Sunday, July 21, 2024

When Images Trump Truth

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The mainstream media (MSM) is relentless. Even though attention to the war against Hamas in Gaza has waned in recent weeks (replaced by coverage of domestic politics) every once in a while we are ‘treated’ to gut wrenching images of Palestinians suffering at the hands of Israeli bombs and snipers. 

This morning was one of those times. I could not help but seethe with anger while watching  Children of Gaza on CBS (video below). A reporter and her interview subjects tore Israel apart. Insinuating that they were entirely at fault for those horrifying images. Mostly images of bloodied children. Or children missing limbs. Children whose parents were killed by Israeli bombs or bullets. Or just plain dead children. That was accompanied by an assertion that the vast majority of civilian casualties were children.

Making this ‘report’ particularly infuriating were the comments of one volunteer doctor with the very Jewish last name of Perlmutter. Without saying it in so many words, He proceeded to blame Israel entirely for what he said was the greatest degree of children being killed he had ever seen. He said that in his  first week in Gaza he saw more carnage in Gaza than the decades of all the other places he volunteered - combined. 

That was followed by fluent English speakers with Arabic last names who were volunteer medical professionals. They said pretty much said the same thing Perlmutter said. Adding insult to injury that reporter quoted UNICEF who pretty much agreed with all that too. Claiming as well that children were being deliberately killed with precision by Israeli snipers. And finally they said that despite evidence to the contrary, they witnessed Israel deliberately using starvation as a tactic of war. 

That reporter did not explicitly say that Israel was to be blamed for all of this. But you have to be a complete idiot not to draw that conclusion from this report.

It is indeed undeniable that Israeli bombs and military tactics are the direct cause of all of the above. What is also true and left unsaid is one very important overriding factor that should make all the difference in the world. Obvious to anyone but leftist antisemites. Which is that the people really responsible for all this carnage are the very people Palestinians in Gaza have chosen to lead them and have yet to repudiate: Hamas. A group funded and supplied by Iran. A nation committed to Israel’s destruction. A nation that supplies proxies like Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Huthi rebels in Yemen to do their dirty work for them.

Is there any rational person not blinded by hatred of Israel that does not understand this? Is there the slightest doubt in the mind of any rational person that if Hamas would lay down their weapons and release all the hostages that the carnage of their own people - men, women, and children - would stop immediately?  That 35,000 of their people would still be alive if they had done that from the start? That Hamas determination to fight another day in order to ‘Free Palestine’ is why Israel has no choice but to do what it takes to defeat this deadly enemy - and prevent the next October 7th

Even the MSM acknowledges that those many of the innocent Palestinian casualties are the result of Hamas using their own civilians as human shields regardless of whether (or probably preferring) they are woman or children? The MSM have themselves reported Hamas leaders saying they favor high civilian casualties because it works in their favor by demonizing Israel!

None of this was mentioned in the story. Leaving the viewer to draw their own negative conclusion about Israel’s conduct in the war based on the images and reporting in a story like this

There are Jews like Dr. Perlmutter whose sense of right and wrong is guided by what he sees rather than by what he should know. The kind of Jews who joined Palestinian protesters on campuses all over the country not long ago. Nor should anyone be surprised that a volunteer doctor wearing a bracelet that said ‘Free Palestine’ decried all the carnage and suffering he witnessed - imputing blame to Israel

That being said, it is practically impossible to overcome images of human suffering as Israeli bombs keep going off in Gaza while the MSM continually features biased stories like this. That does not make their narrative  just. It just makes it a more believable. And that sickens me.

The idea that Israel is still at war in Gaza over 8 months after they were attacked is very sad. For a variety of reasons. Foremost among them is the blood of our own soldiers being spilled. Jewish blood is not cheap!  Secondly the images coming out of there do not help Israel’s image. Despite our thier justifiable reasons for being at war there.

I am in no position to second Israel’s political  leadership.  They are privy to intelligence reports that no one outside their leadership (Prime Minister Netanyahu) his military advisors, and  his IDF commanders are privv to. Those who blame Netanyahu for prolonging the war are not privy to that intelligence. Criticizing a leader at a time of war because they don’t like him is irresponsible in the extreme. Sadly about half of Israel has done exactly that. Their simple common sense on this subject has been been overwhelmed by their blind hatred of the man

No one wants to see the war end more than I do. For all the abovementioned reasons. But it can’t be at the expense of Israel not achieving its goal of eradicating the Hamas ability to ever do anything like October 7th  again. And to prevent Hamas from ever ruling Gaza again. 

That should be the goal. Tehe PR chips will just have to fall as they may. Thankfully, the kind of conditional support mainstream  Democrats have shown for Israel will be replaced by the kind of unconditional support of the Republicans have shown. Which at this point in time seems very likely. Until then Israel will have to suffer the slings and arrows of a biased MSM.

A word about the upcoming address to be given by Israel’s prime minister this week to a joint session of congress. My hope is that he does his usual good job of making Israel’s case to the American people. Last time he spoke to congress he did so with eloquence. Rejecting with fully about the disaterous Iran nuclear deal. Which is in part responsible for the Gaza war. He received several standing ovations last time. (Mostly from Republicans that agreed with him.) Hope to see the same thing this time. 

What about those Democrats in congress are likely going to boycott him (Like Tlaib, Omar, AOC, Sanders, and Schakowsky)? Good riddance. They are out of touch with most of the American  people. And represent a tiny portion of them. Hopefully they will soon become relics of the past.