Barrister Natasha Hausdorff, legal director of the "UK Lawyers for Israel" Charitable Trust, spoke with Arutz Sheva - Israel National News about the underlying cause of the shift in world opinion against Israel as the war against Hamas carries on.
"They attribute some kind of evil intent to Israel, irrespective of any evidence that might disprove it," she says, "And that reminds us, I think, of some of the worst attributes of the antisemitic blood libels of old. They are here in an updated form, unfortunately, and we're seeing them play a hugely significant role in the way this crisis is being reported."
Hausdorff says that there are those pushing back: "I don't know about a change on the institutional level; there's still an enormous amount of work to do there, but the response, even in the last few days of people seeking to set the record straight in various media outlets has been overwhelming. The outpouring of support I've received is extremely telling."
"This narrative that has taken hold across so many media outlets and university campuses and workplaces is not shared by everyone. I think that there are far more people who, in light of the images of the atrocities committed on the 7th of October, understand the reality of the situation, that Hamas is in many ways worse than ISIS."
Natasha comments on the challenges of her struggle: "I know that there are governmental and non-governmental bodies doing work in this field. It has never been an easy role to combat misinformation, especially on social media, and now that we see mainstream media picking up aspects of Hamas propaganda, it has become even harder. It is a thankless task because of the degree of misinformation and blatant Jew-hate that lies behind so much of what is said in so much of the world."
The task still remains of significant importance, though: "Israel has been forced by international opinion to make security concessions, many of which are undeniably responsible for what happened two and a half weeks ago. Once Hamas is destroyed, I hope to see renewed efforts to see many states around the world examine their own international obligations, especially the UN resolutions obligating states to combat the funding of terror around the world."