The Middle East as mirror

The Middle East amazes. The more we talk about peace for the Region, the closer we come to war. The more Israelis are called oppressors, the more we learn about Arab-on-Arab brutality. The more we label Israelis as Nazis, the more Nazi-inspired atrocities come to light from the Arab world. 

Have you noticed that? So many Arabs hate Israel. They cannot demonize the Jewish state often enough. But the more aggressively they attack, the uglier they look—and the less guilty Israel looks.

The same holds true for world news vendors.

 For example, earlier in 2012, a news story appeared in Europe about the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) running over an Arab protester. There appeared a picture with the story showing a man, clearly an Arab and clearly in agony, lying on his stomach with his legs appearing (because of the camera angle) to be underneath a mammoth IDF truck. The story suggested that this was yet another example of Israel brutality—only this time, that brutality had been caught on camera. Turns out, however, that once the IDF saw the man crying out, their supposed cruelty turned to something else: tending to his injuries. The problem was, they couldn’t find any injuries. So the IDF brought in Israel’s EMS service, Mogen Dovid Adom. They couldn’t find any injuries, either. So they in turn called a Palestinian Emergency crew. They couldn’t find anything wrong with the man—and the Palestinian crew reportedly then cursed him. Apparently, he was not injured (see CAMERA/Snapshots, February 27. 2012).

It appeared to be a show.

If negative news reports of Israel are true, why does such falsification need to be presented?

More important still, who looks guilty here, the accused or the accuser?

Perhaps we see a pattern. The story above—and so many others that have a similar ending (Israel vindicated)—suggests a kind of political mirroring between accused and accuser.  Arabs—and their Western enablers-- may take pleasure in false reports about Israel, but lies can cut both ways: lie about Israel and you run the risk of discovering unflattering truths about yourself.

 For example, fabricate a story that Israel oppresses Gaza to the brink of a humanitarian crisis for all Gazans (see Frimet and Arnold Roth, thisongoingwar.blogspot, October 28, 2012), and your readers may find a different story describing the plight of hundreds of Gazan millionaires: after investing in hundreds of luxury apartment buildings [in Gaza, the millionaires complain] that decorators are never available ( Nicolas Pelham, ‘Gaza: a way out?’ New York Review of Books, October 26, 2012).

Promote the sailing of a ‘freedom’ ship loaded with ‘humanitarian’ aid to Gaza,  and your readers may find another story revealing that the ship carried nothing humanitarian (see Simon Plosker, Honest Reporting, October 21, 2012) except human protesters--who lied about the contents of their ship.

Publish a report that Israel blocks needed fuel from entering Gaza—thereby threatening the safety of Gazans—and your readers could discover another story that Israel had allowed fuel to pass to Gaza; but Egypt had refused to let  fuel enter (see ElderofZion.blogspot, October 21, 2012).

Promote false stories, and your readers may not call you a journalist. They may call you a liar.

This well is deep. Name a subject that affects Israel’s reputation and you’ll find false stories that defame Israel.

Almost always, you can easily discover that those stories have misrepresented or even manufactured the reported ‘event’.

The Middle East amazes. It’s a fib factory. It’s also a mirror where accusations might actually reveal the accuser’s sins, not the accused’s. For example, Arabs declare that Israelis deny Arabs their rights. But the truth is, only in Israel does an Arab woman have real rights (see Philippe Assouline, The Times of Israel, October 17, 2012).   Arabs claim that Israel represses Arab religious practice. But the truth is, it is the Arab who demands that Jews cannot pray on the Temple Mount, Judaism’s Holiest site (Daniel Tauber, The Jerusalem Post, October 16, 2012).

Arabs declare that Israel does not want a two-state solution. But the truth is, Arabs publish maps showing their new state in place of Israel, revealing their desire for an Arab one-state solution.

Arabs defame Israel over the absence of ‘peace’. But the truth is, Arab clerics call their faithful to massacre Jews.

Arabs accuse Jews of chemical attacks to destroy Temple Mount foundations (Yisrael Medad and Eli Pollak, The Jerusalem Post, October 11, 2012). But it is  Arabs who dig, destroy or deface important areas on, in and around the Mount.

The Middle East amazes. It’s a mirror, where lies reveal underlying truths-- about the accuser.

Want to experience apartheid or brutal oppression?  Go to the Arab world. If that’s too dangerous for you, watch their TV.

You’ll learn what’s in them and not in Israel.