A grand new experiment in political physics is underway in the United States, as the unstoppable moral force of youth-led protests against Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza collides with the unwavering object of elite support in American power.
In this confrontation, two critical forces have been used as weapons: the American mainstream media which massively disseminate Israeli propaganda and shape many local, state and national policies, and the scourge of anti-Semitism which has been unjustly used to demonize and silence the Palestinians and divert attention. far from the Israeli genocide in Gaza facilitated by the United States.
Since Israel launched its assault on Gaza, President Joe Biden’s unwavering support has galvanized young Americans to mobilize.
They formed decisive coalitions with Muslim and Arab Americans, Jewish, black, Hispanic and indigenous communities, labor unions and churches. They announced that if the United States continued to support the war, it would abandon Democratic candidates in the November elections, which would likely be fatal for the party.
America’s ruling elite largely ignored initial criticism of the young and marginalized until student encampments began springing up at universities across the country three weeks ago. The students demanded an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, an end to U.S. government financial and military aid to Israel, and divestment of universities from military industries that enable Israeli genocide.
Media coverage of the campus encampments and the violence against them has revealed that Israel is a central player in the power elite that supports Israel’s war and simultaneously attempts to silence Palestinians and criminalize anyone who supports them.
As I have been closely following the American media in recent weeks, I have been shocked to see journalists, commentators and broadcasters using the exact same words and phrases that Biden and American and Israeli officials have used to defame the protesters. The mainstream media gives the impression of going around Israeli and American authorities to prevent at all costs an open, honest, comprehensive and contextualized public debate on Israel’s behavior, while instead trying to attract public attention on false accusations.
The mainstream media widely condemned the students and accused them of using “hate speech and symbols” (in the words of the US president), endorsing terrorism, advocating the destruction of Israel, resorting to to anti-Semitic insults and to threaten and frighten Jewish students. Everywhere they look in student protest encampments, media oracles have seen “terrorists” in training, “anti-Semites” at work, “Jew-haters” trained, universities collapsing and “Nazi mobs” in action. training.
Prominent television hosts launched passionate and vicious diatribes against students who camped to demand an end to America’s role in Israel’s genocide against Gaza, as well as peace and justice for all in Palestine.
MSNBC’s Morning Joe show — reportedly one of Biden’s favorites — is a glaring example of systematically biased television programs that sometimes veer into incitement against student protests and university administrators. One of his hosts, Joe Scarborough, claimed that the students wanted to “eliminate all the Jews,” “they are Hamas on college campuses” and that they “are not helping those of us who want to fight fascism in America. His co-host Mika Brzezinski said campus protests “feel like January 6,” referring to the riot by Donald Trump supporters at the Capitol in January 2021.
Such unsubstantiated allegations against protesters are common, to varying degrees, on all major networks, including ABC, CNN and NBC.
Most of the “expert” analysts I’ve heard on mainstream television in recent weeks commenting on the protests have been former U.S. government or security officials, or people close to the Israeli point of view, including former Israeli officials. They also offered variations on the themes of terrorism, radicalization and anti-Semitism.
With the exception of a few interviews I’ve seen on MSNBC, the networks have avoided inviting knowledgeable Palestinians and Americans who could explain the real meaning of expressions that the media and authorities find offensive or threatening, and who could address the true nature and extent of these Jews’ fears. who are sincerely concerned about the impact of the protests on them.
It is no surprise that most media outlets have covered U.S. officials’ statements against peaceful campus protesters without any scrutiny.
This became evident, for example, when Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson and the heads of several key congressional committees gave a press conference on April 30 in which they threatened universities for allegedly allowing to anti-Semitism from growing on campus.
“We will not allow anti-Semitism to flourish on campuses, and we will hold these universities accountable for their failure to protect Jewish students on campuses,” Johnson said.
By reporting the numerous accusations against protesters without seriously questioning or fact-checking them, the mainstream media itself appears to embrace the conflation of anti-Semitism with valid criticism of Israeli policies, which many scholars view as a dangerous practice. Israeli policies that deserve criticism include those that are blatantly illegal and contravene international law, such as the expansion of settlements, the siege of the Palestinian territories and the carrying out of the genocidal attack on Gaza.
While mainstream media outlets have struggled with bias in their coverage of campus protests, reports and commentary have been published by serious, knowledgeable people who have actually spent time among the rebel students, understood their motivations, and their cause, and were not beholden to national or political authorities. foreign lobbies. Everyone I have met – in person at universities or in the more honest, independent and progressive media who do not see their job as supporting the war frenzies of the ruling elites – has reported calm, harmonious and often joyful of many faiths, aiming for a common goal of equal justice for all.
The mainstream media’s alignment with the position of America’s political elites and all the exaggerations, misinterpretations, hysteria, lies and hallucinations are unprecedented. This begs the question: Why are US officials and media executives who traditionally played the Israeli line and simply ignored Palestinian voices all up in arms now? Why would a nice old man like Biden knowingly turn the Arabic word “intifada” (uprising) into what he calls “tragic and dangerous hate speech”?
I suspect this bigoted rhetoric reflects the ruling elite’s fear of being challenged on the domestic political stage for the first time by an issue related to Palestinian rights that also exposes and opposes military extremism and genocide of Israel. They fear the growing coalition of Americans who are not afraid to challenge the lies and distortions of Israel’s staunch supporters or ignore biased offerings from the media. They should be concerned, because a CNN poll last week suggested that 81 percent of Americans aged 18 to 35 disapprove of Israel’s U.S.-backed war policy in Gaza.
Many young protesters called the US-perpetrated genocide in Gaza “the moral problem of our time.” They feel they cannot remain silent in the face of Israeli-induced famine and US-made bombs ravaging Gaza.
But when this principled position is distorted by the American mainstream media into an “anti-Semitic” and “pro-terrorist” frenzy, it becomes clear that the commitment of large swathes of the media to telling the truth is far weaker than their desire . to be close to the imperial seats of war power in the United States and the Middle East.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Tel Aviv Tribune.