Gaza protests are emblematic of willful tunnel vision... on all sides.
Gaza protests are emblematic of willful tunnel vision... on all sides.
Or, how to anger all sides with one essay.
Well, here we are TAT readers, nearly another week gone and so much to talk about. Despite other plans for essays, the recent unrest on primarily college campuses regarding the war in Gaza, has demanded some of my attention. I wish to share my thoughts with all of you. As a bit of a warning, many who are so dedicated to their political identity and ignore facts and reason, may be offended. Still, like the title of this publication says, it’s Truth about Threats, not truth about one political position or another. All national security threats must be addressed via my personal definition of truth:
Truth = All known facts, presented objectively and in ethical context - Cobaugh
Known facts and critical reasoning, or simple common-sense where I come from, matters a great deal. Ideological triggers, ideology, “sides” etc. are fatal flaws to any threat analysis or recommended solutions. If we don’t solve for solutions, the threats remain and, in most cases, become recurring tragedies. Gaza today, is exhibit A for this truth.
Today, at great risk of offending everyone… I will speak truth about this current wave of pro-Palestinian protests, and other ideological perspectives that perpetuate tragedy for innocent Israelis and Palestinians.
Onward
Multiple things can be true at the same time.
Without going into a long and tortuous history of the Arab people in Israel, West Bank, Gaza and the squalor of Palestinian refugee camps in neighboring nations, I will simply cut to the chase. Yes, the innocent Arabs known today as the Palestinian people living in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank, have endured much of their lives living below the standards that any human being other than extremists, should live. Does this make Israel always the aggressor or reason for such hardship? No, absolutely not. Has Israel on select occasions behaved far from their national standards and values, absolutely. Have they been subjected to uninterrupted attack from the very minute that the state was formed, also absolutely true. Where are the anti-Arab protests?
America, like most of the world now consumes daily doses of false narratives that drive such actions as our current protests, the actions of our enemies and friends alike. The narratives of the war in Gaza, have been almost unilaterally, one-sided in favor of Hamas but expressed as support for the Palestinian people. Major media in the western world like Reuters and the BBC have been some of the worst. They are quite far from being the only ones. To call them simply liars would not convey the depth of the harm imposed on innocent victims on both sides. The photo above contains messaging that is entirely false, while concurrently being one of the most persuasive false narratives. Let’s take a look:
“From the River to the Sea, is a statement declaring Palestinian desire for genocide, towards all non-Muslim Israelis. I know for a fact that the overwhelming majority of Palestinians, do not endorse genocide and wish to have their own state, alongside of their Israeli neighbors.
In modern history, Palestine was never free and under their own government, not Jews, Arabs, Christians or any of the other faiths that inhabit what is known today as Israel.
Palestinian, was the name given to all living there under the British Mandate, regardless of ethnicity, religion or any other class.
Everyone has a right to be free and there is no ambiguity in this statement. That means innocent and long-suffering Palestinian people and Israelis under threat from terrorism and attack, every single day of their lives.
Yes, as I have written in nearly every, long and detailed report that I have written on the topic of the war in Gaza, also includes strong condemnation of the Netanyahu administration. His cabinet includes some of the most heinous far-right extremists and racists in the region. His conduct of the war in Gaza, though I believe to have entered a less violent phase too late, is still within the LOAC/ Law of Armed Conflict. The IDF is NOT racist.
Previous reporting:
Israel - by Paul Cobaugh - Truth About Threats
Let's unpack the complex, barbaric attack on Israel and those to blame. (truthaboutthreats.com)
Short Friday notes after yesterday's long report on Israel (truthaboutthreats.com)
A quick Sunday update regarding the Israeli/Palestinian conflict in Gaza (truthaboutthreats.com)
Three things about the war in Gaza that we all must understand. (truthaboutthreats.com)
5th in the series, Israel and Hamas updates. (truthaboutthreats.com)
Has all media, good and bad, forgotten how to report with facts and context? (truthaboutthreats.com)
A short catch-up on Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, Russia and China's hand in Hamas' barbarism for their own selfish purposes. 7th in the series (truthaboutthreats.com)
Friday updates - by Paul Cobaugh - Truth About Threats
What the hell is wrong with almost all media reporting on the conflict in Gaza and ignoring the brutality in Ukraine and other nations? (truthaboutthreats.com)
“If it bleeds, it leads” - by Paul Cobaugh (truthaboutthreats.com)
Mid-week, national security, news round-up (truthaboutthreats.com)
When we blame countries and terrorist groups for war, don’t forget to blame corporations and Wall Street too! (truthaboutthreats.com)
Cost - Benefit Analysis, the war in Gaza - by Paul Cobaugh (truthaboutthreats.com)
There are six primary entities to blame for the current war in Gaza and I have detailed them in a previous TAT essay that explains each and every party responsible for the horrendous loss of life on October 7th and beyond. Of the six entities I blame, Bibi’s extreme right-wing cabinet, along with his support, are one of the six. The others are, hierarchically speaking; China, Russia, Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah. Where the hell are the protestors when it is time to protest Hamas, Iran, Putin and Xi who bear 95 % of the blame?
