An Endless War on Truth

The refusal by Israel earlier this month to permit U.S. Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar to enter Israel or the Occupied Territories was no accident or one-off. Rather, it was one highly public instance of a strategy to deny truth and promote falsehood that has been going on in many forms for many years by Israel.

Travel and Speech
The denial of entry to Reps. Tlaib and Omar highlighted the stranglehold that Israel places on people’s ability to travel and to speak. Just a week earlier, Israel welcomed with open arms a large delegation of U.S. congresspeople willing to be fed and echo the party line. Severe restrictions and harassment are common for supporters of human rights attempting to enter, to leave, and to travel within Israel and the Occupied Territories. Israeli Defense Force Order 101 criminalizes political expression and activities in the Occupied Territories, including organizing and participating in protests; taking part in assemblies or vigils; holding, waving, or displaying flags or other political symbols; and printing and distributing any material “having a political significance”.
After great international outrage over its denying Rep. Tlaib right to enter, Israel relented and said she could visit her grandmother in the West Bank so long as she kept politically silent. She of course refused. And Rep. Omar was not welcome at all, in spite of her responsibilities as member of the House Foreign Affairs committee.

A Breath of Fresh Air
Thirteen-year-old Janna Jihad is from the West Bank Village of Nabi Salih. In a Democracy Now interview, she noted, “I was only 7 years old when I started doing journalism. It was when I saw that there were not enough journalists to cover things that happened in my village, Nabi Salih, and also in Palestine in general. Like, when my friend Mustafa was killed, my uncle Rushdie was killed, a lot of things were happening, and the world didn’t know about how we, as Palestinian children living under this Israeli military occupation, are living, how we’re suffering, how we’re — like, how our rights are getting violated, our childhood is not given to us.” When asked by Amy Goodman how Israeli soldiers respond to her videotaping, Janna responded, “Of course, it’s pretty hard. Like, for example, last year I got — the Israeli Ministry of Strategic Thoughts made a secret report about me, saying that I’m the next threat on their country.”

Breaking the Silence
Breaking the Silence (BTS) is an organization of veteran combatants who have served in the Israeli military since the start of the Second Intifada and have taken it upon themselves to expose the Israeli public to the reality of everyday life in the Occupied Territories. They publish wrenching testimonies by former Israeli Defense Force (IDF) members who struggle with the legacy of what they observed and what they did when in the IDF.
The state of Israel has responded by banning the group from speaking to active-duty soldiers, and from appearing in schools. The Israeli political establishment has taken every opportunity to vilify BTS.

A Shepherd Tending His Flock

In April, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported “Untamed Israeli Soldier Tells Truth. His Commanders Rush to Deny It”. Here’s the backstory: Palestinian shepherds were detained by the IDF. When questioned why, an IDF soldier replied, “They were walking with their sheep and blocking a road, and when they were asked to leave, they refused…it’s for deterrence.” So, the soldier was following orders. Yet when this detention issue was raised with the State Prosecutor’s Office, the soldier’s explanation was denied. They need doublespeak to mask the overriding goal: to leave the Jordan Valley as empty of Palestinians (and their sheep on the way to pasture) as possible.

Our Best Friend in the Middle East
In June, the Washington Post reported “President Trump has made 10,796 false or misleading claims over 869 days.” It is no surprise that he finds such good friends in Israel.