What has triggered global outrage at Israel’s response to 7 October?

By Rolene Marks

I call this war the “great illuminator”. Since the atrocities of the Hamas attack of 7 October, so much of what had been bubbling under the surface has now come out into the light. Many of us have lost lifelong friends who showed their lack of concern or blamed Israel, the antisemitism that many of us warned for years was fostering a climate of hate, has now been exposed to the world. The United Nations and their relevant “human rights” agencies like UNICEF and the UN Human Rights Council have demonstrated their lack or moral clarity. Do not get me started on the Red Cross and organisations that purport to support women and children.

No sooner had the horrific events happen, which the world watched on 7 October because gleeful Hamas broadcast it for all to see, the denials of the atrocities but also the celebrations began. Israel had not yet responded. So deep is the level of hatred for Jews and the Jewish state that the strange phenomenon of schizophrenic response is immediate. I have a theory why many denied the events that they just celebrated and watched like terror-porn quaffing lunatics. If they admit that they support those that carry out mass rape, burning of families alive, wholesale slaughter and torture and kidnapping, then they too, can be considered a monster. There are those who without apology and compunction, are happy to admit they support it because they see these monstrous actions as “resistance” or “justified”. These people walk amongst us.

There is the absolute outrage at Israel’s response. “The civilian casualties” they cry – while ignoring the empirical proof from many sources that proves that this is a war not only prosecuted with as much precision as possible, but the data gathering on casualty numbers has been proven to not make sense. The source of information to media is Hamas and even UNOCHA halved the numbers of women and children killed. The media earnestly gobbles up Hamas casualty figures while ignoring the glaring facts – and numerous military experts who say that at a veritable 1-1 civilian to combatant ratio, this is the war with the lowest casualty rate in the history of warfare.

So what is the real issue?

I believe it is the audacity of Israel daring to defend itself. Israel has a right to self-defence – in fact an OBLIGATION under international law to defend our citizens.

Over 80 years ago, the world closed its gates to the Jews fleeing the genocide in Europe. Today, most of the world breaks its moral compass by giving a tailwind to the terrorists and their various agents that are attempting to stop our inalienable right to defend ourselves. It is our audacity of self-defence that has the world up in arms – and not the atrocities that started this war we did not want.

Many of us are watching events on campuses and in cities around the world in utter disbelief as many young people or “Gen Z”, fed on a steady diet of anti-West propaganda denounce the countries they were born in and shill for Hamas, Hezbollah and other terror organisations. I feel like we are living in a parallel universe when young people take to Tik-Tok, (where I believe brain cells go to die) to extol the virtues of Osama Bin-Laden. I wish I was joking but I am not. You can almost see the Ayatollah Al Khamenei himself taking a break from calling for the annihilation of the Jewish State on X to rub his hands in glee at how well the minions have drunk the Kool-Aid. Gen Z’ers would rather “glamp” on a nearby campus, masked up and demanding humanitarian aid than defend their countries if needed.

A YouGov survey in the showed:

The US did not fare differently. A Pew survey demonstrated:

I watched the exceptional veterans at the 80th D Day Anniversary commemorations earlier this month.  The greatest generation. I marveled at the veterans, the eldest at 107, medals polished, with their dignified comportment. We owe them the gratitude of our freedom and democracy.

I am not shocked at the poll results in the United Kingdom and USA. Many (not all!) Gen Z’ers or the Tik-Tok generation have steadily been radicalized in their schools, universities and through social media. We are watching it in real time. They are taught to feel shame about their countries history and see everything through the prism of colonization, critical race theory and oppressor vs oppressed.

Israeli’s do not fit into any particular box of definitions and this confuses the paradigm. Israelis, no matter their age or background, religious or secular, left or right leaning, are patriotic. We are proud of our flag, we are proud to serve and we are proud of our national identity and history. This is an inconvenient truth for many of our detractors. 

When I watched the D-Day commemorations, I wondered who could be remotely comparable to the brave men who stormed the beaches of Normandy on 6 June 1994, some of whom would liberate the death and concentration camps where our families and ancestors were murdered and imprisoned.

This generation of Israelis are worthy. They are the reservists who did not wait to be called up by the IDF to defend Israel in the wake of the Hamas attack who rushed to their bases or caught planes from the four corners of the world to fight. The fight with honour and with pride. While many of their compatriots around the world are looking for the nearest “safe space” on campus – they are busy fighting a brutal enemy that threatens our western values and liberties.

They are the exceptional courage of the survivors of the horrors and the former hostages who at great pain to their physical and mental health continue to share about their experience and advocate for the 120 hostages that remain in captivity.

They are the exceptional forces that rescued four of our hostages over the past weekend. In a mission that was rehearsed for weeks, with complexities that changed second by second, in a manner where daring and bravery ranks up there with the Entebbe mission. Instead of applauding Israel’s daring and bravery – the global media and many others, gobbled up the Hamas propaganda and castigated Israel for “massacring hundreds of Palestinians”. While Palestinian civilians, caught in the crossfire were killed, the number is yet to be confirmed. Can someone place the world back on its axis? Israel lost one of our finest warriors in the mission – Chief Inspector from the YAMAM, Arnon Zamora, of blessed memory. A lion of Judah.  Like Yoni Netanyahu before him, Arnon will go down in the annals of Jewish history as one of the true kings of the battlefield. The rescue mission was named “Operation Arnon” in his honour.