Netanyahu’s far right governing coalition. Israel’s democracy is different from ours and requires a governing coalition of very different political parties. This means that any combination of the dozens of Israel’s political parties, must be scraped together to acquire a majority in their Knesset or as in multiple similar systems, a “parliament.” Israel’s governing coalition is made up of the same far-right ideology that we see in the US MAGA movement, Putin’s Russia, Modi’s BJP Party, Orban’s Hungary and Marine le Pen’s party in France, etc. In Israel though, Bibi’s coalition has made some dramatically uglier threats, than we see even from the likes of Jordan, Gaetz, Boebert and MTG/ Marjorie Taylor Greene, etc. Bibi’s extreme-right government is but one piece of a global far-right/ authoritarian/ fascist trend that peaked around 2020 but is waning far too slowly for my comfort. Bibi’s cabinet and most critical government positions are filled now, by far-right bomb-throwers whose publics comments often surpass HAMA’s barbarity. For example, his Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, is a self-proclaimed, far-right, violent extremist. Ben-Gvir never served his mandatory service in the IDF/ Israeli Defence Forces because the Army deemed him too much of an extremist. He is known for making the vilest of statements about Arabs, and kept a portrait in his living room, of a US born extremist convicted of murdering 29 Arabs in prayer and wounding of another 150, in Israel. US condemns Israeli minister Ben Gvir's 'inflammatory' Palestinian comments - BBC News Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, is well known in Israel for his racist and homophobic pursuits and yes, as a man arrested in 2005 for suspicion of terrorist activities, He was accused of being involved in a plot, to blow up a highway as a protest against Israel’s disengagement from actual Gaza occupation. He was arrested in the possession of 700 liters of gasoline. There is a long list of others in his coalition with the same or similar ideologies. - Let's unpack the complex, barbaric attack on Israel and those to blame. - Truth about Threats - Cobaugh - October 12th, 2023
The insane signs in protest movements and events, proclaiming “genocide and occupation are flat out lies. Anyone with access to a simple dictionary knows that the claim of genocide is a disgraceful and utterly false accusation. There are two million Palestinians living in Israel, both Muslim and Christian, with some even serving in the IDF. How can this be genocide? Occupation is just as ridiculous as that no one… let me repeat that, no one but Hamas has been the government of Gaza, since 2005 when Israel ended their occupation. These campus protesters may have good intentions, but don’t forget, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
Today’s left primarily, is hooked on a false narrative perpetrated by a wide variety of disreputable characters since the late 1950s. Sure, it’s not the PLO anymore but the name doesn’t matter a bit. The actions of the PLO and every such movement since, including Hamas, has included genocide for Israel in their official charters and covenants. Hamas is in fact, the worst of the bunch as it pertains to genocide for Israel. This position has been supported by all Arab nations to one extent or the other with financing, political and diplomatic support. Today, even Turkey has joined in the support for Hamas and is not an Arab state. Also for the record, Russia and the Soviets before them, have long trained, supplied and supported anti-Israeli terrorist organizations.
THE COVENANT OF THE HAMAS - MAIN POINTS ======================================= The Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement was issued on August 18, 1988. The Islamic Resistance Movement, also known as the HAMAS, is an extremist fundamentalist Islamic organization operating in the territories under Israeli control. Its Covenant is a comprehensive manifesto comprised of 36 separate articles, all of which promote the basic HAMAS goal of destroying the State of Israel through Jihad (Islamic Holy War). The following are excerpts of the HAMAS Covenant: Goals of the HAMAS: ------------------ 'The Islamic Resistance Movement is a distinguished Palestinian movement, whose allegiance is to Allah, and whose way of life is Islam. It strives to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine.' (Article 6) On the Destruction of Israel: ----------------------------- 'Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.' (Preamble) - Hamas Covenant, Preamble
It is Hamas, Hezbollah and others in the same vein who have been the ones to walk away from peace talks and a two-state solution talks, almost every single time, yet, those who viciously impose the false narratives onto self-absorbed do-gooders, these days mostly found on the political left, are the ones who have applied their efforts for a dignified and sustainable peace for all, to the absolutely wrong cause. Again, where the hell are those who protest with the truth, instead of curated Hamas, Iranian, Arab and Russian propaganda? Politically speaking, the US and European centrists and left have been as conned as the right, who believe that Putin is more important to support, than US and NATO security.
America and the world cannot long survive on false, destructive narratives. Politicians who wield these narratives should know better. Congress has access to the CRS/ Congressional Research Service, the best, non-partisan and detailed research service available to anyone. Simply asking CRS a question would get an immediate full report but no… they continue to toss around preposterous red meat to their bases with false narratives.
