Slog
News & ArtsThursday, January 8, 2009
2008 Losing the Reality War
Posted by Charles Mudede on Thu, Jan 8, 2009 at 7:29 AM
On the main page of CNN's website, a video of a Gaza boy dying as doctors try to revive him. 
Clearly, Israel is not winning the media war in America. They lost that war in Europe a long time ago, now (in the deep twilight of the Bush years and embedded journalism) they are losing it here.
2
Charles,
Much like you, the American public lives in their own bubble of ignorance.
You are already in an unreality.
Much like you, the American public lives in their own bubble of ignorance.
"How on earth can you be the daughter of slaves and at the same time still be alive?"
(Next Up to Death by Charles Mudede)
You are already in an unreality.
3
Charles you are so right. Israel has just started what I would call their PR campaign today in the UK papers with an article in the working class Sun about how a UK citizen who is in the Israeli army had his throat cut by Hamas.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/new…
They use terms such as Arsenal supporter and Sun reader so that Brits can identify with the Israeli soldiers per se. I for one am NOT amused and things are going to get nasty as vandalism and aggression in Jewish areas of London are increasing daily.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/new…
They use terms such as Arsenal supporter and Sun reader so that Brits can identify with the Israeli soldiers per se. I for one am NOT amused and things are going to get nasty as vandalism and aggression in Jewish areas of London are increasing daily.
4
there is no media war over I/P in america. Israel won it 50 years ago. our debate is still one-sided.
america sees the muslim child dying AND DOES NOT CARE. the muslim is The Other. the Saracen, the Terrorist.
and Jesus can't come back unless the Jews are in charge of Israel.
america sees the muslim child dying AND DOES NOT CARE. the muslim is The Other. the Saracen, the Terrorist.
and Jesus can't come back unless the Jews are in charge of Israel.
5
"The Gaza cameraman who recorded the death of his own brother?"
That's really cold and/or fucked up on behalf of the cameraman.
Israel doesn't need to win the global media war. People whine no matter how they respond to threats. Israel just needs to win the war so people stop shooting rockets into it.
That's really cold and/or fucked up on behalf of the cameraman.
Israel doesn't need to win the global media war. People whine no matter how they respond to threats. Israel just needs to win the war so people stop shooting rockets into it.
6
Totally agree...the reasons for this current military operation (thousands of Hamas rockets fired into Israel) is really moot at this point. To use a cliché, I fear Israel is cutting off her nose to spite her face.
7
Who sends kids and teens to play on a roof during a war action? Of course they would look like snipers to the Israelis. Note that those in the house were unharmed.
9
oh it's really just that simple, huh sam? i for one, don't see and end in sight with the current tactics israel uses. it's a county run by unimaginative right wing hawks, and nothing over there will change until the israeli people elect a different kind of government entirely.
10
For all of those who think the press -in the US and elsewhere- is overwhelmingly biased towards Israel, think of how many photos of bombed out schools you've seen from inside Israel. None. But there are photos such as these.
Think of how many photos you've seen of mother's taking cover with their children with the bomb sirens go off - none, but there are some.
Before this invasion, think of how many photos of dead Israelis you saw - dead from randomly lobbed Hamas rockets. You probably saw none.
The current invasion and death toll is a horrible thing. Horrible. BUT THE MEDIA IS NOT BIASED TOWARDS ISRAEL.
Our government is, but the media is not.
Think of how many photos you've seen of mother's taking cover with their children with the bomb sirens go off - none, but there are some.
Before this invasion, think of how many photos of dead Israelis you saw - dead from randomly lobbed Hamas rockets. You probably saw none.
The current invasion and death toll is a horrible thing. Horrible. BUT THE MEDIA IS NOT BIASED TOWARDS ISRAEL.
Our government is, but the media is not.
11
9 -
and who elected an outright terrorist organization as its leadership? BOTH sides have the same problem.
you are right, it is not that simple.
Hamas' stated goal is to ELIMINATE Israel from the Mideast. And they plan to do so by killing as many civilians as they can.
