Every time you see the Israeli Army on its hunting expedition going after targets in the occupied Palestine, you find another army taking up duty. This is the army of pro-Israeli media pundits who, in the garb of independent analysts, commentators and anchors, throng the major news outlets and churn out the same pack of blatant lies we have heard for decades. They may not be official spokespeople of the Israeli government, but their passion to tell the Israeli version of the story exceeds that of Israel’s official representatives.
Most of these so-called “experts” on the Middle East conflict have some or the other, current or former connection to Israel. Most of them do not disclose their connections in an effort to hide their true nature from the people who are listening to their discourse or reading their columns. These pundits are either former ambassadors to Tel Aviv, ex-reporters based in Jerusalem, media men connected to Israeli lobbyists and neocon apologists based in Washington, and so on.
Their first lie is to cast the legitimate resistance of the Palestinian people as terrorism. This has become much easier in the post 9/11 era. Secondly, they tell the world that Israel’s oppressive campaign that includes the killing of hundreds of civilians, the destruction of infrastructure and cordoning of towns and villages all falls under the right of self-defense.
The next fabrication comes in the form of appreciation of Israel for its disengagement from Gaza when the truth is that Gaza was never handed over to the Palestinians as a free land. In fact, Gaza had become a large and isolated prison. While lauding Israel for withdrawing from Gaza, the pundits conveniently ignore the increased settlement activity in the West Bank that was taking place at the time of the “disengagement” and is still continuing. For example, these analysts do not talk about how a controversial expansion project near Jerusalem when completed would divide the West Bank into two parts, which according to Peace Now would “jeopardize the hopes for a two-state solution”.
The lies of the volunteers of bias do not stop here. They continue the onslaught by stating that Israel is allowed to capture hundreds of people including women and children because it is a “state”, while the Palestinian resistance to occupation is unwarranted provocation and terror. Moreover, Israel may kill any number of civilians it wants, but killing of even one Israeli by Palestinians is an act of terror. One columnist went to great lengths to highlight the “post-traumatic stress disorder” experienced by the children of the Israeli town that was targeted by Palestinian rockets, while failing to mention anything about the unabated suffering of the Palestinian children under Israeli occupation.
According to these armchair generals, the cycle of violence always begins with the action of a Palestinian resistance group. They comfortably forget that a day before the Palestinian capture of the Israeli soldier, Israeli helicopters had either killed scores of civilians or attacked Palestinian towns and villages.
These apologists do not falter when they repeat the lie that peace is eluding the Middle East because the hapless Israel finds no partners for negotiations. Another lie used in their propaganda is that Israel is interested in just peace and a two-state solution. They, however, fail to mention that Israel is only interested in a Palestinian state with some land in Gaza and the West Bank, while retaining large chunks of settlements in the West Bank for itself.
These commentators candidly convey the message that Hamas is bent on wiping out Israel and therefore, no one should engage with this government in any way. They fail to mention that Hamas has come forward for a long truce with Israel that would imply a recognition of the State of Israel even it were for the duration of the cease-fire agreement. The fact that Hamas was able to maintain cease-fire for more than a year is kept out of the equation.
The apologists twist every argument in Israel’s favor when it comes to money as well. The funds that will prevent thousands of people in Gaza and the West Bank from starvation are tagged as money going to “terrorists” and therefore a legitimate ground for holding it back from the Palestinians.
It was not surprising to see an anchor of a famous news network quickly adding “in Israel as well” comment when the guest was referring to the terrible situation in Lebanon after days of Israeli offensive. An effort is always made to bring the Israeli suffering when the conversation refers to the suffering in Palestine and Lebanon. However, the same equivalence will be missing during a discussion that centers on Israel.
It does not go unnoticed that these pundits frequently underline that the rockets and the ammunition fired into Israel are made in Syria or in Iran.
Who manufactures or supplies the arms and ammunition used by Israel? Do they mean to say the weapons will be less lethal if they were homemade?
These media masters never equate the uncompromising fight of the Palestinians for freedom from the clutches of Israel with other past or current freedom movements in the world. Instead, Palestinians are lectured to agree to peace as per the terms set by Israel.
Driven by blind bias in favor of Israel, these pundits are likely to continue to engage in this manner without any concern for human suffering. But they are as guilty as Israel of some of the most horrible crimes of our time.
— Abdul Rauf is an independent commentator based in Riyadh.