Here in the US, both the right and left have allowed themselves to be conned by professional influencers, often with financing of false narratives from foreign nations like Iran, Russia, the Gulf States and yes, with dissemination by China as well.
Part of the problem and as described in detail in my just released second edition of Modern-Day Minutemen and Women, is that the US national security community is both impotent and negligent when it comes to defending our nation and allies, from propaganda and mis and disinformation. So many of the students protesting at campuses like Harvard, UCLA, Columbia University, etc., should know better, just like their voting parents, neighbors and friends who ignore reality, by being triggered by false narratives.
At the beginning, I said that more than one thing can be true at the same time. It’s long overdue that global citizens put their foot down on the insanity of following false narratives. The world will not survive chasing fantasies, no matter how much you believe in them. Russian Bolsheviks sucked millions of bewildered Russians into a Marxist state, largely with propaganda and the fervor of overthrowing a corrupt, oppressive and racist Tsar. This is a long way of saying that populism is destructive. Modern Republicans follow Trump and Russian propaganda like the proverbial lemmings, right off of a cliff and today’s left, seems hellbent on supporting Hamas, which does irreparable harm to the very Palestinians that they wish to help.
What happens to people in the world as a result of following false narratives, is reality and cannot be explained away with political ideology based on an alternate reality. Fake news and false narratives sucked America into a war with Spain all because a couple of newspaper titans, Hearst and Pulitzer, whose false narratives about the alleged Spanish attack on the USS Maine in Havana’s harbor became the rallying cry for war. Now, in a world where unethical journalism overshadows ethical journalism, we see more death and destruction incited by those being whipped into a fury over “fake news.”
Additional background reading regarding media coverage of the war in Gaza:
I derive no satisfaction from this, "I told you so." (truthaboutthreats.com)
Mainstream news outlets are borderline antisemitic in their reporting about the war in Gaza. (truthaboutthreats.com)
Freedom of the Press is our right, but we should expect truth, not agendas that kill human beings. (truthaboutthreats.com)
The road to hell, is paved with good intentions. (truthaboutthreats.com)
Has all media, good and bad, forgotten how to report with facts and context? (truthaboutthreats.com)
“If it bleeds, it leads” - by Paul Cobaugh (truthaboutthreats.com)
Here’s the bottom line on Gaza:
Israel is not evil.
Iran, Putin, Hamas, Hezbollah are evil.
There are evil Israelis in the Netanyahu administration, including Bib.
Most Palestinians want what most Israelis want, peace, security and a two-state solution.
Outside forces continue to stir the pot by inciting attacks like Oct 7th and responses like that of the IDF.
Outside forces still stir the pot with “fake news” and false narratives.
Hamas and its supporters will never make peace with Israel.
Most mainstream media have been exceedingly dishonest about what is occurring on the battlefield in Gaza.
Who among the protesters have equitable solutions rather than mindless and dishonest protest slogans?
Who will vote for those who have solutions, not just rhetoric?
These are just some of the questions that protesters must ask themselves. Media must stop the insane mantra of the industry of; “if it bleeds, it leads.” Journalism ethics must experience a resurgence, just as they did at the end of the Yellow Journalism scourge near the end of the 20th century. Media must stop pandering to advertisers and outside investors who are heavily and often unethical and immoral. Voters must stop relying on dishonest narrators, be they politicians, media, propagandists and especially the propaganda of the evil like Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran and Putin.
The simple closing to today’s essay is to reiterate that, all innocents deserve protection. For those believing that only Palestinians suffer, you are fools. Living under the threat of war, every day of your life, is not exactly a high quality of living either. Living with bomb-shelters in your apartment building, which is normal in Israel, including my daughter’s building in northern Israel, doesn’t give one much confidence regarding their future either. Palestinians in Gaza have lived with Hamas’ brutal oppression since 2005. Israel did not do that. For decades, Hamas stole most of the aid, supplied overwhelmingly by the west, not the Arab states.
Still, civilian casualties, more often caused by Hamas, than the IDF is devastating and must end. The way to end the suffering on both sides and with a chance to build peace on the heaps of rubble, is to rid the weight of oppression on the Palestinian people in Gaza by Hamas. This means utterly dismantling the infrastructure of the organization, built, supplied and trained by Iran and Putin. If protesters can’t see that, then they need to pack up their dishonest signs and go into those classrooms on campus, not wage war on everyone that disagrees with their false narrative protests.
There are damn few things in life that are black and white, or yes or no. Situations like the war in Gaza, have so very many nuances to consider but at the end of the day, understanding those nuances require learning and critical thinking, not mindless propaganda like the signs carried by most protesters.
If protesters want to help, protest for all of the good actors to sit down and make hard choices. The time for Hamas, Hezbollah and the rest to be at the table is over… if we want peace. That’s what Israelis and Palestinian protesters have long done, together.
My very best for your weekend,
Paul