Some leftist Israeli journalists are incensed that their anti-Israel bias and their efforts to perpetuate enemy propaganda is being called out. One actually trolled my Facebook wall. Another private messaged me with wild accusations. They claim they are “just presenting the facts.”
Just the facts? Not quite.
The words they use actually do the contrary. And they know it.
Much thought is used in their choice of words and in their intended targets.
Israel has enough enemies on this earth. We’re surrounded by them. But the worst of them come from our own, and it is nothing less than treacherous.
Some may say that the political right are splitting hairs over the manner in which the Israeli leftist media present news stories. I strongly disagree.
Words have power.
Words can enrich, adorn and beautify. They can spruce up and deck out.
Words can illuminate, educate and elucidate. They can clear up, sort out, unravel and spell out.
With skill, words can color the world with depth and meaning better than an artist’s brush.
The power of our words can lift or destroy one’s spirit, invite love or stir up hatred.
Words can sway. They can topple and bring destruction.
Words can incite, hurt and kill.
Some are more adept in the mastery of words than others. And some who fashion themselves as writers or journalists betray the very beauty of their art by writing in a fraudulent manner for malevolent endeavors, while at the same time feigning innocence by claiming they are merely “presenting the facts.”
But really, they mar the art of expression by turning their words into lethal weapons.
So when you read an article that uses the term “West Bank,” it is not by accident. It is deliberate. It is not factual, but rather, full of connotations. And it is meant to cause harm. To Israel and to the Jewish people who live in Judea and Samaria.
Let’s get down to the essence of the meaning of the term, “West Bank”.
It is a translation of the Arabic term al-daf’a al-gharbiya, introduced by King Abdullah of Jordan in 1948, when his Arab legion occupied Judea and Samaria in its war against the newly reestablished State of Israel. The “bank” in question is that of the Jordan River and yet, the territories of Judea and Samaria are separated from that river by the Jordan Valley and do not sit on its bank at all. An inconvenient fact for Israel bashers and ill-educated leftists. Eventually, however, for a variety of anti-Israel political reasons, “West Bank” was adopted by the rest of the world.
But that does not make it any less inaccurate.
Judea and Samaria, the English translation of Yehuda and Shomron, dates to biblical times, and was used exclusively to describe this area in maps, documents and books till 1950.
As if Israel needed extra help in being the world’s punching bag, and, as if our enemies needed assistance in their polemic against us, the corruption of the proper historical terminology was and is still advanced by Israel’s political left as they refer to Judea and Samaria as “West Bank” in a de facto partnership with Arab Muslim propagandists to erase Jewish historical connections to what is actually the heartland of Israel.
Aside from it being 100% inaccurate, using the term “West Bank” strongly suggests support for the false notion that Israel is “occupying” what is in effect her own land. The key connotation is that Israel is the occupier. It further implies that victims of Muslim terror who reside in the “West Bank” bring it on themselves, are not without guilt and therefore, are not such innocent victims.
However, it is the leftist journalists who use the term “West Bank” who are the ones who are not innocent. Not by a long shot. They claim they report just the facts when they are really out to vilify Israel and the half million Jews residing in its heartland. And when they do that, they invite the enemy to kill us.
The leftist media are Israel bashers. They go out of their way to search for “Jewish extremists” and when they come up empty handed, they do not admit they are wrong. On the contrary, they contrive new ways to blame Israel on the plight of the Arabs living under the PA rather than pin responsibility on the corrupt Arab Muslim terrorist leadership. They wail over the Israeli government not funding “Nakba Day,” a day that laments the reestablishment of the State of Israel and promotes the destruction of the Jewish State.
But, even so, with a few delicate twists of selected words, and not so subtle terminology, they manage to turn their writing into lethal weapons against their own nation.
So if there are Israeli leftist journalists who are truly interested in facts, here’s a quick lesson:
It’s not a “settler family,” it’s an Israeli Jewish family, It’s not “settlements,” it’s cities or towns.
And will one of you please clarify what the hell is a “West Bank bedroom”? By the way, I saw the bedroom where 13-year-old Hallel Yaffa z”l was murdered by an Arab Muslim terrorist, when I went to pay a shiva call to the Ariel family in the CITY of KIRYAT ARBA.
Finally, it’s Judea and Samaria, NOT the “West Bank.” And that’s the fact, Jack.
