How Distorted Reporting Leads to Hatred of Israel
Sabrina Soffer
Christiane Amanpour on the May 22, 2023, episode of her CNN show “Amanpour.” Photo: Screenshot
The Jewish nation has long been the subject of the mainstream media’s criticism and condemnation. When CNN’s Christiane Amanpour calls the terrorizing murder of the Israeli-British Dee family a “shootout,” and The Washington Post releases a front-page exclusive on the Israeli Defense Force’s “deadly tactics” seriously lacking in context, I ask myself about the intentions of such distortions. (Amanpour later apologized for her comments after a strong backlash).
When it comes to the media, is naivete and ignorance about Israel at play? Or is it a deliberate attempt to promote some other, perhaps more sinister, agenda? No matter the motive, distorting and demonizing the Jewish collective never turns out well for Jews and non-Jews alike.
Most news consumers outside Israel have limited knowledge of the reality on the ground. Headlines often paint Israel as an imperialistic, draconian, or militaristic regime — which is far from the truth.
The media’s distortions about Israel contribute to the dissemination of spurious allegations that echo infamous antisemitic works like “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.”
Egypt worked with chief Nazi propagandist Joseph Gobbels’s right-hand, Johann Von Leers, to create anti-Israel propaganda. Indeed, the accusations of “Israel equals imperialism” or “Israel thrives on Jewish supremacy for world domination” originate from the most sinister propagandists of human history. They trace back to the ancient Christian blood-libel that continues to haunt the Jewish people and the communities they inhabit, mostly outside of Israel.
When libel peppers the mainstream news, it gains the legitimacy associated with reputable media outlets. Front-page headlines that misrepresent reality are taken as fact, and sway the global public toward beliefs that harm Israel and Jews worldwide. It is compounded by support for the blatantly antisemitic Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel, and dissuades opportunities for partnership with Israel’s Palestinian neighbors.
About a month ago, I read The Washington Post exclusive report, “Israeli agents conducted raid against militants in civilian area, killing a child: Videos from a March 16 raid in Jenin show increasingly deadly tactics by Israeli officers.”
The report was a scrupulous minute-by-minute 3D-graphic reconstruction of the IDF’s military operation, focused on the death of Omar Awadin, 14, during the raid.
The article can be summed up as a multi-count indictment of Israel’s military — the IDF. Its lack of context and information about the violent cycles of terror inflicted upon innocent Israeli civilians is astounding. I cannot help but conclude that the authors (along with their editors) aimed squarely at demonizing Israel and its defense forces. Ignoring the elephant in the room–namely the never-ending waves of Palestinian terror, political factionalism, and its authorities’ oppression of its own people — is irresponsible and galling.
Deaths of innocent civilians like Omar Awadin’s are heartbreaking. The key difference here is that the Israeli military does everything it can to prevent civilians from dying — whereas Palestinian terror groups (and the governments that support them) actually try to kill civilians as part of their war against Israel.
The Post report failed to emphasize that the IDF’s operation targeted Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) militants, such as Nidal Hazem, an active bomb producer, and Abdel Fattah Hussein Kharousha, responsible for the killings of the Yaniv brothers in February. Prior to the raid, the IDF went to great lengths to caution Jenin residents about its operation, in order to minimize civilian harm.
Indeed, the IDF’s restraint involves the notion of tohar haneshek, Hebrew for “purity of arms.” This principle is embedded into the IDF’s code of ethics, which has shaped its values of “self-control in use of armed force without including unnecessary injury to human life or limb; dignity or property of both soldiers and civilians with special consideration for the defenseless” at all times.
During the IDF’s Shield and Arrow operation last month, Israeli forces aborted a strike against PIJ terrorists housed in a residential building, having found a child in the target’s vicinity.
Other important facts missed entirely in the Post’s reporting is that Hamas and PIJ are internationally-recognized terrorist organizations. Backed by Iran with weapons and a 700-million dollar annual budget, their explicit mission is to “wipe out the Jewish state.” They also use their own citizens as human shields, which is considered a war crime under the Geneva Convention.
Hamas and PIJ are not only responsible for the murder of Jewish and Arab-Israeli civilians, but of Palestinian citizens like Abdullah Abu Jaba, who enter Israel from Gaza for work to support their families. Hamas, the Gaza strip’s governing autocracy, is known for stripping its residents of human rights and basic needs, cutting off their electricity at whim, barring dancing, or shutting down pharmacies.
From the moment they enter schooling, Palestinian children are indoctrinated and groomed as future martyrs, instructed to take the lives of Israeli civilians and incentivized by pay-to-slay initiatives that give financial rewards for killing civilians.
In the aftermath of terror attacks, Palestinians celebrate in the streets with fireworks, handing out candy and praising Allah for this glory. This is the reality that Israel confronts every day. This is the reality that The Washington Post and CNN ignore.
Selective reporting that leaves out this vital information — as well as Israel’s positive efforts to mend the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — helps no one. It vilifies Israel’s response to terror while portraying Hamas and PIJ militants as Palestinian “freedom-fighting” heroes. Aside from being morally wrong, this just helps perpetuate the conflict.
Prominent journalists and editors are acutely conscious of the language they select, and the content they choose to incorporate or omit. Respected media organizations such as the Post, which uphold the motto of “Democracy Dies in Darkness,” undermine their own mission when they fail in shedding light on the complete truth.
The Washington Post, CNN, and other media outlets should look themselves in the mirror and ask themselves whether they are reporting the facts on the ground, or merely perpetuating anti-Israel views.
Sadly, I think I know the answer. But I await their next reports in hopes that things will be different.
Sabrina Soffer is a student at George Washington University.
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