WhatsappNearly every major American news outlet looks unfavorably on everything Israel does. Their is a major difference betwen legitimate tough questions and questions that are littered with half-truths, wrong accusations and outright lies. CNN used to be the only major cable news outlet that was downright hostile to Israel. Today, it is in style at MSNBC, Washington Post, and the New York Times. CNN did not create the wheel. ABC, CBS, and NBC all had lead anchors who broadcast anti-Israel reporting for decades. But nearly every CNN anchor, except for Jake Tapper, has ratcheted up the knee-jerk anti-Israel rhetoric a few notches. How did this happen? Has it always been the case?
Until Israel’s 1st War in Lebanon in 1982, Israel was usually not portrayed as the aggressor. Israel indeed received much positive coverage, or at least fair coverage, from major news outlets. However, Peter Jennings at ABC, Tom Brokaw at NBC and others were the key world news reporter who shifted the norms. Although various theories exist as to why, what is clear is that Israel began to be portrayed as the Goliath while Arabs became portrayed as the little David fighting against the mighty enemy, the Israel Defense Forces of the so-called “occupying” State of Israel.
The entire concept of a unique Arab entity called the “Palestinian people” was adopted in earnest during the late 70’s and throughout the 80’s. Beforehand, the issue was simply not a major part of what was discussed in reference to Israel. The issues were Israel and Egypt, Israel and Jordan, Israel and Syria. None of the major shift could have take root had it not been for the amplification of these ideas by the American Press. Some give Jimmy Carter much of the credit for turning the narrative into an anti-Israel narrative focused on human rights. Some claim it was the ascension of Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin in 1977 and the fears of a swing to the right. Perhaps these were factors. But the main point is that the American Press begun to take a decidedly large leap into the land of lies in order to bash Israel.
Here are the facts. The so-called “Palestinians” have never existed as a distinct people until very recently, and there has never been a geographical area that Arabs have been nationally connected to that is called “Palestine.” Yes, tens of thousands of Jews and Arabs lived under the Ottoman Empire for hundreds of years and under the British Mandate for 30 years in an area that Jews and Arabs would often call Palestine. But the name Palestine had NOTHING to do with an Arab national entity or with an Arab nation called “Palestinians.” The Palestine Post was the Jewish newpaper which became the Jerusalem Post. The Palestine theatre was a Jewish theatre. The Palestine Olympic tam had Jews on it. But the claim that Arabs had a national connection to the area under the Ottoman Empire is at most 1% true and 99% exaggeration.
During the British Mandate, Arabs did indeed begin to claim that the Land was theirs and they were largely opposed to Jews returning to the Land. But there was no use of a term called “Palestinians” in reference to Arabs. The term “Palestine” was just as Jewish as it was Arab. But nobody referred to Arabs in the Land of Israel as a distinct national entity called Palestinians. The fuzzy historical connection of Arabs to the Land of Israel though was enough to create a new narrative.
The whole narrative was created in the late 60’s and 70’s as a brilliant marketing campaign to claim that Israel has usurped the “legitimate” human rights of the poor “Palestinian people” by colonializing “Palestinian land.” This is how Israel can then be falsely portrayed as a serial abuser of human rights of it’s minority population of Arabs. Then Israel can be accused of instituting apartheid policies against it’s Arab minority. When the Arabs rise up and attack Israel with slingshots, stones, and Molotov cocktails in what is coined a “legitimate” rebellion, and Israel hits back and kills the Arab attackers, Israel can then be accused of committing genocide.
For an anti-Israel or anti-Jewish hater, who often are one and the same, the “Israel is the serial human rights abuser” narrative fits in very well with their progressive world view. However, today, we live in a day and age when the masks are being ripped off all of those who are terrorists, terrorists with ties, or those who support terrorists. They exist in the hundreds of thousands in North America. Yasser Arafat, the dominant anti-Israel Arab terrorist leader in the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s wore his kaffiyeh with pride and learned to perfect the art of smiling to the press and speaking softly in English and in terrorist speak in Arabic. That was sufficient to receive positive press from NBC, ABC, and CBS.
Today, some people are waking up and realizing that the same terrorists in Israel who behead Israeli babies, kidnap Jewish grandmas, and rape Israeli women are the same people who did 9/11. It’s the same ideology. Call it Islamophobia or whatever you want to call it. It’s the same ideology. It’s the difficult to swallow truth.
More importantly, the radical Arabs strive to repeat 9/11, but on a greater scale in the future. The leaders that understand this should be supported. Israeli leaders across the spectrum understand this. But in America, many are still asleep. American leaders must wake up soon. Otherwise, the CNN and mass media-led narrative will lead to the eventual rude awakening on American soil of a massive movement to destroy America from within like Israel faces every day of it’s existence.
