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Israel: The Demonization of an Ethical Country
Israel is a world leader in progressive civil values, moral armed forces, scientific research, and culture. It should be greatly admired, yet it is one of the most detested countries in the world. From 2015 to July 2024, the UN General Assembly passed 141 resolutions condemning Israel and less than half that number for all other countries combined. In every context, Israelis and Zionists are often unwelcome, harassed, and attacked.
Perhaps nothing signifies the hatred of Israel more than the international support for the terrorist group Hamas. On October 7, 2023, Hamas invaded Israel and slaughtered men, women, and babies in the most gruesome and sadistic manner imaginable. The slaughter initially evoked widespread sympathy for Israel and revulsion toward Hamas. After Israel responded, however, the sympathy for Israel disappeared and was replaced with condemnation; Hamas became viewed as Israel’s adversary rather than a monster; and a negotiated peace guaranteeing Hamas’s return to power replaced Israeli victory as the desired solution to the war.
The change in attitudes toward Israel occurred even though Israel had undoubtedly set the standard for morality during Israel had much lower rates of civilian-to-combatant casualties in the Gaza war than all other militaries in urban wars, despite Hamas intentionally conducting the war to maximize civilian deaths.
The responsibility for hostility toward Israel lies primarily with the press. They report Israel’s actions inaccurately and without the context needed to show Israel's reasons for acting. They also rely on Hamas sources that inaccurately report the consequences of these actions
Clearly, the press’s bias against Israel must be shared and encouraged by their audience, or it would not continue. Although antisemitism contributes to this bias, so do methods of making judgements that ignore facts. One example is emotional biases such as sympathy for the underdog Palestinians fighting against the powerful Israelis. (For some reason, 7 million Israelis are not considered an underdog when the Palestinians are politically and militarily supported by a billion Muslims). A second is analogies. Thus, the Irish equate the Israel/ Palestinian relationship to the British/Irish relationship, and blacks equate it to the white/black relationship in the US even though the Israel/Palestinian relationship has no important features in common with the other relationships. A third is the ideology that assumes that Israel has the power in its relationship to the Palestinians and concludes that Israel must be causing the Palestinians problems.
These methods of making judgements ignore two indisputable facts at the root of the 1) the widespread belief that Israel should not be allowed to exist, and 2) Muslim leaders who promote conflicts between Arabs and Jews to distract from their own failings.
This book provides information about the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis that is generally ignored by the press and politicians. It begins by examining criticisms of Israel that are wrongly accepted as self-evident truths. Instead of examining whether the criticisms are true, the media uses them as starting points for discussing the punishments for Israel. Other sections present examples of how Israel is consistently misrepresented by its frequent the press, liberals, Muslims, and politicians.
Readers who want to understand Israel better can learn from this book, so can readers who support Israel but want to know more to defend its reputation. A third–unfortunately very small–group of readers who can benefit are Israel critics who wish to understand or dialogue with Israel supporters.
Perhaps nothing signifies the hatred of Israel more than the international support for the terrorist group Hamas. On October 7, 2023, Hamas invaded Israel and slaughtered men, women, and babies in the most gruesome and sadistic manner imaginable. The slaughter initially evoked widespread sympathy for Israel and revulsion toward Hamas. After Israel responded, however, the sympathy for Israel disappeared and was replaced with condemnation; Hamas became viewed as Israel’s adversary rather than a monster; and a negotiated peace guaranteeing Hamas’s return to power replaced Israeli victory as the desired solution to the war.
The change in attitudes toward Israel occurred even though Israel had undoubtedly set the standard for morality during Israel had much lower rates of civilian-to-combatant casualties in the Gaza war than all other militaries in urban wars, despite Hamas intentionally conducting the war to maximize civilian deaths.
The responsibility for hostility toward Israel lies primarily with the press. They report Israel’s actions inaccurately and without the context needed to show Israel's reasons for acting. They also rely on Hamas sources that inaccurately report the consequences of these actions
Clearly, the press’s bias against Israel must be shared and encouraged by their audience, or it would not continue. Although antisemitism contributes to this bias, so do methods of making judgements that ignore facts. One example is emotional biases such as sympathy for the underdog Palestinians fighting against the powerful Israelis. (For some reason, 7 million Israelis are not considered an underdog when the Palestinians are politically and militarily supported by a billion Muslims). A second is analogies. Thus, the Irish equate the Israel/ Palestinian relationship to the British/Irish relationship, and blacks equate it to the white/black relationship in the US even though the Israel/Palestinian relationship has no important features in common with the other relationships. A third is the ideology that assumes that Israel has the power in its relationship to the Palestinians and concludes that Israel must be causing the Palestinians problems.