Israel should still show restraint, but I hope people never, ever forget what Hamas hopes to do.
and who elected an outright terrorist organization as its leadership? BOTH sides have the same problem.
you are right, it is not that simple.
Hamas' stated goal is to ELIMINATE Israel from the Mideast. And they plan to do so by killing as many civilians as they can.
Israel should still show restraint, but I hope people never, ever forget what Hamas hopes to do.
12
"Jesus can't come back unless the Jews are in charge of Israel."
So is THAT why Pat Robertson's 700 club always reports for and from Isreal, even long before this particular conflict?
I always wondered about that; why they would care about jews
So is THAT why Pat Robertson's 700 club always reports for and from Isreal, even long before this particular conflict?
I always wondered about that; why they would care about jews
13
My opinion of Israel has gone from bad to worse over my whole adult life. All of Israel's justifications for its behavior are better suited to justifying the Palestinians. Israel is the one with the power, the functional economy, and the functional government, and therefore they have the responsibility to act ethically. The Palestinians are hemmed in, oppressed, and denied hope for a better future by Israel. The occasional suffering Israelis endure when a bus blows up or a rocket hits a house merely interrupts their generally happy and prosperous condition every now and then, whereas the Palestinians have to endure conditions of squalor and hopelessness every day- and Israel justifies keeping them in that condition by pointing to a few little rockets. Sorry, but after considering all this I have no sympathy for Israel.
14
@11, and I hope that Hamas succeeds, although not in the bloody sense they mean. Isreal doesn't belong there, and really needs to get the fuck out. It's not their land.
15
Israel's the one with the power? Surrounded by Muslims in the Middle East? You must be fucking kidding me, east coaster.
16
There goes Charles again. Stirring up as much anti-Semitism as he can but as subtly as possible. No mention of how Hamas has been peppering Israel with rockets or how Hamas thrives on keeping the Palestinians in a convenient subjugated bloodied state for its own evil PR purposes. There is no solution as long as Hamas and Hezbollah, in concert with Iran, wants Israel wiped off the face of the earth and those dirty Jews back in the ovens.
There goes Charles again. Stirring up as much anti-Semitism as he can but as subtly as possible. No mention of how Hamas has been peppering Israel with rockets or how Hamas thrives on keeping the Palestinians in a convenient subjugated bloodied state for its own evil PR purposes. There is no solution as long as Hamas and Hezbollah, in concert with Iran, wants Israel wiped off the face of the earth and those dirty Jews back in the ovens.
17
14-
and that's the attitude that will prevent peace from ever taking hold in the middle east. i don't think the Israelis are ever going to go away. i don't think the Palestinians are ever going to go away. therefore, hoping that one side gets the fuck out is a hopeless endeavor and will only result in death, violence and war.
coexistence is the only answer.
and that's the attitude that will prevent peace from ever taking hold in the middle east. i don't think the Israelis are ever going to go away. i don't think the Palestinians are ever going to go away. therefore, hoping that one side gets the fuck out is a hopeless endeavor and will only result in death, violence and war.
coexistence is the only answer.
18
13-
The coldness with which you said this gave me the CHILLS.
"The occasional suffering Israelis endure when a bus blows up or a rocket hits a house merely interrupts their generally happy and prosperous condition every now and then..."
The coldness with which you said this gave me the CHILLS.
"The occasional suffering Israelis endure when a bus blows up or a rocket hits a house merely interrupts their generally happy and prosperous condition every now and then..."
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@13: Hey east coaster, so given our incredible prosperity in the face of much of the rest of the world, when some terrorists crash a couple of planes into a pair of skyscrapers and kill a few thousand people, we should just take it on the chin, tousle the extremists' hair and say "you scamps"? Not to put too fine a point on it, but please go screw yourself.
20
Nobody's leaving, that's pretty clear. These folks have got to learn to live with one another (and respect each other's human rights) or they are going to destroy the world with their hatred.
