Iran relentlessly rained hundreds rockets down on civilian Israel—460 fiery thunderbolts from above and still counting. Why now?
Is Israel the scapegoat for America’s decision to reimpose sanctions on Iran? Is the Jewish state the permanent azazel for the sins of those who hate us? Is this how Qatari funding, meant to alleviate Palestinian civilian suffering at the hands of their murderous leadership, is being used?
Iran has fired 460 rockets into civilian Israel with genocidal intent. Has the Western media noticed or cared? Not exactly. The headline in the New York Times read: “Violence Escalates After a Botched Raid Into Gaza By Israelis.” It’s all Israel’s fault.
The long-lasting and violent siege at the Gaza border, filled with fiery kites and fiery tires (which wreaked environmental and property damage as well as psychological terror) was consistently described as a “protest.” It was again today. Also, as a rule, the Arab and Iranian Muslim terrorists and Jihadists are described as “militants.”
Today, on page A8, the New York Times leads with a five column photo captioned thusly: “A home in Gaza was one of the dozens destroyed in the 24-hour battle. This house was close to Al Aqua television, a Hamas-owned station that Israel bombed on Monday.” In addition, they have two more four-column photos which show a weeping Arab woman being consoled by another woman; both are wearing hijab and a funeral for a slain Palestinian. This caption reads: “Eight people were killed in 24 hours of fighting. One was Mohammed Ouda, a Palestinian fro Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip. Gaza hit Israel with 460 rockets and mortars. Israel leveled a handful of Gaza high-rises. By Tuesday, it was over.”
In a second article, the Times again describes Hamas as “Islamic militant(s)” but never as Islamic Jihadist terrorists. It describes the 460+ rockets as “an eruption of hostilities between Israel and Hamas militants.”
Imagine the indoctrination that this single media outlet has accomplished with pieces and photos like this day after day, year after year.
So much for the New York Times. What about the Jewish media? According to a reader who prefers to remain anonymous, a careful search of the twitter accounts of the Editors at the The Forward from November 11th to November 13th, revealed that Jane Eisner, the Editor-in-Chief ignored the rockets as did Executive Editor Dan Friedman; News Editor Helen Chernikoff, Deputy News Editor Aiden Pink, Deputy Opinion Editor Laura Adkins, Editor-at-Large J.J. Goldberg, and writer Josh Nathan-Kazis, all of whom had nothing to tweet.
Also at the Forward and in this same time period: Opinion Editor Batya Ungar-Sargon tweeted nothing about the rockets but wrote a piece in favor of supporting the Women’s March; J.J. Goldberg (who has been quiet) tweeted something about the Hollywood Walk of Fame; and Life/Features Editor Avital Chizhik-Goldschmidt tweeted something about being a “real upper east side mom.”
Iran is raining death and terror down on Israel. Has the United Nations denounced this one-sided attack against civilians? Or, in their usual fashion, are they calling for both sides to exercise restraint?
That they are.
Oh I know. Have the allegedly repentant leaders of the so-called Women’s March (who now say that they oppose anti-Semitism in all its forms but who still refuse to denounce Minister Farrakhan)—have they at least denounced these rockets? No, I don’t think so. If and when they do, please let me know.
Recently, a feminist whom I barely know began berating me about my Zionism. Was I no longer for “peace?” “How could I actually support the colonial settlers who were endangering Jews around the world? “Did I have no sympathy for the Palestinians?” “Has my personal experience in Kabul soured me forever on Arabs?”
Oy, I did not know where to begin. Does she know that Afghans are not Arabs? That they all used to be Buddhists and pagans until Islamic crusaders converted the country via the sword? Does she understand that the real settlements at issue, the bones in the throat of Jew-haters, are Tel Aviv and Haifa, not Judaea and Samaria? Does she even know that Israel is no longer in Gaza?
What I said: “You know how women have been maligned, viewed as evil and crazy? So, too, has Israel been defamed and lied about. Until or unless you understand this, you’re really not ready to have this conversation. “
This is indeed a long and ugly war, both on the ground and in terms of propaganda. As Jews, heroism is our only option. We cannot quit. We must endure. And we must win our right to survive.
