The Big Truth

Joseph Goebels the chief Nazi propagandist believed that the key to good propaganda was to be found in the principle of the big lie. That is, if you repeat something over and over again no matter how absurd, people will begin to believe it. The big lie has this uncanny ability of gaining exponential credibility. It seems to almost feed off itself. One person believes, he convinces his friend who convinces his friend and so on until one new convert tell the original believer who uses this to solidify his original belief. Obviously it must be true he tells himself not only I believe it, everyone believes it.

The Israeli-Arab conflict has over the year provided excellent empirical evidence for the power of this big lie theory. Take for example of the Palestinian big lie about an Israeli ‘massacre’ in the town of a Jenin during the height of this second Intifada. The Palestinian chief negotiator (a fancy title for a modern propaganda chief) Saeb Erakat told CNN that 500 Palestinians had been ‘massacred’. Numerous journalists began to report rumour of a ‘massacre’. Palestinians themselves reading media reports came to believe that a ‘massacre’ had taken place. They then informed the journalists about the ‘massacre’ that had taken place, reaffirming the journalists’ original hypothesis, spurring more articles about the ‘massacre’. Then numerous governments condemned the ‘massacre’ based on journalist and Palestinian reports, giving it even greater credibility.

The story of a ‘massacre’ gained so much momentum that even Israeli government officials refused to comment fearing that it was in fact true. It was only days later when more information became available that it was obvious that it was all just a big lie. The only way to defeat a big lie is with the big truth. In the Jenin case the UN report that said no massacre had taken place is a good example.

The truth however is often complicated, it needs to be contextualised, explained in detail. It’s hard to get across in a headline and therefore often doesn’t make it to the newsrooms of a sound-bite hungry press. Unfortunately the simplicity of the big lie seems to prevail. This has certainly been the case with the Arab-Israeli conflict. All events seem to be reported in the main stream media through this prism of the big lie of the Palestinian David throwing stones against Goliath Israel. But there are rare moments, when the big truth manages to overcome shattering the common misperception. This week a culmination of events presented one such moment.

First it was the chilling call on Palestinians by the Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to ‘wipe Israel off the map’. For those of us involved in the conflict this type of anti-Semitic rhetoric is not new. One needs only go to www.memri.org to see that it is rather common place in the Arab/Muslim world. But these statements are often vague, couched in the diplomatic notion of a one state solution or dismissed as the raving of religious fanatics. But the very real possibility of Iran using its soon to be acquired nuclear arsenal to exterminate millions of Israeli Jews has shocked the World. Can it be that Israel is not the aggressor? Perhaps, just maybe, it is the Jewish state that is under attack.

The second event was an interview in the liberal Israeli newspaper Haaretz with the head of Hamas in Gaza in which he made it quite clear that the goal of Hamas was not only returning to the 1967 borders but ‘liberating all of Palestine’. In recent weeks many on the Israeli left, particularly Haaretz, have argued that Hamas were softening their stance. Participation in elections and perhaps even government would force them to recognise Israel. But the big lie was shattered. Hamas is not fighting the ‘occupation’. They are not interested in 2 states, Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace and security. They, like their Iranian cousins intend to wipe Israel off the map.

And finally yesterday’s horrific suicide bombing in Hadera. The myth that the Palestinians had renounced terror and taken up Ghandism has finally been shattered. It is painfully clear that Palestinian president Abbas is not fulfilling his side of the road map. Stage 1 says disarm the terror groups. Not negotiate with them. Not make them promise to be nice now so they can hold on to their bombs for later. It is finally clear that until Palestinian terror is defeated there cannot be peace.

The combination of all three of these events this week, have exposed the true nature of the threat faced by the Jewish state. Today the big truth has won out. But will it last? I fear not.

Comments

[Steve]

Great post, but Im not so sure that the big truth has won out even for today.

The ha'aretz interview where Hamas stated that their aims are the same as they have always been was hardly reported anywhere outside of Israel and the US.

And the suicide bomb has been 'justified' as a retaliatory move after israel took out the man who plans these operations.

The condemnation of Ahmadinejad's remarks strikes me as self motivated. The world really is worried about them going nuclear and this is a nice pretext within which to voice their concerns. A similar outcry was not voiced when Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohammed made his comments about Jews.

It cannot be that there is no other way. 1.3 billion Muslims cannot be defeated by a few million Jews. There must be a way.

We are actually very strong. 1.3 billion people cannot be simply wiped out. The Europeans killed 6 million Jews out of 12 million. But today the Jews rule this world by proxy. They get others to fight and die for them.

They survived 2000 years of pogroms not by hitting back, but by thinking. They invented and successfully promoted Socialism, Communism, human rights and democracy so that persecuting them would appear to be wrong, so they may enjoy equal rights with others. With these they have now gained control of the most powerful countries and they, this tiny community, have become a world power.

Of late because of their power and their apparent success they have become arrogant. And arrogant people, like angry people will make mistakes, will forget to think.

[Steve]

Oh yeah...a link for the above

http://www.adl.org/Anti_semitism/Malaysian_1.asp

[AntiUN]

You hit on something totally true - a call for a 1 state solution is effecctally what ahmadinejad is calling for in nicer wrapping.

Great point.