How is it that the most regressive movement since the Second World War has become the darling of the world’s progressive and LGBTQ groups?
Hamas and radical Islam call for the murder of Jews and the destruction of Israel. It seeks instead the establishment of an Islamic State based on Sharia law. Take, for example, homosexuality. Under Sharia law, it is not only illegal but punishable by extreme measures, including torture and execution. In Gaza, gay men are hanged on lamp posts or thrown off rooftops. So how is it that a movement that advocates Sharia law and preaches a genocidal philosophy is admired and supported by the progressive forces of the world?
How is it that this movement, for whom truth can be, and is, manipulated so that almost all of its reporting is a lie, is believed by leading newspapers, digital media, and the political world?
How is it that Universities that are managed by progressive-thinking people who ought to know better are blacklisting Israeli and Jewish scholars?
How is it that there are daily attacks on Jews and Jewish institutions, and that antisemitism is now mainstream and tolerated everywhere?
So why is it? Because Hamas and its supporters have created an incredibly powerful and viral social media machinery, assuming the favored role of underdog. They have built a narrative that has invited minorities, loners, and those longing for community to join them in a battle they do not even understand or feel compelled to explore.
Nothing being done to counter Hamas’s distortions of the truth
And it appears as if nothing is being done to counter Hamas’s distortions of the truth. How and what can then be done to try to show the negative aspects of this regressive movement, that is, Hamas.
As there is today no distinction between Jew hatred and anti-Israel propaganda, Israel and World Jewry must work jointly in this effort. They should form a joint Ad-Hoc working group with the aim of building a bottom-up strategy to effectively deploy social media and digital networks, in order to counter these vicious attacks.
Whilst Israel should concentrate on its public diplomacy on fighting anti-Israel bias, Jewish organizations need to deal effectively with anti-Jewish attacks. Coordinating and synchronizing the messaging and action is paramount.
Let us take the picture, on the front page of the New York Times, of the Palestinian child purported to be almost starving to death. The report omitted the crucial fact of his genetic disease and purposely cut out of the picture his well-fed brother, who was standing behind him. This action by the newspaper was nothing but a modern-day blood libel. The picture was the main catalyst for the worldwide vicious attacks against both Israelis and Jews. An Ad Hoc working group would ensure that a coordinated approach would be taken to both counter the smear campaign in the public space and, at the same time, consider filing a lawsuit against the paper.
True, it seems difficult to get a counter message across, but with willpower and determination, it can be done. We need to transform the current inaction by Israel and the Jewish communities into a powerful public information machinery that will counter the Goebbels-like propaganda peddled by regressive forces led by the far left and Radical Muslim propagandists.
To do so would require people and organizations to put aside their egos and work together for a common cause.
Let us start the process now!
Izzy Tapoohi was the CEO of Birthright Israel in the USA