Israel’s audacity to defend ourselves irks the world – and it is a loud reminder that we are the vanguard in the clash of civilizations and if they do not wake up, they are next. The future, like all the other issues mentioned in the beginning has been illuminated. Perhaps that is why the safest reaction is to criticize?

The lions of Judah neither slumber nor sleep, and the Jewish state, the embodiment of our ancient covenant, will do everything we can to survive. We will continue to fight.  Long may we be audacious.

While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves.  LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).

Through selective reporting, maliciously misframing events and deviously giving disproportionate attention to select viewpoints, the media impacts public understanding and opinion.

By Allan Wolman

Media manipulation is not just a tool for attracting audiences; it is also frequently employed to promote specific editorial agendas and propagate particular viewpoints. This manipulation can be seen in the way some news outlets, like Al Jazeera, are perceived to politicize their content, often aligning with one side of a conflict or issue rather than maintaining impartiality.

For instance, Al Jazeera has been accused of bias in its coverage of Middle Eastern politics. This partisanship can shape public opinion and influence political discourse, both regionally and globally. By highlighting particular narratives, omitting counterarguments, or emphasizing certain events over others, media outlets can steer the public’s perception to align with their own ideological leanings or those of their stakeholders.

Such practices are not unique to Al Jazeera; many media organizations around the world have been accused of similar biases. Whether through selective reporting, framing stories in a particular light, or giving disproportionate attention to certain viewpoints, media manipulation can significantly affect public understanding and opinions. This underscores the importance of critical media consumption and the need for audiences to seek diverse sources of information to gain a more balanced perspective on global events.

The subtle use of language in media plays a crucial role in shaping public perception while maintaining an appearance of objectivity. This technique involves carefully selecting words and phrases that carry implicit connotations, which can influence how the audience interprets the information.

The choice between terms like “freedom fighters” and “terrorists” to describe a group involved in conflict can dramatically alter the audience’s perception of that group. Such linguistic choices are strategic, designed to project a particular meaning without overtly revealing the media outlet’s bias.

In the immediate aftermath of the dramatic rescue of four Israeli hostages from captivity in Gaza, Sky, CNN, together with other networks referred to the ‘release’ of the hostages. This subtle play on language misrepresents the situation. The hostages were not released from captivity but were ‘rescued’ in a daring and meticulously planned operation by the IDF.

During a bizarre interview between BBC news anchor, Helena Humphrey and former IDF spokesman, Jonathan Conricus, Humphrey (with her mind fixated on Hamas’s claim that civilians were killed during the rescue raid that freed the hostages), astoundingly asked:

“Would there have been a warning to those civilians for them to get out on time?”

In framing this question, Humphrey deliberately ignored that the hostages were imprisoned within civilian homes.

The implication here is that the BBC expects – or even demands – that Israeli security forces should inform the enemy in advance of an imminent rescue operation, which would inevitably compromise the mission and potentially endanger the lives of the hostages!

Not only language, but numbers play crucial roles in media manipulation. The United Nations, which is openly critical and hostile towards Israel, recently revised its previous estimates based on information from the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health.

Recent data published by the UN indicates a significant revision in the estimated number of women and children killed during the conflict in Gaza. In reports released on May 6 and 8, the UN seemingly halved its previous estimates. According to Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the revised reports show a decrease of almost 47% in the total number of women and children killed during the war. Additionally, the data now indicates that men aged 19-59 made up 40% of the fatalities, contradicting previous claims that 70% were women and children. Notably, there is no mention of Hamas fighters included in the casualties, and important to note that child soldiers are not only found in West Africa; they are found in other conflict zones, including Gaza. 

The Washington Institute for Near East Policy released a report in January highlighting major discrepancies in the fatality reports, suggesting potential manipulation. This raises important questions about the reliability of information coming from conflict zones and the methods used to gather and report such data. Despite UN and other reliable sources, the mainstream media continue to quote casualty figures provided by the Hamas Health Authority – a highly questionable information source that they well know but nevertheless quote, deliberately spreading lies to discredit Israel, an age-old practice of antisemitism.

The rapid release of casualty numbers by Hamas authorities, raises questions about their accuracy and reliability. Shortly after the hostage rescue, CNN reported that at least 236 people had been killed and more than 400 injured, “according to hospital officials in Gaza.” The Associated Press published that 210 Palestinians, including children, were killed, “according to a Gaza health official.” It is puzzling how these numbers were gathered within mere hours and how distinctions between men, women, and children were reported with such precision!

At the same time European Union High Representative, Josep Borrell described the hostage operation carried out by Israeli security forces on Saturday morning (8 June) as “appalling”. Borrell referred to the operation as “another massacre of civilians,” noting that the EU “condemns this in the strongest terms.” This rapid condemnation and the reported casualty figures must surely raise questions.