21
I also have absolutely no sympathy to Israel. They refuse to even talk about giving Palenstine their own state, and they do just as many "Acts of aggression" as anyone else in the region, if not more. When they invaded Lebanon, that was the breaking point when no only did they lose my sympathy, but any credibility for attacking so-called "terrorists".
Fuck Israel.
Fuck Israel.
22
@15: Are you kidding? They're also backed by a majority of Western Governments. They're not some poor underdog forced to live in a region that hates them.
23
@10,
I guess that's why on KIRO's website yesterday they characterized the protests in Seattle as an anti-Israel protest. Not a protest against the conflict, not a protest against Israel's actions. No, a protest against Israel itself.
The media shows bombed out buildings and dead bodies in Gaza because showing the equivalent in Israel would be more harmful to pro-Israel propaganda. It's better for Americans not to see how little the Israelis suffer.
I guess that's why on KIRO's website yesterday they characterized the protests in Seattle as an anti-Israel protest. Not a protest against the conflict, not a protest against Israel's actions. No, a protest against Israel itself.
The media shows bombed out buildings and dead bodies in Gaza because showing the equivalent in Israel would be more harmful to pro-Israel propaganda. It's better for Americans not to see how little the Israelis suffer.
24
@16: Calling any criticism of Israel "antisemitism" is a an attempt to cut off discourse and productive discussion by labeling it an attack on the Jewish people. It's not.
25
@16, my issue has nothing to do with this side or that, but pointing out the state of the PR, the distribution of images and language. but if i had the choice to live in israel or iran (or even saudia arabia), i would much rather live in isreal.
26
If the world community wants this senseless violence to actually end, finally, the obvious solution is to forcibly evacuate every living person and thing in Israel and in the Palestinian territories to other parts of the world, and then to level and irradiate that portion of the Mideast until it is uninhabitable for a geologic epoch at least, permanently at best.
27
Lol!
Charles you write for a pro-Jewish pro-Israel publication. But it's good to have some token counterpoint as long as you don't go too far.
The Stranger strongly backed the war in Iraq and The Seattle Jewish community expects The Stranger to always side with Israel no matter what.
It is anti-Semitic to say anything bad about Israel Charles. I love The Stranger, but I know Dan Savage understands the need to be pro-Jewish no matter what.
Charles why don't you go back to writing articles about how racist Seattle is. Israel needs to kill as many of the sub-human Palestinian vermin as possible, so that Jews have prosperity and safety. It is our right as Jews to kill Palestinian women and children, our Torah says so. Judaism is the most just religion on the face of the earth.
Only Christianity and Islam are bad religions. Anyone Jewish is just, intelligent, and righteous.
Charles you write for a pro-Jewish pro-Israel publication. But it's good to have some token counterpoint as long as you don't go too far.
The Stranger strongly backed the war in Iraq and The Seattle Jewish community expects The Stranger to always side with Israel no matter what.
It is anti-Semitic to say anything bad about Israel Charles. I love The Stranger, but I know Dan Savage understands the need to be pro-Jewish no matter what.
Charles why don't you go back to writing articles about how racist Seattle is. Israel needs to kill as many of the sub-human Palestinian vermin as possible, so that Jews have prosperity and safety. It is our right as Jews to kill Palestinian women and children, our Torah says so. Judaism is the most just religion on the face of the earth.
Only Christianity and Islam are bad religions. Anyone Jewish is just, intelligent, and righteous.
28
Let me bounce some ideas off you guys:
Google image search 'Palestinian rockets.'
The 'rockets' we hear so much about are home brew devices, fired from mortar stands, and have no guidance systems. It takes one guy to haul one and fire it off. They don't cause much physical damage, especially compared to a suicide bombing or car crash. They are useless as weapons of war.
The rockets, however, are horribly symbolic for both sides.
For the Palestinians, they are a pillar of defiance shooting into the sky from their economically devastated and besieged land. They unite the people as a raised middle-finger against the bastards who keep them poor and hungry.
