{"id":65189,"date":"2021-05-14T11:25:58","date_gmt":"2021-05-14T15:25:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=65189"},"modified":"2021-06-08T09:32:59","modified_gmt":"2021-06-08T13:32:59","slug":"why-is-the-israel-narrative-so-quickly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=65189","title":{"rendered":"Why is the &#8220;ISRAEL NARRATIVE&#8221; falling apart so quickly!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><!--more--><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-65191\" src=\"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Screen-Shot-2021-05-14-at-11.26.05-AM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"744\" height=\"525\" srcset=\"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Screen-Shot-2021-05-14-at-11.26.05-AM.png 744w, http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Screen-Shot-2021-05-14-at-11.26.05-AM-300x212.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 744px) 100vw, 744px\" \/><\/p>\n<h1>THE ISRAEL NARRATIVE IS CRUMBLING<\/h1>\n<p>By Caitlin Johnstone.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTwenty-four people, including nine children, were killed in Gaza overnight, most of them in Israeli strikes,\u201d reads a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/middle-east-israel-jerusalem-076a9ec7e2bd9c065882c64a4ab820a1\">new report<\/a>\u00a0from AP.<\/p>\n<p>Nine children, killed with\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.timesofisrael.com\/us-israel-laud-ties-as-unprecedented-military-aid-deal-signed\/\">the help of United States funding<\/a>\u00a0to the tune of $3.8 billion a year.<\/p>\n<p>Remember kids,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/caitlinjohnstone.substack.com\/p\/the-entire-world-should-be-laughing\">the US loves Muslims<\/a>\u00a0and just wants to protect their human rights.<\/p>\n<div class=\"twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered\"><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" class=\"\" title=\"Twitter Tweet\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?dnt=true&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=eyJ0ZndfZXhwZXJpbWVudHNfY29va2llX2V4cGlyYXRpb24iOnsiYnVja2V0IjoxMjA5NjAwLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X2hvcml6b25fdHdlZXRfZW1iZWRfOTU1NSI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJodGUiLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X3R3ZWV0X2VtYmVkX2NsaWNrYWJpbGl0eV8xMjEwMiI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJjb250cm9sIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH19&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1391919577760735232&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fpopularresistance.org%2Fthe-israel-narrative-is-crumbling%2F&amp;sessionId=5ce2a833659709e341c14c119263360d288d78e0&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=82e1070%3A1619632193066&amp;width=550px\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-tweet-id=\"1391919577760735232\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>The Monday night airstrikes were in response to rocket attacks by Gaza resistance groups which had reportedly injured six Israelis, and those rocket attacks were in turn were a response to a deluge of Israeli police brutality footage in Jerusalem in preceding days.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/electronicintifada.net\/content\/israel-attacks-gaza-after-jerusalem-defeat\/32936\"><em>Electronic Intifada<\/em><\/a>\u00a0reports:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>This came at the end of a day of violence that began in occupied East Jerusalem, where Israeli forces assaulted worshippers at the al-Aqsa mosque compound, injuring hundreds.<\/p>\n<p>Scenes of brutality in Jerusalem generated outrage and solidarity among Palestinians and around the world.<\/p>\n<p>The military wing of the Palestinian resistance organization Hamas issued an ultimatum giving Israel an hour \u2013 until 6 pm local time \u2013 to withdraw its forces from al-Aqsa and the occupied East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, and free detainees.<\/p>\n<p>When the deadline passed, resistance groups in Gaza fired volleys of rockets towards Jerusalem for the first time since the summer 2014 war,\u00a0prompting\u00a0celebrations\u00a0from some Palestinians.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<div class=\"twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered\"><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-1\" class=\"\" title=\"Twitter Tweet\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?dnt=true&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-1&amp;features=eyJ0ZndfZXhwZXJpbWVudHNfY29va2llX2V4cGlyYXRpb24iOnsiYnVja2V0IjoxMjA5NjAwLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X2hvcml6b25fdHdlZXRfZW1iZWRfOTU1NSI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJodGUiLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X3R3ZWV0X2VtYmVkX2NsaWNrYWJpbGl0eV8xMjEwMiI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJjb250cm9sIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH19&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1391974349335261184&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fpopularresistance.org%2Fthe-israel-narrative-is-crumbling%2F&amp;sessionId=5ce2a833659709e341c14c119263360d288d78e0&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=82e1070%3A1619632193066&amp;width=550px\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-tweet-id=\"1391974349335261184\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The