BEWARE: FAKE NARRATIVES IN THE WAR IN GAZA!

In the past weeks, given my deep concern about the wholesale massacre of innocent civilians in the war in Gaza, I wrote two articles about the Gaza situation.

Many understood and appreciated the articles. Two people misunderstood the intent of those articles. I will now transform those criticisms into a broader understanding of what is going on in Gaza and how mainstream media is dishing out disinformation on the war in Gaza. I will begin by reiterating, once more, the position of CCH on the war in Gaza between Hamas and Israel.

CCH Position on the War in Gaza

“… I want to state very clearly that I am not taking any sides in this conflict. During several peace missions to Israel in the past, I have friends from both the Palestinian and Israeli sides. I also have no ideological biases. I have Muslim, Jewish, Christian, Hindu, and other friends from other religious persuasions. In addition, I have agnostic, atheist, gay, lesbian friends, and peaceful communist friends. On an individual level, I respect people’s identities and have no problems socializing with any ethnic, national, ideological, or religious group. [Emphasis in the original.]

“But I do have principles. First, I am totally against the brutal slaughter and senseless killings of innocent children, mothers, sick people, and other innocent citizens and victims in the conflict. No matter what parties are involved, I am totally against genocide and crimes against humanity. That is my first non-negotiable principle ….” [Emphasis added.]

“Despite the uncertainty of the truth about the hospital bombing, I am writing this article for two urgent reasons. First, no matter what the final truth on the hospital issue, it is urgent that both sides have to stop genocidal attacks on civilian populations. These are war crimes.”^[1]https://covidcalltohumanity.org/2023/10/24/the-al-ahli-hospital-bombing-genocide-and-nuclear-apocalypse/ [Emphasis added.]

The last two paragraphs clearly state our position at CCH. We are clearly against any party killing innocent civilians, whether it be Hamas killing innocent Israeli citizens or Israel killing innocent Palestinians.

In our second article, we repeat the same message, albeit in different words.

“It is now almost a month since the surprise genocidal attack of Hamas on Israel last October 7, 2023, and the disproportionate and insane genocidal response of Israel against Hamas and Palestinian residents in Gaza. …. [Emphases added.]

“Earlier, CCH wrote that, amidst the massive disinformation war perpetuated by both sides, it is very difficult to come to definitive conclusions. However, this CCH article advanced the position that, whatever the real causes and chains of reactions may be, for the sake of humanity’s moral integrity and future, the world should never accept genocide, the killing of innocent civilians as collateral damage, as a tool for achieving military and political objectives.”^[2] … Continue reading [Emphasis in the original.]

For those who imagine malicious intent, an imbalanced or problematic position in these statements, you are all hallucinating regarding the CCH position. CCH would like to caution you. Your mistaken comments or arrogant remarks reveal more about your biases and ideology rather than what is objectively happening in reality. You will therefore not fully understand what is going on in Gaza.

The CCH position in Gaze is clear. Therefore, there is no longer any need to respond to the other aspects of inaccurate criticisms of the two CCH articles. For this criticism mistakenly assume that CCH has naively supported the genocidal deeds of Hamas. Thus, all the other corollary criticisms fall by the wayside because the central premise of their criticisms does not hold water.

The Consequences of Fake News or Disinformation

This incident now allows CCH to look closely into how mainstream media and malicious actors are manipulating people’s perception of the crisis in Gaza. Because it veils the truth, this manipulation is a breeding ground for false, irrational, and highly emotional positions taken by many people with regard to the Gaza issue.

The Bombing of al-Ahli Hospital

Let us begin with the topic that CCH covered in its first opinion piece on Gaza – the bombing of the al-Ahli Hospital. The New York Times weighs in on this issue. Here is its conclusion.

“The Times’s finding does not answer what actually caused the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital blast, or who is responsible. The contention by Israeli and American intelligence agencies that a failed Palestinian rocket launch is to blame remains plausible. But the Times analysis does cast doubt on one of the most publicized pieces of evidence that Israeli officials have used to make their case and complicates the straightforward narrative they have put forth.”^[3]https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/24/world/middleeast/gaza-hospital-israel-hamas-video.html

The New York Times position is similar to CCH. It remains uncertain as to who actually bombed the hospital. But the New York Times does undermine the preferred mainstream media position that it was Hamas that was responsible for the bombing.

