ISRAEL IN HISTORY: How do you vet the sources you rely on?
Case 1. News Media? NYT, CNN or WAPO Mainstream news media makes mistakes — consistently.
If you value the news coverage of the NYT, CNN or WAPO you may want to check before believing or repeating “the news”.
New York Times Corrects Widely Mocked Headline That Exaggerated Gaza Death Toll JANUARY 11, 2024 The New York Times has corrected a print headline that erroneously claimed more people had died in the current war in Gaza than in any Arab conflict…More
CNN Producers Covering Israel-Hamas War Spread Blood Libels; Denounce ‘Zionist Entity’ in Vile Social Media Posts Two journalists working for CNN and covering the current Israel-Hamas war posted a string of disturbing antisemitic and anti-Israel comments on their social media accounts. HonestReporting can reveal.
Richard Harlow, a British cameraman who is based in Beirut, has posted to his social media accounts several vile pieces of content relating to the current conflict, including one that falsely accuses the Jewish state of murdering Palestinians and stealing their organs in what has been described as a modern-day blood libel.
Washington Post Reprints Depraved Claim that Israel Steals Palestinian Organs JANUARY 10, 2024 The Washington Post prides itself on “courageous journalism” and speaking “truth to power,” but a recent report promoted an age-old antisemitic canard. The Dec. 26, 2023, dispatch, “The World Wants a Respite for Gaza. Israel Vows to Keep on Fighting,” regurgitated the claim that Jews steal organs of non-Jews.
Case 2. The Human Rights Groups or NGO’s?
https://www.ngo-monitor.org/reports/doctors-without-borders-systematically-ignoring-israeli-victims-and-hamas-terror/ Blatant hypocrisy …MSF (Doctors Without Borders) readily provided materials to a Hamas-run entity after it had perpetrated the incomprehensibly brutal mass slaughter of October 7 and while it was engaged in a violent confrontation with Israel. In the best case, this reflects an irresponsible naïveté on the part of MSF and a willful disregard for counter-terrorism. Read more at link above. So, too have Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International become apologists for terror and ‘near sighted’ about Israel. https://www.algemeiner.com/2024/01/15/this-canadian-jewish-activist-wants-to-boycott-israel-heres-what-she-gets-wrong/
Case 3. The UN Track Record?
The UN has taken on the job of continuing centuries of maligning Jews. The majority of member states collaborate to continuously accuse Israel of various “crimes” without regard to facts or logic.
- In 2023 the UN Condemned Israel Twice as Often as All Other Countries Combined JANUARY 4, 2024
- last year passed 14 resolutions singling out Israel,
- passed 7 against all other countries combined.
-There were zero resolutions passed condemning countries such as Venezuela, Lebanon, China, Saudi Arabia, or Iraq — or terrorist groups such as Hamas — all of which have poor human rights records or committed extensive war crimes last year.
-The UN focusing a disproportionate amount of its time on Israel is a long-standing trend. Since 2015, the General Assembly has passed 141 resolutions condemning Israel, … double the number … targeted at all other countries combined. And since 2006, the UN Human Rights Council has passed 104 resolutions against Israel, as opposed to 99 against all other countries.
Case 4. Context ?
When does context matter? Most of the time it’s difficult to understand the story if you lack any knowledge of what came before the events in question.
- Does it matter that the Islamic Arab Nations rejected the concept of a Jewish State in their neighborhood before its founding.
- Does it matter that they immediately invaded Israel as soon as it became a new nation?
- Does it matter that they have gone to war against Israel five more times? About once every ten years?
- This determination to exterminate the only Jewish nation waxes and wanes.
- Iran (not an Arab nation) has continuously funded the war competencies of Hamas and other like minded terrorist groups.
Case 5. Progressives Fighting Oppression, For Liberation
Just one example. The Guardian Platforms Naomi Klein’s Latest Call For a Boycott of Israel. https://honestreporting.com/the-guardian-platforms-naomi-kleins-latest-call-for-a-boycott-of-israel/
COMBINED — THESE ARE FUELING ANITI-SEMITISM
Hillel Neuer, the executive director of UN Watch, called the ratio of [UN]condemnatory resolutions “absurd” ,,, arguing that “the purpose of the lopsided [UN] condemnations is to demonize the Jewish state.”
“This demonization fuels the antisemitic agitators in America today and around the world who are threatening Jews on campus, at community centers, and at their businesses,” he added.
The bias animating news reports in mainstream media along with the UN demonization of Israel fuels the anti-semitism that has reached ever greater numbers after October 7th.
Moral authority, Humanitarian, Ethics
As one who values human life … how do you weigh actions that threaten and take human life. Is that the highest value that counts above all others? Moral authority? Righteous choices?
Vetting facts? What are standards of virtue without knowledge?
