Every time there’s a leftist rally against democratic judicial reform, the media amplifies it as loudly as possible. But when there’s a conservative rally in support of it, there’s media silence.
The “March of the Million” near the Knesset in Jerusalem on Thursday evening may not have hit its target (organizers say 600,000 attended; police said 200,000 at the beginning of the evening and people kept streaming in, aerial views bear out the larger number), but it succeeded in putting to bed opposition claims that Israelis are united against judicial reform. It also provided much-needed backing to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s beleaguered government.
Encountering Herzl Hajaj of Choosing Life, a forum of Israeli terror victims and bereaved families, JNS asked him to explain the difference.
“The right is always happier,” he said. “There’s a lot of money driving the left’s protests. The folks who make all the noise and confusion do it for a payment. People here have left work. They came from Eilat, Metulla, Dimona because their hearts are with this government.”
Another notable difference was the age of the protesters. At Thursday’s rally, youth was the rule with thousands of teens in attendance. Young families with infants and young children were a sizable segment..
The media repeatedly amplified rallies that they claimed had 100,000 attendees. This time they’re reduced to claiming that it’s 200,000 (the Israeli police are an arm of the same political system being reformed) which means that it’s actually a good deal higher. But even if it were only 200,000, that should be notable. Right?
The Jerusalem Post, which has run non-stop attack pieces on democratic judicial reform and puff pieces on the protest rallies proved true to form.
Journalists attacked by protesters at right-wing demonstration – JPost
Pathetic and contemptible.
It was a peaceful, positive demonstration at which hundreds of thousands of people recited Shema Yisrael, sang Hatikva and Ani Maamin, listened to speakers and even picked up litter before they left.
What about the mainstream US media?
Israelis rally for 17th week against judicial overhaul plans – Associated Press
Tens of thousands of Israelis protested judicial overhaul proposals Saturday in the 17th weekly rally against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition.
Hundreds of thousands of Israelis protesting in support of reform isn’t a story, but tens of thousands of lefties protesting against it, that’s news.
Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, is an investigative journalist and writer focusing on the radical left and Islamic terrorism.