SUSPECT SOURSES

Reports from Israel reflect a vastly different casualty count from the rescue operation. This discrepancy exposes the dubious nature of the sources of information presented by different parties involved – a reflection of political agendas, prejudice and naked bias.

So, will the EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrel consider the credibility, context, and potential biases of the reports coming from Hamas authorities given previous discrepancies highlighted by the recent UN report?

Given the Spaniard’s transparent bias against Israel and the Jewish people – remember his diabolical accusation that Israel “uses hunger as a weapon of war” – don’t hold your breath.

About the writer:

Allan Wolman in 1967 joined 1200 young South Africans to volunteer to work on agricultural settlements in Israel during the Six Day War. After spending a year in Israel, he returned to South Africa where he met and married Jocelyn Lipschitz and would run  one of the oldest travel agencies in Johannesburg – Rosebank Travel. He would also literally ‘run’ three times in the “Comrades”, one of the most grueling marathons in the world as well as participate in the “Argus” (Cape Town’s famed international annual cycling race) an impressive eight times. Allan and Jocelyn immigrated to Israel in 2019.

While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves.  LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).

With Israel’s northern settlements reduced to “ghost towns”, how long before daily skirmishes with Hezbollah escalate into a fully-fledged war?

By Rolene Marks

There is hardly a day that goes by without the ubiquitous beeping of incoming rockets or Unmanned Arial Vehicles (UAV) in Israel’s north. Israel’s northern border is under immense threat from Iranian sponsored proxy Hezbollah. While the world focuses attention on Israel’s military operations in Gaza following the atrocities committed by Hamas on 7 October, the north is heating up. Hezbollah started firing anti-tank missiles and rockets on Israeli homesteads and positions in the north on 8 October.

Israel has long anticipated that should war break out on one front, it will inevitably break out on others as well. Israel is not only fighting Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in the north but is also dealing with increased tension in the West Bank, opportunistic Iranian attacks and the transfer of weapons from Syria, the Houthi threat in the Red Sea and rebels in Iraq firing projectiles at the Jewish state.

Hezbollah poses a significantly greater threat than Hamas. The Iranian proxy has unequivocally violated UN Resolution 1701, which clearly calls for Hezbollah to remain north of the Litani River. United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) recently had their mandate extended – and yet have done nothing to rein in Hezbollah aggression.

Hezbollah is Hamas on steroids. Hezbollah’s equivalent of Hamas’s Nukba fighters known as the Radwan forces, are a lot more sophisticated and better trained and Hezbollah’s arsenal of rockets is estimated in excess of 160 000. These rockets, which are significantly more sophisticated than those fired by Hamas, have the entire state of Israel covered. It is a terrifying thought.

As the IDF evacuated southern communities in preparation for the military operation into Gaza, so northern communities evacuated as well. Towns and kibbutzim on the border are ghost towns and the impact of this on farms and the regional economy has been massive. Images coming in from Kiryat Shmoneh and Katzrin show massive destruction to property and the northern skyline is bright red and orange from fires. Civilians and soldiers killed from rockets and anti-Tank missiles – are facts the global community and media are silent about.

Lebanese residents in the south of the country have also been evacuated – and there an estimated 91,000 have fled their homes.

Hezbollah have fired thousands of rockets at Israeli positions, causing a massive amount of damage to hundreds of buildings and homes. They have caused widespread destruction on a wine farm and to chicken coops and set of massive fires across thousands of dunams of land.  Hezbollah have also fired towards IDF military positions, and Ziv Medical Center in the northern Galilee city of Safed, sustained a direct hit.

To date there have been no condemnations from the international community – but diplomatic efforts are underway to try prevent a widespread war from breaking out. Israel’s Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant has repeatedly warned Hezbollah not to test the Jewish state:

 “The noses of our fighter jets are pointed north”.

Hezbollah is recognized as a terror organization by several countries and has been described as a “state within a state” having representation in the Lebanese government.

Najib Mikati, Prime Minister of the interim government in Lebanon, said the Lebanese government would continue working for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the return the south Lebanese residents to their towns. He added that he was certain the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip would include the countries of the region and they would have “long-term stability and peace.”

Hezbollah is a proxy of Iran and are unlikely to take directive from the interim government. In response to escalating attacks on Israeli sovereign territory, Israel is striking Hezbollah targets, some as far into Lebanese territory as Baalbek, 265 km from the border.

Despite rumoured cautions from Iran for Hezbollah not to enter into a full-scale war with Israel, there is growing concern that Israel will inevitably have to enter the south of Lebanon in order to push Hezbollah north of the Litani River in compliance with UN Resolution 1701. Israel wants quiet on its northern border and for residents to return to their homes. I am sure that Lebanese civilians want the same for their residents of the south. Let us hope Hezbollah want that as well but emboldened by Hamas invasion of Israel on 7 October and their sworn solidarity with their ideological brothers, it seems less likely by the day.

While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves.  LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).