For the Israelis, they are a looming reminder of the bloodthirsty barbarism at their doorstep. They unite a people, shaking their fists in basements across entire cities as the air-raid sirens blare.
Bottom line: rockets are a great psychological tool for uniting your people and making them hate the 'other,' no matter what side of the conflict you are on.
Thus, the rockets will not stop.
Google image search 'Palestinian rockets.'
The 'rockets' we hear so much about are home brew devices, fired from mortar stands, and have no guidance systems. It takes one guy to haul one and fire it off. They don't cause much physical damage, especially compared to a suicide bombing or car crash. They are useless as weapons of war.
The rockets, however, are horribly symbolic for both sides.
For the Palestinians, they are a pillar of defiance shooting into the sky from their economically devastated and besieged land. They unite the people as a raised middle-finger against the bastards who keep them poor and hungry.
For the Israelis, they are a looming reminder of the bloodthirsty barbarism at their doorstep. They unite a people, shaking their fists in basements across entire cities as the air-raid sirens blare.
Bottom line: rockets are a great psychological tool for uniting your people and making them hate the 'other,' no matter what side of the conflict you are on.
Thus, the rockets will not stop.
30
Palestine is too small to support two viable national states. There should be one country, Israel-Palestine, that fully accepts and protects the Jewish, Muslim, and Christian religions and people of Arab and non-Arab ethnicities. Sectarian parties like Hamas would lose influence quickly if Israel was not itself a sectarian apartheid state.
The efforts toward a two-state solution have failed because Israel can't abide a viable second state on its border. A viable Palestinian state requires continuous land not encircled by Israel that controls its own borders and has an equitable share of water. Israel is not willing to allow that. But if Israel is not willing to allow a viable Palestinian state it is obligated to give full citizenship to Palestinians.
Violence will continue until Israel chooses between the two options. I personally cannot imagine a two-state solution working unless they were in full economic union and could maintain a coordinated water policy, and if you're going to do that you might as well have only one country. I see no reason why Israel alone among modern countries should be able to define its citizenship in preferential ethnic terms.
The efforts toward a two-state solution have failed because Israel can't abide a viable second state on its border. A viable Palestinian state requires continuous land not encircled by Israel that controls its own borders and has an equitable share of water. Israel is not willing to allow that. But if Israel is not willing to allow a viable Palestinian state it is obligated to give full citizenship to Palestinians.
Violence will continue until Israel chooses between the two options. I personally cannot imagine a two-state solution working unless they were in full economic union and could maintain a coordinated water policy, and if you're going to do that you might as well have only one country. I see no reason why Israel alone among modern countries should be able to define its citizenship in preferential ethnic terms.
31
Lol!
Israel was given to us Jews by G-d! That is why it is our land and not the land of the Palestinian vermin.
Seattle people are so racist. Why can't you understand that the Jewish people as a race are the most oppressed people on earth. That is why even in America today we live in ghettos like Beverly Hills and the Upper West side. Even in Seattle we are forced to live in the ghetto of Mercer Island.
Israel will always fight for an ethnically pure state because Torah and Judaism proves that the Jews deserve a state free of souless vermin like Palestinian children and women.
The Stranger strongly supports Israel. If you are against war please read another newspaper.
Israel was given to us Jews by G-d! That is why it is our land and not the land of the Palestinian vermin.
Seattle people are so racist. Why can't you understand that the Jewish people as a race are the most oppressed people on earth. That is why even in America today we live in ghettos like Beverly Hills and the Upper West side. Even in Seattle we are forced to live in the ghetto of Mercer Island.
Israel will always fight for an ethnically pure state because Torah and Judaism proves that the Jews deserve a state free of souless vermin like Palestinian children and women.
The Stranger strongly supports Israel. If you are against war please read another newspaper.
32
Thank Goodness America dealt a fatal blow to the Terrorists that existed here on this land mass about 200 years ago. Poor Israel, all they want to do is keep the land someone else gave to them, that belonged to someone else. Is that so wrong?
