it the elimination of all Israel–including quite a few Jews who don’t agree with what is going on in Gaza right now and themselves use the phrase “Free Palestine”.
Bear in mind too that much, much worse has been done to “terrorize and intimidate” Jews and those things are trivialized when cases like this are lumped in with them.
Had there been 1200 picnics before hand i would agree with you, but lets not be obtuse about it
Lots of white people don’t know how some black people react to the word “picnic”, and lots of people who use “Free Palestine” don’t know that some people might mean by it the elimination of all Israel–including quite a few Jews who don’t agree with what is going on in Gaza right now and themselves use the phrase “Free Palestine”.
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This is a silly remark.
Niketas:
I agree that “terrorize” is way overboard in this situation. And although “intimidate” is a less extreme word, it also probably doesn’t quite fit. I think “harass” is more appropriate. The intent is to harass, annoy, and disturb.
This is not a person coming across a random slogan. This is a targeted message directed at a religiously observant Jewish person (eating kosher on an airplane is certainly a strong indication of observant Judaism) that contains support for a group that wants to kill Israelis and Jews. In addition, it’s written on the meals that are served by airline service personnel, not some random passerby. These service people are supposed to be pleasant and accommodating, not hostile. This is a hostile act.
And if some server drew a pig on a Muslim meal, I would not roll my eyes if the Muslim claimed the act was Islamophobic. It would definitely be a hostile act, meant to disturb and harass the person.
@miguel cervantes:lets not be obtuse
Let’s not be absurd, and let’s not embrace the “speech is violence” and the victimhood principles of the Left.
And maybe at some point recognize that even Jews don’t all agree about these things. Even in Israel where Jews live with it every day, there are still lots of Jews who would disagree with you and me about Gaza and the West Bank and might use the phrase “Free Palestine” (some have). We should not have the arrogance to dismiss them all as dupes of antisemites, or even worse as antisemites themselves, or people who don’t know what’s going on when all WE do is read about it.
@neo:I think “harass” is more appropriate. The intent is to harass, annoy, and disturb.
Definitely, and not too different from what I said myself: I used the words “rude”, and “anger” and “indignation”.
eating kosher on an airplane is certainly a strong indication of observant Judaism
Or a Muslim who doesn’t have a halal option available, but sure probably most of the time it would be a Jew. Occasionally my wife or I will order it because we like it better than what else they have, despite not being observant Jews. Pro tip: they don’t usually run out of them, or the halal option if they have one, so sometimes you’re more likely to get what you ask for.
In addition, it’s written on the meals that are served by airline service personnel, not some random passerby.
Exactly. I don’t have the stats with me but flight attendants rarely harm Jews while the plane is in the air; some of them potentially may do so in their off time, I can’t rule that out. They are sometimes rude to passengers and it is appropriate to be annoyed or angered by that, but the cases of flight attendants actually harming passengers are exceedingly rare.
This is a hostile act.
Agreed. It is not a threatening act. It is not an act that should intimidate or terrify a person. It is the act of a self-important asshole and it should be the topic of a complaint to the airline’s customer service department.
And if some server drew a pig on a Muslim meal, I would not roll my eyes if the Muslim claimed the act was Islamophobic.
Then I would roll mine twice, once for myself, and once on your behalf. Definitely I would also for the “picnic” case, but I’d have to be careful I did that at work because I’d probably lose my job. Some cows are too sacred.
“Cabinet approves Gaza Strip occupation after over 10-hour debate”
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/412941
New game. Hamas dies.
sdferr…I came to post that very thing.
Leftist news calling it “major escalation.”
Sounds like there’s also an endpoint and an exit strategy.
We’ll see.
“Foreign Affairs” comes through with its Big Think rationalization against Israel’s current policies and for a two-state solution brokered by “Foreign Affairs” style diplomacy. Here’s the conclusion of the article.
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In a 1997 interview, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, Hamas’s founder, made a chilling prediction, envisioning that by 2027, a unified Islamic state would rise between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean, governed by sharia law. When asked what could prevent that, he replied: “The only thing I fear is a reality in which Palestinians believe the Jews will allow a Palestinian state to exist alongside Israel.”
This admission revealed a core truth: Hamas’s power depends on hopelessness. It thrives on the absence of alternatives. But if a credible, internationally backed pathway to Palestinian statehood were offered, Hamas’s appeal would collapse.
Israel’s military deterrence has been restored. It has shown the capacity to defend itself and to deter its enemies. But force alone cannot dismantle Iran’s proxy network and deliver Israel lasting peace and security for its future generations. Only a regional agreement with strong international backing that ultimately yields a viable two-state solution can preserve Israel’s security and Jewish-democratic identity, end the cycle of violence, and transform the Middle East from a battlefield into a zone of cooperation. This is not utopian idealism. It is in the interest of regional and international actors. And for Israel, it has become a strategic necessity.
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/israel/israel-fighting-war-it-cannot-win
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I don’t recommend this article’s reasoning, but it’s good one-stop shopping for what passes for reasoning among FA types.
Funny how the only solutions diplomats can find is more diplomacy, even if diplomacy keeps failing.
Two State solution:
Israel takes all of Yesha (Judea, Samaria and Gaza.) The US recognizes that.
The Leftist and/or Muslim worlds absorbs a few million extra Muslims. Macron wants them all. France is perfect for them.