I mentioned that I was inclined to take the position that Israel bombed the hospital but I could not come to a definitive conclusion based on the evidence. But it seems that subsequent conscious and admitted bombings by Israel of dozens of hospitals, churches, schools, and other citizen infrastructure increasingly point to Israel as the most likely perpetrator of the bombing of the al-Ahli hospital. ^[4] … Continue reading

No proof that Hamas beheaded babies

One of the most disgusting atrocities attributed to Hamas was the latter’s beheading of 40 babies. This information went viral. Millions believed in it including myself. I had previously been reading about the terrorist activities of Hamas.

However, learning from my Covid research experience, I did a deep dive to determine if this story was true or not. There were counterclaims that this was fake news.

In the end, until now, there is no proof that Hamas beheaded babies. As a researcher, it is often more valuable to obtain one’s evidence from the side that makes the charges. In this case, Israel made the claim that Hamas beheaded babies. It would therefore be important to see what a pro-Israel Jewish journalist would report regarding this incident.

I followed Oren Siv in his Twitter/X reports. Oren Siv is an Israeli news journalist and photographer with 972 Magazine. The Israeli military allowed journalists to visit the place where the beheading of babies was supposed to have taken place. In his actual tour of the village, there was no evidence that Hamas beheaded babies.^[5]https://twitter.com/OrenZiv_

Another Twitter/X account, de facto, supported Siv’s claim. The Israeli government military released the list of casualties on the Israeli side This list did not contain any confirmation that 40 babies were beheaded. It did say, though, that one baby was killed.

Here is the account of Keith Wood from Twitter/X.

“Israel released the names and ages of people killed in the October 7^th Hamas attack: Only one baby among the dead – No 40 beheaded babies – stories of babies being targeted were FAKE. The amount of minors on the list was under 2%. At least 31% were military personnel – by all estimates, well over 90% of the deaths in Israel’s war on Gaza are civilians.”^[6]https://twitter.com/KeithWoodsYT/status/1722434819458548070. See his tweet on November 9, 2023

Furthermore, an Israeli army spokesperson told a journalist from a Turkey news agency that they heard the news about the beheading of babies but they had no confirmation that the event happened. ^[7]https://www.aa.com.tr/en/search/?s=Israeli+army+says+it+does+not+have+confirmation; See also, … Continue reading

The Grayzone has a fuller story. Not only did it show the beheaded babies story to be false. It also identified the source of the fake news to a certain David Ben Zion. This man is an Israeli reserve soldier and a leader of an Israeli settlement. He has been known to incite riots against a Palestinian settlement in the past.^[8]https://thegrayzone.com/2023/10/11/beheaded-israeli-babies-settler-wipe-out-palestinian/

The story of beheaded babies captured the world’s attention. But increasingly, the story is being debunked. For example, the White House walked back on Biden’s claim that Hamas beheaded babies.^[9]https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/12/white-house-walks-back-bidens-claim-he-saw-children-beheaded-by-hamas Even NBC reported on this White House disclaimer of Biden’s remarks.^[10]https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/biden-deliver-remarks-roundtable-jewish-community-leaders-rcna119865; … Continue reading CNN also reported on the lack of evidence on the news of babies being beheaded by Hamas.^[11]https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/12/middleeast/israel-hamas-beheading-claims-intl/index.html

No Evidence Hamas baked baby in oven

Equally shocking was the news report that Hamas killed a baby by baking it in an oven. However, like the other shocking stories above, there is no proof that this actually happened. A pro-Israel person threw cold water on this claim.^[12]https://twitter.com/search?q=ishaycoen&src=typed_query

Reports of Hamas raping captives are not substantiated.

Another pervasive fake news is that Hamas militants have been raping their captives. So far, many of the new stories reporting this to be true have not been verified.^[13]However, this does not necessarily mean that no Hamas militants committed rape. That remains to be substantiated by future investigations. On the contrary and increasingly, even the mainstream press has reported that such reports have not been substantiated. For example, The Los Angeles Times is one such mainstream newspaper reporting this to be the case.^[14]https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2023-10-09/israel-hamas-attacks-failure-security-surveillance-blame

This atrocity report and other similar stories of atrocities have not been substantiated. It is starting to be obvious that Israel is engaged in the use of atrocity propaganda as part of information warfare.^[15]https://www.informationliberation.com/?id=64034

Another related story is the supposed rape of an Israeli woman, Shani Louk.^[16]https://www.newsnationnow.com/world/war-in-israel/mother-shani-louk-taken-hamas-daughter-alive/ This viral story has also not been substantiated. On the contrary, the mother of Shani Louk also did not confirm the rape story. The circumstances of her daughter’s death remain unclear.