33
One of the great failings of the Palestinian struggle is that they have consistently misunderstood how to succeed where it matters - in the Court of US Public Opinion. If they've scored any PR points, it's in spite of themselves, but it would put them ahead in this battle only. They still have lots of ground to make up.
@11, Hamas is an Israeli creation. If there had been no settlements, there would be no Hamas. If Israel had not consistently for the last 42 years tried to weaken the Palestinians by playing them off against each other (which they do to this day) there would be no Hamas.
I wish everyone, but especially people like Friedman, would stop treating the Palestinians like children. They voted for Hamas because it was the only credible alternative.
@11, Hamas is an Israeli creation. If there had been no settlements, there would be no Hamas. If Israel had not consistently for the last 42 years tried to weaken the Palestinians by playing them off against each other (which they do to this day) there would be no Hamas.
I wish everyone, but especially people like Friedman, would stop treating the Palestinians like children. They voted for Hamas because it was the only credible alternative.
34
Here's a solution.
Let's get the United Nations to pass a declaration that the rest of the World is united is saying stop OR ELSE to BOTH sides.
I say the UN should threaten both sides with complete annihilation if they continute past xx/xx/2009.
The threat would be that since the little kids in the playground can't make peace with each other, the big kids will come in and step on both their throats.
I propose the only long term viable solution is to take 2 atomic bombs and level both Israel and Palestine/Gaza.
End of story. Fini.
Problem solved.
Moving on....
Let's get the United Nations to pass a declaration that the rest of the World is united is saying stop OR ELSE to BOTH sides.
I say the UN should threaten both sides with complete annihilation if they continute past xx/xx/2009.
The threat would be that since the little kids in the playground can't make peace with each other, the big kids will come in and step on both their throats.
I propose the only long term viable solution is to take 2 atomic bombs and level both Israel and Palestine/Gaza.
End of story. Fini.
Problem solved.
Moving on....
35
With Syria as an ally, who needs enemies? Instead of sending Palestinians things they actually need like food, water, medicine, or the means to build infrastructure, they send weapons. Syria doesn't have the cojones to face off against Irael itself so it sends Palestine in as the sacrifice pawn. Palestinians, brainwashed to believe in the glory of martyrdom, happily trot across the border (pre-fence) and blow themselves up. Israel, of course, is pissed off, they kill more Palestinians, bulldozes more Palestinian property, and put up a fence. Palestinians are more desperate than ever, since the only source of employment (and wages and things wages buy, ex. food) was, yes, in Israel. Israel imports cheap labor from the Philippines and elsewhere. Which is all good in Israel. Palestine grows more desperate. Do they admit that "Gee, maybe picking a fight with our bigger, bad-assier neighbor isn't such a hot idea! Maybe we should acknowledge Israel & accept that the Jews aren't going anywhere!" No, they have pride! (Which you can neither eat nor drink) So what is Palestine's big plan for the future? More war with Israel (60 years and counting!). They will not even pretend to make nice with Israel and wait for the peace accord to expire, they start lobbing rockets at Israel, which were thoughtfully bought and paid for by their old friend Syria, who still isn't offering anything useful like food, water, shelter, medicine, or infrastructure. Which the Palestinians now have even less of.
As someone who used to live in Las Vegas, I have a tendency to look at war as a (bad) bet. If you do decide to try your luck, be aware there is no such thing as luck. The house always comes out ahead. If you can't afford to lose your stake, you can't afford to gamble. You shouldn't even walk into the casino.
More...
As someone who used to live in Las Vegas, I have a tendency to look at war as a (bad) bet. If you do decide to try your luck, be aware there is no such thing as luck. The house always comes out ahead. If you can't afford to lose your stake, you can't afford to gamble. You shouldn't even walk into the casino.
37
Israel is owned by the Rothschilds (see Balfour Agreement). Queen Elizabeth II has always seen Israel as the entry wound of conquering the Middle East. The next phase of implementing the New World Order has begun. The Rothschilds also handle all financing of the Palpacy. We are all complicit in this New World Order.
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