We’ve talked a lot about the blatant antisemitism seen in the aftermath of Hamas’ attack. I feel like it’s also important to talk about the low key antisemitism.
Hamas is a terrorist organization. It recently raped, pillage, and decapitated children. It has a long history of lying all the time. It has lied in this conflict.
Despite all this, the media more or less ran with this story as fiat. The fact that it was a claim by Hamas was heavily demphasized. A lot of places reported the claim coming from a “Gaza Health Spokesperson”. While that’s technically correct, it’s heavily burying the lead. A lot of places didn’t even report it as a claim but as a straight up fact.
So then Israel claims that they are innocent. All of a sudden proof becomes super important. The claim is key with extreme skepticism. Most media outlets frame the denial as a token gesture.
So then Israel comes out with an extreme amount of proof that the entire thing was a hoax. This included intercepts from Hamas talking about how they were gonna blame Israel for the attack. It also included drone photos showing the hospital mostly unharmed and data indicating the death toll was made up.
Instead of admitting they got it wrong, the narrative shifts so a “he said/she said” situation. They report how “nobody knows what truly happened”. They at no point request evidence from Hamas, yet still treat Hamas’ claim on equal footing to Israel s
At last, the DoD verifies the Israeli account. Turns out the entire thing was a hoax. Instead of being embarrassed that they got tricked by a terrorist organization, they run articles about how “nobody could have known what was going on” and “the fog of war”.
It’s hard to view this as anything but malicious at this point.
Hamas is a terrorist organization. It recently raped, pillage, and decapitated children. It has a long history of lying all the time. It has lied in this conflict.
True. The Israeli government is an apartheid state and an illegal occupier. It has an extensive history of killing civilians and brutally oppressive millions of people for decades. It has a long history of lying all the time about civilian casualties. This goes both ways. You can’t trust either side.
Media ran with this story because it is believable given the decades of blatant disregard for human lives from both Israel and from Hamas. More evidence will tend to be demanded from the side that makes a claim that counters something that has already been claimed.
If you pull out the antisemitism card the moment people is willing to believe claims from the Palestinian side then you’re grossly and offensively abusing the term in away that makes rooting out actual antisemitism more difficult.
So then Israel comes out with an extreme amount of proof that the entire thing was a hoax.
This is exaggerating the situation. They e.g. had to withdraw videos because it turned out timestamps didn’t match, which made it easier for people to further distrust it, from a source with an extensive history of lying to cover up civilian deaths.
At last, the DoD verifies the Israeli account. Turns out the entire thing was a hoax.
The closest I can find is that their “current assessment” … “is that Israel is not responsible”. E.g. this as reported by CNN:
“While we continue to collect information, our current assessment, based on analysis of overhead imagery, intercepts and open-source information, is that Israel is not responsible for the explosion at the hospital in Gaza yesterday,” Watson said in a statement on Wednesday.
The NSC followed up with an additional statement Wednesday afternoon leaning further into its assessment. “Intelligence indicates that some Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip believed that the explosion was likely caused by an errant rocket or missile launch carried out by Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). The militants were still investigating what had happened,” Watson said.
Saying they are not responsible, and that Palestinian militants believed it may have been an errant rocket or other failure is very different from saying it was a hoax, the latter of which implies intent to deceive or even intentionally causing the destruction from the people who first made the claims that made it into the media, irrespective of what others may or may not have wanted to do.
It’s very possible it is a hoax. But jumping to conclusions about that is just as bad as jumping to conclusions the other way. Should we talk about the (not so) low-key Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism this conflict has evoked too?
It’s hard to view this as anything but malicious at this point.
Plenty of racism on both sides. However only one side is a powerful apartheid state with the power to stop this in a humane way.
Sanctions are the only way to make Israel listen.
But it needs to be the countries giving them billions a year that needs to do it, which is why Israel fights the BDS movement so hard.
Western countries shouldn’t be funding genocide.
Yes, sanction Israel over PIJ bombing a Gaza hospital, do it hard.
It’s crazy how often Israel makes a claim saying they have proof, and then later we find out they were lying…
And people still believe their next claim without proof
It’s amazing how many news sources just publish info based on Hamas’s words, and people eat it right up.
Show me one instance of the international community believing Hamas based solely on their word.
See Gaza hospital explosion from literally fucking yesterday.
You forgot the link showing the international community (that means governments btw) just taking Hamas’ word without any proof.
You can look as long as you want, you will not find it.
Oh really? Then why did lemmy blow up with people posting all sorts of headlines from news sites directly parroting Hamas’s words right after the explosion? I’m guessing you conveniently stayed away from all forms of media yesterday?