mass media are\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AssalRad\/status\/1390843028072402944\">working furiously<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AssalRad\/status\/1391462112950591491\">spin this<\/a>\u00a0in a way that rivals my\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/caitlinjohnstone.com\/2021\/05\/08\/palestinian-infant-sustains-punching-related-injury-in-violent-clash-with-israeli-police\/\">satire piece<\/a>\u00a0from the other day.\u00a0<em>The New York Times<\/em>\u00a0has been\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/nyt_diff\/status\/1391786657536483330?s=20\">cartoonishly re-writing its own reporting<\/a>\u00a0in a desperate attempt to make Israel look like an innocent victim of unprovoked attacks instead of the obvious aggressor against people protesting a brutal\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.btselem.org\/publications\/fulltext\/202101_this_is_apartheid\">apartheid regime<\/a>\u00a0backed by an entire empire.\u00a0<em>The New York Post<\/em>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/trtworld\/status\/1391898848805666816\">falsely reported<\/a>\u00a0that the deaths on Monday were caused by \u201cAirstrikes from Hamas militants\u201d (when did Hamas get an air force?) when sharing an article\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DecampDave\/status\/1391901676475502592?s=20\">which falsely implied<\/a>\u00a0that those fatalities were inflicted by both sides.\u00a0<em>DW News<\/em>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RaniaKhalek\/status\/1391839054581272578\">framed its headline<\/a>\u00a0in a way that suggested the nine children killed had been involved in \u201cfighting\u201d against Israeli forces, and the word \u201cclashes\u201d is being\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RaniaKhalek\/status\/1391070870139899906\">thrown about willy nilly<\/a>\u00a0to describe a very one-sided assault.<\/p>\n<p>But it isn\u2019t working.<\/p>\n<p>Social media is\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/redfishstream\/status\/1392053504420851713?s=20\">teeming<\/a>\u00a0with viral\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MiddleEastEye\/status\/1391645260430905344\">video footage<\/a>\u00a0of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/arwaib\/status\/1390800051887345669\">police assaulting peaceful worshippers<\/a>\u00a0in the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AssalRad\/status\/1391640123490533378\">Al-Aqsa Mosque compound<\/a>, of Israelis\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AyOdeh\/status\/1391851115776466951\">cheering<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/simonerzim\/status\/1391869749303316483?s=20\">chanting\u00a0\u201cYimach shemam (may their names be erased)\u201d<\/a>\u00a0at the sight of a fire near the mosque, of Israeli soldiers\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/OrenZiv1985\/status\/1391131992813678602\">arresting Palestinian protesters<\/a>\u00a0using the signature\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/cjwerleman\/status\/1389728800707997697?s=20\">knee-on-neck maneuver<\/a>\u00a0made famous by the murder of George Floyd, many of which have millions of views.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/bernie-sanders-progressives-raise-alarms-about-israeli-extremists-amid-violence-against-1589831\">Mainstream politicians<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/jeremycorbyn\/status\/1392043526066774020?s=20\">both sides of the Atlantic<\/a>\u00a0are putting out statements explicitly condemning Israel as the aggressor in these attacks, and the White House is facing some\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TheNationalNews\/status\/1391873402709872646\">actual adversarial journalism<\/a>\u00a0for once regarding its refusal to denounce the killing of Palestinian children and its absurd position that Palestinians have no right to defend themselves.