Le Figaro said that the video clip – which shows tents on fire in a Palestinian refugee camp in Rafah, where 45 people were killed in an Israeli bombing – shocked public opinion and conclusively confirmed Israel’s defeat in the media war and the deterioration of its situation in the world.
The French newspaper explained, in a column written by Renaud Girard, that the video clip – which was widely distributed of tents on fire that day – was equivalent to the image of the little girl who was burned with napalm in the Vietnam War, running naked on the road, with signs of terror on her face. .
The writer mentioned that that image and the reports coming from Vietnam at the time turned public opinion against the war, so Congress decided that the United States would abandon South Vietnam, which caused its defeat in less than a year, and here Israel is also losing its media war today in Gaza, despite that. It is of great importance in contemporary conflicts, due to the widespread use of smartphones equipped with cameras that can instantly disseminate images via social networks.
Israeli Goliath
If the atrocities of the Japanese Imperial Army in China in 1937 took weeks before news reached Western ears, the assassinations of 45 civilians and burning them to death in an area said to be safe, after they had been displaced several times, aroused international feelings on the same day.
Although the Israeli bombing was a response to missiles fired by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) on Tel Aviv, without causing casualties – as the writer says – what world public opinion witnessed was the Israeli Goliath attacking the Palestinian David family, and killing quite a few civilians, which will be added to 36 One thousand Palestinians have been killed by Israel since October 8, 2023.
If the Israelis have always known how to keep the Western media and Western public opinion on their side, their image as victims of the Holocaust in the mind of the world gradually turned into the image of a tyrannical oppressor, which led to the deterioration of their situation in the world.
French President Emmanuel Macron described this Israeli strike as “unacceptable” and his government excluded – as a first practical measure – Israeli arms manufacturing companies from the Eurosatory exhibition, which will be held in the capital, Paris, between June 17 and 21, 2024, despite Paris’s position in support of Israel at the beginning of the conflict.
Despite the West’s positions that always support targeted operations carried out by Israel, such as its assassination of the Munich bombers and Hamas leaders in Gaza and Lebanon, Israel’s popularity in Western opinion has deteriorated significantly during the 8 months of war.
From victim to tyrannical oppressor
Because of its appearance as indulged in revenge and collective punishment, Israel has lost the media war, as young people in the countries most supportive of it are now repeating historical narratives that the Israelis are “horrible colonialists who attack defenseless civilians,” which is about to expand the boycott, divestment, and sanctions targeting Israel by their countries. According to the writer.
Even US President Joe Biden, who was very supportive of Israel throughout his political life, today seems angry with the strategy of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and has begun to exert maximum pressure on the Israeli government in favor of a ceasefire.
If the Israelis have always known how to keep the Western media and Western public opinion on their side – as the writer says – then their image as victims of the Holocaust in the mind of the world gradually turned into the image of a tyrannical oppressor, which led to the deterioration of their situation in the world.