The media reaction to the deadly attack on Jewish Hanukah celebrants at Bondi Beach in Australia has revealed far more about entrenched bias and selective outrage than about the incident itself. Within hours, large parts of the press and broadcast media shifted their focus away from the massacre and toward exploiting the attack to mount an assault on pro-Palestine demonstrations around the world, branding them as complicit in antisemitic violence.
This response followed a familiar pattern: a criminal act was weaponized to smear a global protest movement that has consistently mobilized against mass killing, genocide, and state violence--Israel's ongoing assault on Gaza. Framing the Palestine rights movement as responsible deliberately obscures a basic truth--our demonstrations have always been against killing, mass slaughter, starvation, and genocide. They are protests against the destruction of civilian life, not against Jews or anyone else.
Many of the shocked, shocked commentators now expressing alarm about violence are the same figures who, over the past two years, justified or remained silent about Israel's bombardment of Gaza, rationalized the killing of tens of thousands of civilians, or said nothing as hospitals, schools, and refugee camps were reduced to rubble.
It's also interesting to note what has been minimized, marginalized, and played down: a Syrian Arab Muslim man, Ahmad Al-Ahmad, jumped one of the shooters and prevented him from continuing his killing spree. His actions should have been central to the story; instead, they are nearly erased. Why? Because the facts interfere with the false notion that Muslims are inherently violent, driven by hatred of Jews.
Conflating peaceful protests against genocidal atrocities with a criminal act draws attention away from those atrocities and chills legitimate dissent.
But we will not be chilled. We refuse to allow smears to replace facts, or selective outrage to silence a movement rooted in the most basic moral demand of all--that human life, Palestinian life, must matter.
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Entrenched bias and selective outrage
Woefully silent
To the Editor:
Jesus is love - Christmas his birth. Churches have been woefully silent about Israels two year genocide in Gaza. Considering that Jesus was born in Bethlehem and would be Palestinian, it seems inexplicable that the churches are so quiet (except for the Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac in Palestine). Jesus message, “love the poor, the sick, the oppressed.”
The State of Israel, despite the “ceasefire” continues to bomb, bury, and kill innocent Palestinian women, children, babies, and men. The people of Gaza are still being deprived of food, water, and medicine. Two million are trapped and terrified by the IDF. Our government supports and funds these atrocities with your tax dollars. What would Jesus do? Pray, witness, speak, act? What are the churches doing? What are you doing? Are Christians supporting genocide and starvation with silence? Learn the truth at electronicintifada.net or read about Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac.
Consider joining a local group like mideastcrisis.org or jewishvoiceforpeace.org. Perhaps, join with Women In Black who stand peacefully in solidarity with Palestine every Saturday from 12:30-1:30 in front of the New Paltz Elting Library. You might even feel motivated to call the White House 202-456-1111 or Pat Ryan 202-225-5614 and say “No U.S. weapons or money to fund Israeli genocide.” So as we celebrate his birth the question, “What would Jesus do?”
The Gaza "Ceasefire" is a total fraud.
The deliberate starvation hasn't ended either, as only around 200 trucks of aid per day are being allowed into Gaza, far short of the agreed-upon 600. Malnutrition is still off the charts.
And the IDF hasn't withdrawn from Gaza,, with 40 active Israeli sites still operating beyond the partition line, in clear breach of the ceasefire agreement.
But most U.S. journalists seem happy to close their eyes to these facts and pretend that the ceasefire is holding. As a result, charities that deal with humanitarian aid for Palestinians have seen a catastrophic drop-off in donations--the world thinks Gaza doesn't need our help anymore!
We need to renew the pressure on our leaders to actually end the violence, withdraw the Israeli troops, and allow in the humanitarian aid Gaza now depends on. We cannot shrug and look away.
According to Mondoweiss, Israel is exploiting the "ceasefire" agreements to establish new realities on the ground, projecting itself as the regional hegemon by launching increasing attacks on Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, and the West Bank.
We Will Not Be Silent! Join Us!