<\/p>\n<div class=\"twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered\"><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-2\" class=\"\" title=\"Twitter Tweet\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?dnt=true&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-2&amp;features=eyJ0ZndfZXhwZXJpbWVudHNfY29va2llX2V4cGlyYXRpb24iOnsiYnVja2V0IjoxMjA5NjAwLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X2hvcml6b25fdHdlZXRfZW1iZWRfOTU1NSI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJodGUiLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X3R3ZWV0X2VtYmVkX2NsaWNrYWJpbGl0eV8xMjEwMiI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJjb250cm9sIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH19&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1391873402709872646&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fpopularresistance.org%2Fthe-israel-narrative-is-crumbling%2F&amp;sessionId=5ce2a833659709e341c14c119263360d288d78e0&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=82e1070%3A1619632193066&amp;width=550px\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-tweet-id=\"1391873402709872646\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>This is the most mainstream that criticism of Israeli apartheid oppression has ever been in my lifetime, and as\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/report\/2021\/04\/27\/threshold-crossed\/israeli-authorities-and-crimes-apartheid-and-persecution\">more<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.btselem.org\/publications\/fulltext\/202101_this_is_apartheid\">more<\/a>\u00a0mainstream human rights groups begin acknowledging the reality of that oppression it\u2019s only getting more so.<\/p>\n<p>Whenever I say something critical of Israel I always get readers saying \u201cOh man, you\u2019re going to get attacked so bad for this, dissent on Israel is not tolerated,\u201d but quite honestly that hasn\u2019t been my experience at all and I think it\u2019s an outdated perception. In the few years I\u2019ve been at this commentary gig I\u2019ve found I get\u00a0<em>far<\/em>\u00a0more aggressive pushback when I criticize establishment narratives regarding Russia or China, or even Syria and Venezuela, than I do when I criticize Israel. The pushback is there of course, but it\u2019s not nearly as virulent as what I\u2019m used to.<\/p>\n<p>There are a lot of factors contributing to the growing awareness of Israel\u2019s brutality, but I think the main reason is very simple:\u00a0there are only so many viral videos of unconscionable acts that can be dismissed with \u201cActually this is way more complicated than it looks.\u201d It is\u00a0<em>not<\/em>\u00a0more complicated than it looks. Clearly. It looks bad because it is bad.<\/p>\n<div class=\"twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered\"><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-3\" class=\"\" title=\"Twitter Tweet\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?dnt=true&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-3&amp;features=eyJ0ZndfZXhwZXJpbWVudHNfY29va2llX2V4cGlyYXRpb24iOnsiYnVja2V0IjoxMjA5NjAwLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X2hvcml6b25fdHdlZXRfZW1iZWRfOTU1NSI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJodGUiLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X3R3ZWV0X2VtYmVkX2NsaWNrYWJpbGl0eV8xMjEwMiI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJjb250cm9sIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH19&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1391860973770711044&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fpopularresistance.org%2Fthe-israel-narrative-is-crumbling%2F&amp;sessionId=5ce2a833659709e341c14c119263360d288d78e0&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=82e1070%3A1619632193066&amp;width=550px\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-tweet-id=\"1391860973770711044\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>At a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.jonathan-cook.net\/blog\/2021-05-10\/media-war-independent-journalism\/\">recent video appearance<\/a>\u00a0for the\u00a0International\u00a0Festival of Whistleblowing, Dissent and Accountability, Israel-based journalist Jonathan Cook described the changes he\u2019s seen as smartphones and internet access made Palestinians less dependent on the work of sympathetic activists and gave them the ability to directly share footage of their own abuse. Cook says the following:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Sadly most corporate journalists paid little attention to the work of these activists. In any case, their role was quickly snuffed out. That was partly because Israel learnt that shooting a few of them served as a very effective deterrent, warning others to keep away.<\/p>\n<p>But it was also because as technology became cheaper and more accessible \u2013 eventually ending up in mobile phones that everyone was expected to have \u2013 Palestinians could record their own suffering more immediately and without mediation.<\/p>\n<p>Israel\u2019s dismissal of the early, grainy images of the abuse of Palestinians by soldiers and settlers \u2013 as \u201cPallywood\u201d (Palestinian Hollywood) \u2013 became ever less plausible, even to its own supporters. Soon Palestinians were recording their mistreatment in high definition and posting it directly to YouTube.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<div class=\"mk-video-container\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player fluidvids-item\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/KNqozQ8uaV8?version=3&amp;rel=1&amp;fs=1&amp;autohide=2&amp;showsearch=0&amp;showinfo=1&amp;iv_load_policy=1&amp;wmode=transparent\" width=\"580\" height=\"345\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-fluidvids=\"loaded\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>Seeing is believing, and a video is difficult to narrative manage. The dominant narrative is no longer solely in the hands of propaganda outlets like\u00a0<em>The New York Times<\/em>\u00a0which can spin everything that happens with a pro-Israel slant, it\u2019s being spread all over the internet in a medium that is far more objective than print.<\/p>\n<p>This is so effective because, unlike so many other ugly aspects of the US-centralized power alliance, Israeli apartheid is not some covert government operation being run by highly trained agents and manipulators. Those responsible for carrying out its day-to-day abuses are just ordinary civilians, police and soldiers who have not been trained on the sinister craft of perception management. Who aren\u2019t acutely aware that it\u2019s bad optics to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=KNqozQ8uaV8\">tell a Palestinian family<\/a>\u00a0on camera that if you don\u2019t steal their house then someone else will. Who don\u2019t have bad PR at the forefront of their attention when they\u2019re\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ey48uTfIeww\">cheering as they shoot Palestinian protesters<\/a>. Who just react to the racist nationalist propaganda they\u2019ve been ingesting all their lives instead of considering how difficult it will be to narrative manage a video of them cheering and chanting \u201cmay their names be erased\u201d at the sight of flames.<\/p>\n<div class=\"twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered\"><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-4\" class=\"\" title=\"Twitter Tweet\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?dnt=true&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-4&amp;features=eyJ0ZndfZXhwZXJpbWVudHNfY29va2llX2V4cGlyYXRpb24iOnsiYnVja2V0IjoxMjA5NjAwLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X2hvcml6b25fdHdlZXRfZW1iZWRfOTU1NSI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJodGUiLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X3R3ZWV0X2VtYmVkX2NsaWNrYWJpbGl0eV8xMjEwMiI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJjb250cm9sIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH19&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1391869749303316483&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fpopularresistance.org%2Fthe-israel-narrative-is-crumbling%2F&amp;sessionId=5ce2a833659709e341c14c119263360d288d78e0&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=82e1070%3A1619632193066&amp;width=550px\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-tweet-id=\"1391869749303316483\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Awareness is spreading of Israeli apartheid brutality for the same reason awareness is spreading of US police brutality: the internet combined with smartphone cameras. Seeing is believing. Seeing brings change.<\/p>\n<p>This is why the powerful are working so hard to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/caitlinjohnstone.substack.com\/p\/silicon-valley-algorithm-manipulation\">censor the internet<\/a>. If they can\u2019t control what our dominant narratives are going to be, they will not be able to rule us.<\/p>\n<p>Will they succeed? Jonathan Cook\u2019s aforementioned\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.jonathan-cook.net\/blog\/2021-05-10\/media-war-independent-journalism\/\">speech<\/a>\u00a0concludes with some words of hope and encouragement:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The establishment are being forced into a game of whack-a-mole with us. Each time they bully or dismantle a platform we use, another one \u2013 like Substack \u2013 springs up to replace it. That is because there will always be journalists determined to find a way to peek behind the curtain to tell us what they found there. And there will always be audiences who want to learn what is behind the curtain. Supply and demand are on our side.<\/p>\n<p>The constant acts of intimidation and violence by political and media elites to crush media pluralism in the name of \u201cdemocratic values\u201d will serve only to further expose the hypocrisy and bad faith of the corporate media and its hired hands.<\/p>\n<p>We must keep struggling because the struggle itself is a form of victory.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>___<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/popularresistance.org\/the-israel-narrative-is-crumbling\/\">https:\/\/popularresistance.org\/the-israel-narrative-is-crumbling\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-65189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65189","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=65189"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65189\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=65189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=65189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=65189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}