These methods of making judgements ignore two indisputable facts at the root of the 1) the widespread belief that Israel should not be allowed to exist, and 2) Muslim leaders who promote conflicts between Arabs and Jews to distract from their own failings.
This book provides information about the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis that is generally ignored by the press and politicians. It begins by examining criticisms of Israel that are wrongly accepted as self-evident truths. Instead of examining whether the criticisms are true, the media uses them as starting points for discussing the punishments for Israel. Other sections present examples of how Israel is consistently misrepresented by its frequent the press, liberals, Muslims, and politicians.
Readers who want to understand Israel better can learn from this book, so can readers who support Israel but want to know more to defend its reputation. A third–unfortunately very small–group of readers who can benefit are Israel critics who wish to understand or dialogue with Israel supporters.
108 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 19, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 29, 2024
Unapologetic propaganda, pure and simple. The arguments made are unconscionable and wildly false, considering the entire 50 page "book" is a list of critiques of Israel and why they are wrong.
Please note, genocide is defined as "the deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group with the aim of destroying that nation or group." Here is the author's response:
"In addition to being labeled a settler colonial state, Israel is widely accused of genocide. This is the worst, most damaging, and most ridiculous of the charges against Israel. If Israel were trying to commit genocide, it would be the most spectacular failure in history. The graphic below (pg.16) compares the genocide committed by the Europeans against the Jews to the supposed genocide by the Israelis against the Palestinians." The graphic provided shows the number of "European Jews" in 1939 (9.5 million) compared to 2022 (1.3 million), and the number of "Palestinians" in 1947 (1.25 million) compared to 2022 (6.7 million). The author is blatantly claiming that since Palestinians still exist in a larger number than in 1945, it is clearly obvious proof Israel is not committing genocide.
As of August 15, 2024, according to Reuters, "Palestinian health authorities say Israel's ground and air campaign in Gaza has killed more than 40,000 people, mostly civilians, and driven most of the enclave's 2.3 million people from their homes." It's reported an additional 92,400 have been wounded.
Please note, genocide is defined as "the deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group with the aim of destroying that nation or group." Here is the author's response:
"In addition to being labeled a settler colonial state, Israel is widely accused of genocide. This is the worst, most damaging, and most ridiculous of the charges against Israel. If Israel were trying to commit genocide, it would be the most spectacular failure in history. The graphic below (pg.16) compares the genocide committed by the Europeans against the Jews to the supposed genocide by the Israelis against the Palestinians." The graphic provided shows the number of "European Jews" in 1939 (9.5 million) compared to 2022 (1.3 million), and the number of "Palestinians" in 1947 (1.25 million) compared to 2022 (6.7 million). The author is blatantly claiming that since Palestinians still exist in a larger number than in 1945, it is clearly obvious proof Israel is not committing genocide.
As of August 15, 2024, according to Reuters, "Palestinian health authorities say Israel's ground and air campaign in Gaza has killed more than 40,000 people, mostly civilians, and driven most of the enclave's 2.3 million people from their homes." It's reported an additional 92,400 have been wounded.
February 2, 2025
Good basic outline of exactly what the issues are
This very short book does a great job of explaining exactly why Israel is doing what it is doing, and why the West is wrong for being so critical.
At times, it veers into a mocking tone, which risks alienating readers who might otherwise be swayed. If you are one of these readers, I urge you to read anyway and see why Jews and Israelis are so upset with how the world is treating them with regard to the terrorists.
This very short book does a great job of explaining exactly why Israel is doing what it is doing, and why the West is wrong for being so critical.
At times, it veers into a mocking tone, which risks alienating readers who might otherwise be swayed. If you are one of these readers, I urge you to read anyway and see why Jews and Israelis are so upset with how the world is treating them with regard to the terrorists.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews