Tabitha Korol
Propaganda Triple Play with a foul ball
By Tabitha Korol
"The Attack," a film by Lebanese Ziad Zoueiri, that was partially filmed in Israel and distributed by the Cohen Media Group, was a double whammy. Not only did the film refer to a suicide bomber's attack on Tel Aviv citizens, killing adults and numerous children, but it surreptitiously delivered another attack on Israel when the author referenced the specific, mythical Jenin "massacre" of 2002 as the motivation.
Following Yasser Arafat's announcement of a massacre, inJenin, that he described as comparable to World War II's Nazi sieges of Leningrad (killing 800,000) and Stalingrad (killing 1.3), The BBC and The Guardian were the first to charge the IDF forces with horrendous carnage against the victimized Palestinians. It was not long before others gladly followed with condemnation of slaughter and butchery. London's Evening Standard called it genocide and more correspondents jumped on the lorry with fabrications of horrific crimes, rotting human corpses, killing fields, and mass graves. The international media were having their proverbial field day. It is a wonder that these journalists could pen their thoughts for all the time they spent rubbing their hands together in glee, for here was a story that could really demonize the Jewish state for all the world to see.
Contrastingly, The Washington Post's Molly Moore, also in Jenin, wrote that there was no sign of wanton execution. Newsday's Edward Gargan concurred that there was no evidence of crimes to warrant such accusations. The Boston Globe agreed and, after several conversations with residents, related the interview of Abdel Rahman Sa'adi, an Islamic Jihad grenade thrower, who admitted there was a massacre of Jews, but "not of us." The official totals from Palestinian and Israeli sources confirmed between 52 and 54 Palestinians, mostly gunmen, and 23 IDF soldiers killed in the fighting.
Only one British paper, Rupert Murdoch's The Sun, reprimanded the rest of the British media for their blatant lies.
But it is in the Arabs' best interests to keep the tale alive even now, eleven years later, to reach the under-informed who never heard of 'the massacre that never happened." And reviewer Stephen Whitty of the Newark Star-Ledger shamelessly delivered a third attack by endorsing the propaganda. I, for one, regret having supported the film with the price of my ticket.
I should mention that the 22 Islamic states banned the movie because, they said, it did not demonize the Israelis enough.
© Tabitha Korol
July 16, 2013
"The Attack," a film by Lebanese Ziad Zoueiri, that was partially filmed in Israel and distributed by the Cohen Media Group, was a double whammy. Not only did the film refer to a suicide bomber's attack on Tel Aviv citizens, killing adults and numerous children, but it surreptitiously delivered another attack on Israel when the author referenced the specific, mythical Jenin "massacre" of 2002 as the motivation.
Following Yasser Arafat's announcement of a massacre, in
Contrastingly, The Washington Post's Molly Moore, also in Jenin, wrote that there was no sign of wanton execution. Newsday's Edward Gargan concurred that there was no evidence of crimes to warrant such accusations. The Boston Globe agreed and, after several conversations with residents, related the interview of Abdel Rahman Sa'adi, an Islamic Jihad grenade thrower, who admitted there was a massacre of Jews, but "not of us." The official totals from Palestinian and Israeli sources confirmed between 52 and 54 Palestinians, mostly gunmen, and 23 IDF soldiers killed in the fighting.
Only one British paper, Rupert Murdoch's The Sun, reprimanded the rest of the British media for their blatant lies.
But it is in the Arabs' best interests to keep the tale alive even now, eleven years later, to reach the under-informed who never heard of 'the massacre that never happened." And reviewer Stephen Whitty of the Newark Star-Ledger shamelessly delivered a third attack by endorsing the propaganda. I, for one, regret having supported the film with the price of my ticket.
I should mention that the 22 Islamic states banned the movie because, they said, it did not demonize the Israelis enough.
© Tabitha Korol
The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)