Arab propaganda: where every word about Israel is a lie

The Arab propaganda war against Israel is not just a criminal enterprise. It isn’t just a political or ideological version of a consumer ad campaign. It isn’t just Jew-hate.

It’s a combination of all three. It’s an organized, scripted, planned program.

It controls the definition of terms used to describe the Arab-Israel war. It uses those definitions to demonize, isolate and criminalize Israel.

Arab propaganda is designed for a world immersed in media and internet. It manufactures Jew-baiting messages for international and national audiences. It uses its manufactured language and images to prepare the world to accept total war against Israel and its Jews. It packages news. It produces TV images. It shapes words and pictures to create a narrative of Arab innocence being brutalized by the oppressive, criminal Jew—who must be stopped at any cost.

Take a look at how Arab propaganda handled a recent terror attack in Jerusalem. Last week, a three-month old Jewish infant and a 22-year old woman were murdered.

Israel’s press reported the incident as a terror attack (“Baby killed as car rams crowd in Jerusalem terror attack”, Times of Israel, October 22, 2014). An Arab had driven his car up onto a Light Rail waiting platform. He then accelerated at high speed (for the narrow space he was in) down the length of the platform, killing the infant and injuring eight. The 22-year old woman died four days later. The Arab driver was himself killed as he jumped from his car and tried to run away.

Hamas ran the story differently. It didn’t see a terrorist using his car to kill Jews. It saw, “Palestinian driver dies of Israeli gunshot injuries”, Palestinian Information Center, October 23, 2014). It suggested that an innocent ‘youth’ had been killed by Jews (“Renewed violence in J'lem after killing of Palestinian youth at rail station”, ibid, October 23, 2014).

Hamas used this incident to incite for more violence against Jews (“Hamas, Islamic Jihad salute Jerusalem terror attack, threaten new 'Palestinian intifada' in capital”, Jerusalem Post, October 23, 2014). One Hamas official, Mahmoud Zahar, described the call for more violence with the words,  "Escalating the resistance in the city is the solution to Israeli aggression" (“Hamas Official Declares Intifada in Jerusalem”, Arutz Sheva, October 25, 2014).

Remember that word, ‘escalating’. Hamas used it to call for more Arab violence against Jews. You’ll see in a moment how Arab propaganda used the same word to demonize Israel, not Arab violence.  

Look at how Hamas used the phrase, ‘Israeli aggression’. Hamas calls attacks against Jews ‘resisting Israeli aggression’.

When you live in Israel, you come to understand what ‘Israeli aggression’ is: it’s the physical presence of Jews on land claimed by Muslims as theirs.

To the Arab, the very existence of Jews in Israel is an ‘aggression’ against Islam. Therefore, the Muslim must ‘resist’ that ‘aggression’ (presence).

In the case of this terror attack, ‘Israeli aggression’ took on a more sinister meaning. It meant that Jews had killed a Muslim Jew-killer.

To the Muslim, a Jew has no right to do that. The Jew is on ‘Muslim’ land. Killing a Muslim Jew-killer is an intolerable ‘aggression’.

Hence, the riots and the violence.

Manufactured language creates a moral high ground for the Arab cause. That ‘cause’ is to destroy Israel. The moral high ground is to purify ‘Palestine’--to remove all Jews from Israel so that the land remaining can be renamed, ‘Palestine’.

The world loves Arab propaganda. It presents such a clear message. To borrow a phrase that captures the ultra-modern nature of Arab propaganda, it’s ‘hybrid warfare’ (“Seeking For The Ukrainian Left,” Ari Rusila’s BalkanBlog, October 1, 2014). It’s a carefully crafted ‘theatre of mediawar with constant disinformation’ (ibid) flowing from multiple sources.

Hamas is one of those sources. Mahmoud Abbas is another. Remember how Hamas described its call for more violence against Jews as a call for ‘escalation’? Well, Palestinian Authority leader Abbas has reportedly sent an ‘urgent’ message to US President Obama about ‘the escalation of violence in Jerusalem’. He wants the US to intervene, to stop that escalation.  

But he’s not talking about the escalation Hamas had called for. He’s talking about Israel.

Abbas wants the US to end Israel’s actions aimed at defending itself against Arab violence. He wants the US to end ‘Israeli escalation’ (“Abbas to Obama: Stop 'Israeli Escalation' in Jerusalem”, Arutz Sheva, October 27, 2014).

Hamas accuses Israel of ‘aggression’ when it is itself guilty of aggression. Abbas accuses Israel of ‘escalating violence’ when it is the Arab who escalates violence.

Virtually every word about Israel is a lie.

The G-d of Israel has a Story for you. It’s the Story of the Final Jewish Redemption. Do you think Arab lies about Israel will play a role in that Story?

Stay tuned. The G-d of Israel won’t disappoint you.