WhatsappMass media was not always against Israel the way it is today. As a matter of fact, Israel was looked upon favorably by many major news outlets through the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s. But something major changed in the early 1980’s. Israel went from being a weak country that was struggling to survive to a major power in the Middle East. This did not only happen during the Six Day War in 1967, nor in the amazing comeback victory of Israel in 1973. It happened gradually over a few decades.
But in the early 1980’s, Israel was led by Menachem Begin, a right-wing ideologue who was different than all of his predecessors. Begin ordered the historic strike on the Iraqi nuclear reactor. That move probably saved hundreds of thousands of lives. A year or so later, Begin responded to incessant shelling of Israel’s north with an invasion into Lebanon.
Seemingly overnight, the major news networks turned on Israel as an aggressor. NBC, CBS, and ABC all had news anchors that were hostile to Israel. Peter Jennings was the worst of all. It became stylish to attack Israel for being belligerent and disproportional in it’s attacks on civilian areas.
These were all lies that covered up for the facts that Israel was fighting an implacable foe in the PLO. Yasser Arafat, the PLO leader, had more blood on his hands than nearly any other terrorist in the world. But Israel was still blamed for their efforts to knock him out. It is now nearly 40 years since that sea change occurred, and day after day, Israel is portrayed as the aggressor despite the simple fact that Israel is never the aggressor.
The lies never stop. The truth must be said – again and again.
