May 22, 2020
Rigged
That there is media manipulation in the Subcontinent is often beyond dispute. Western watchdog groups pontificate – with some justification – at the shenanigans going on there. Here in the US, President Trump gives no quarter in taking mainstream media to the cleaners, openly subjecting reporters and their networks to slurs.
Across the Atlantic in Britain, the massaging of news may not be that blatant, but underlying agendas remain fully functional to the detriment of fair play. A case in point is the exit of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn who recently lost his top perch. What lay behind his ouster makes interesting reading, not clearly discernable to the British electorate who were fed a steady stream of negative news about him.
Comes now a just published London book on point, which strives to identify what went awry. “Bad News for Labor: Antisemitism, the Party, and Public Belief,” by Greg Philo, Mike Berry, Justin Schlosberg, Antony Lerman, and David Miller, all five eminent British academics.
The book documents the systematic dismantling of Jeremy Corbyn. His principal sin: expressing empathy for the Palestinian predicament. The book cites that “Israel’s most powerful tool has been to accuse the country’s critics of antisemitism.” (p. 41) On page 73, it shows Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu having “publicly attacked Jeremy Corbyn” linked to Corbyn’s views on the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian West Bank.
A survey cited in the book of 8 national UK newspapers reveals that from June 2015 through March 2019 there were “5947 stories on the subject of Corbyn, antisemitism and the Labour Party.” On August 14, 2018, BBC News Online stated: “It is highly unusual for a foreign prime minister to get involved in a British national row.” (p. 75) It was lobbied “that the prospect of a Corbyn-led government posed an existential threat to Jewish life in Britain.” (p. 109)
The book goes on to say: “Eventually, the relentless pressure … coupled with a constant stream of attacks on Jeremy Corbyn … paid off.” (p. 136)
The book posits the “need for a cool appreciation of evidence” and that “in the end, an evidence-based approach will expose the overreach of those making complaints in bad faith.” (pp. 51, 173) But it remains to be seen whether this lawyerly route of logic shall bear fruit.
On page 175, it cites reputable Jewish lawyers who state: “We are among the large group of Jews, worldwide, who regard with shame the military oppression by Israel of the Palestinian people and the ongoing appropriation by illegal settlement, of the little land that is still theirs.” (p. 175)
What motivated the hatchet job on Corbyn? The answer lies in the book: “it’s to do with trying to stop Corbyn from being Prime Minister.” (p. 175)
The “intense attacks from the media … produced much dissent and confusion.” (p. 177) The distorted media messaging was never effectively countered.
Corbyn was a casualty of the spillover splash of Mideast politics into the United Kingdom, just as President Jimmy Carter was tarnished in Washington 40 years ago. Corbyn had also advocated the Palestinian right to return to their homeland just as Carter advocated for a separate independent Palestinian homeland. Even his brother, Billy Carter, was not spared.
In his 2006 book, “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid,” President Carter drew an analogy of Israeli practices with South African apartheid.
75 years after the end of WWII, the international community hasn’t yet absorbed the necessary lessons. Amidst all this global pandemic posing a threat to common humanity, US Secretary of State Pompeo chose this particular moment to fly to Israel to approve its annexationist steps in the West Bank – illegal under international law. It is an indictment of sorts on the bloated-with-riches Arab Establishment which remains mute on the world stage.
Dismissing Palestinians as expendables has generated its own spiral of widening lethality.
Can there be a pathway forward to a cure without an accurate diagnosis of the underlying causes? What happens when even a hint of a valid inquiry triggers calumny?
Compressing critique into Israeli actions with antisemitism muzzles legitimate democratic discourse. Essentially, Corbyn was targeted for his perceived pro-Palestinian leanings. He didn’t exempt Israel from the standard of scrutiny applicable to all other nation states in the world. In doing so, he invited a relentlessly orchestrated targeted campaign, whose momentum never slackened.
Evidence suggests that the system is rigged to throttle legitimate Mideast debate. The extent of disinformation is all the more reason not to abandon independent inquiry and judgment.
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