I am offering this post to highlight the stark contrast that exists between the way U.S. news outlets cover criticism of Israel (think of Rep. Ilhan Omar) vs. the way it covers, or fails to cover, truly horrific, racist events in Israel itself.
The difference is telling.
The events described in the article below occurred in 2016. Think back two
years ago. Can you remember hearing a news story describing these anti-Palestinian rallies in Tel Aviv?
Compare the number of times you’ve heard a public figure suggest that Ilhan Omar is an anti-Semite with the number of similar condemnations you’ve heard of these despicable Israeli demonstrations.
The article was written by Whitney Webb, a reporter for Mint Press News. She describes an anti-Palestinian rally in Tel Aviv, Israel. The article is entitled, “Thousands of Israelis Take to the Streets Calling for Palestinian Genocide.”
Israel in 2016 was no different than it is today. No, I take that back. Israel in 2019 may be worse.
While mainstream America, including too many of our politicians, are ready to muzzle Israel’s critics, a sizeable portion of Israeli citizens publicly advocate racist violence against Palestinians.
So, which is the more “dangerous” type of speech? Ilhan Omar’s criticism of the power of pro-Zionist lobbying groups in D.C.? Or large public rallies in Israel calling for the genocide of the Palestinian people?
You can read the entire article by clicking on the title above. I also provide an excerpt below:
“Israeli government concern over recent violence has led them to arrest Palestinians for social media content that could potentially lead to crimes. So far, 145 Palestinians have been arrested this year for ‘pre-crime’ via social media ‘incitement.’ This practice eventually led to a collaboration between Facebook and the Israeli government, whose joint effort to curb social media ‘incitement’ has led to the banning of several Facebook accounts of Palestinian journalists and news agencies.
“However, social media, as well as mainstream Western media, have failed to condemn Israeli ‘incitement’ against Palestinians, a practice that is surprisingly
common considering the little to no attention it receives. Often these anti-Palestinian posts, pictures, and rallies are rife with calls for genocide, with cries of ‘Death to the whole Arab nation’ and ‘Kill them all’ surprisingly common.
“Even the Times of Israel ran an op-ed article about ‘When Genocide is Permissible’ in reference to Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. Though the post was eventually taken down, it points to an all-too-common and dangerous mentality that social media, the Israeli government, and Western media ‘conveniently’ ignore.
“An Israeli news agency even put the then-suspected preferential treatment to the test and found that Facebook and the Israeli authorities treated calls for revenge from Palestinians and Israelis very differently.
“Even massive rallies calling for Palestinian genocide have been ignored entirely by social media and the corporate press. Earlier this year in April, a massive anti-Palestinian rally took place in Tel Aviv where thousands called for the death of all Arabs. The rally was organized to support an Israeli soldier who killed an already-wounded Palestinian by shooting him execution-style in the head…
“A Jewish reporter at the scene remarked that it seemed ‘more like a celebration of murder than anything.’ Despite the obvious animosity and incitement made evident at the rally, it isn’t difficult to imagine what the response would have been if this has been a pro-Palestinian rally calling for the deaths of Jews. The stark divide between what is permissible for Palestinians and what is permissible for Israelis should concern us all as the widespread bias of social media, the press, and many governments threaten to blind us from the realities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