Even worse for Israel, a Hamas hostage, when interviewed, shared that Hamas treated that person properly. The interview was done by The Times of Israel, a mainstream pro-Israel newspaper.^[17]https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/lifshitz-press-conference-panned-as-disastrous-for-israel-pr-win-for-hamas/

Here is a more detailed story of this PR disaster for Israel.^[18]Israelis Lament ‘PR Disaster’ After Freed Israeli Hostage Reveals Hamas ‘Treated Us Very Nicely. https://www.informationliberation.com/?id=64074 As the Israeli newspaper admits the lack of evidence, pro-Palestinian journalists observe that the stories on alleged rapes have ‘slipped away’. The rape accusations are losing credibility.^[19]https://www.informationliberation.com/?id=64116

A final example of Partial Disinformation

Immediately after the October 7 Hamas attack on Israeli Kibbutz dwellers, the mainstream media was full of stories about Hamas atrocities and barbarism. Hamas did commit acts of murder against Israeli civilians. And CCH condemns those massacres.

However, it later surfaced, through the testimony of a Kibbutz survivor, that Israeli soldiers shot their own people, the residents of the Israeli Kibbutz. Some hundreds of Israeli citizens were killed in the process.^[20]https://electronicintifada.net/content/israeli-forces-shot-their-own-civilians-kibbutz-survivor-says/38861

Summing It All Up

There is an interesting video in one of the Twitter/X accounts tying in a number of the fake news reported above. Propaganda and Co. is the name of the Twitter/X account. If one did not know the previous authenticated news above, the video of Propaganda and Co. would appear as propaganda itself. But it is not. Check it out at this site. They use Israeli news sources, among others. See their November 9 tweet about a fuller original version on October 28, 2023. Here is the https://twitter.com/propandco.

Given this kind of widespread disinformation, it is not surprising that journalists themselves have signed a letter accusing the Western media of bias in its report of the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, at the expense of the Palestinians.^[21]https://www.aljazeera.com/program/inside-story/2023/11/11/why-is-western-media-accused-of-bias-on-israel-palestine; … Continue reading

Given the continued genocide of innocent Palestinians in Gaza, it was inevitable that, on October 27, 2023, the UN voted on a resolution calling for an “immediate humanitarian pause” and access to aid to Gaza. One hundred twenty voted in favor of the resolution, including Russia, Iran, and Egypt. Fourteen voted against the resolution including Israel, and the US. Austria and Hungary. There were 45 abstentions, including Australia, Canada, Germany and Iraq. It is clear that world opinion is clearly against the genocide in Gaza.^[22]https://www.timesofisrael.com/un-resolution-urging-immediate-gaza-ceasefire-passes-with-overwhelming-majority/; … Continue reading

The genocide in Gaza is not fake news even if other countries continue to ignore the pleas of over a hundred countries to stop the genocide in Gaza. Instead, Israel, with US support, continues to murder thousands of innocent men, women, children, doctors, teachers and other citizens in Gaza.

This UN vote mirrored itself this weekend in the collective demonstrations of millions of people around the world demanding Israel stop the massacre of innocent civilians in Gaza. Crowds of hundreds of thousands showed up in Washington DC, other cities of the US, London, Indonesia, and dozens of other countries.^[23]https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/04/us/protests-israels-gaza.html; https://www.reuters.com/world/pro-palestinian-protesters-demand-gaza-ceasefire-european-marches-2023-11-04/ ; … Continue reading

Meanwhile, hardly do we read any more of reports regarding massacres by Hamas of Israeli citizens. Hamas is too busy trying to stop the Israeli military from killing thousands of Palestinian citizens in this one-sided war unraveling in Gaza.

Israel, the US, and other supporters of the genocide in Gaza should heed the anguished voices of millions around the world. They ignore it at their own peril. God’s justice may seem too slow for some. But in the end, it always comes. And, woe, to the guilty ones!