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Why Does the Media Keep Pushing Lies About Israeli Settler Violence?

People hold Fatah flags during a protest in support of the people of Gaza, as the conflict between Israel and Hamas continues, in Hebron, in the West Bank, Oct. 27, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma

There is a certain kind of journalism that is born out of ignorance, with an unwillingness to be fair. It’s the worst kind of journalism, especially when the writer fills his or her article with deep inaccuracies along the way.

This is an ongoing trend when it comes to Israeli settler violence, and IDF activities in the West Bank. Let’s be clear: I am not here to defend any political stances or make excuses for violence.

However, it is necessary to point out when the media got their facts wrong. This is true for Christina Lamb’s “Gun in hand, the Israeli settler tells the Palestinian: I will kill you” that she wrote for The Sunday Times.

Implication that Israeli settler violence is common & accepted by all settlers

In her article, she writes that:

But many in both communities believe that Israel has opened a second front in the West Bank where Jewish settlers backed by the government have ramped up occupation and violence against Palestinians to unprecedented levels.

The media have a tendency to group a fringe minority of Israeli settlers with the settler population as a whole. This creates a picture that all settlers are violent and extreme, while the overwhelming majority of them do not engage in violence and are simply Israeli citizens who, for any number of different reasons, live over the so-called Green Line.

In fact, there are constant Palestinian terror attacks carried out on Israeli settlers as well, which are rarely documented in the media. And these attacks are not mentioned at all in Lamb’s article.

Just last week, a Jewish security guard in the Bar-On industrial zone in the West Bank was beaten with a hammer by a Palestinian terrorist who then stole his gun. The guard, Gideon Peri, succumbed to his wounds and died in the terrorist attack.

Ideally, Lamb should have mentioned that regardless of one’s personal beliefs on an Israeli presence in the West Bank, settlers don’t deserve to be attacked or murdered either.

Lamb also fails to differentiate Palestinian terrorists from civilians killed in IDF raids and clashes, nor does she distinguish between settler violence and IDF operations.

The majority of those Palestinians were killed while actively engaging in violence against the IDF. These casualty figures fail to differentiate between combatants & civilians.

And why no mention of Israeli victims of Palestinian terror in the West Bank during this period? pic.twitter.com/ZGJfEyogVY

— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) August 25, 2024

This isn’t to say that Israeli settler violence isn’t a problem. It is real, unfortunately. As Lamb wrote, Shin Bet head Ronen Bar recently warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant of the “indescribable damage” settler violence is having on Israel.

Activist Daniela Weiss, who is featured in the article, represents a fringe minority, and not the mainstream residents of Jewish settlements.

Hebron is not a “ghost town”

Another major problem is the way Lamb paints an image of West Bank cities like Hebron as a “ghost town,” when in fact, it is quite the opposite. Unfortunately, this is a common trope in the media, as there is a tendency to interview politicized organizations like B’Tselem or Breaking the Silence rather than more neutral experts.

The reality is that Israel, under the Hebron Protocol that then-Prime Minister Netanyahu signed in 1997, has control of only about 20 percent of the city. With that in mind, Palestinians, so-called human rights groups, and others paint a picture of Hebron and other cities as suffering from Israeli military oppression. The reality is that in Hebron, the genuine issues and friction between Palestinians and Israelis are confined to only a small part of the city, most of whose more than 200,000 residents live under the full control of the Palestinian Authority.

As for “Do Not Enter” signs, those are aimed not at Palestinians but Israelis, to prevent them from entering Palestinian towns and villages where they may be at risk of becoming victims of terror. And it is this terrorism that necessitates military checkpoints in place for security purposes.

In addition to the bias, there is also a fact-checking issue. It’s difficult to tell whether this is intentional ignorance, or lazy journalism. A faulty photo caption is not usually the journalist’s responsibility but is indicative of the manner in which the subject matter is being dealt with by editors.

Note to @thetimes: there are no “settlers” in Ashkelon, which is a major city on Israel’s coast.

But this is only one of the problems with @christinalamb‘s story on settler violence inside the West Bank. https://t.co/FpigNz8t9u pic.twitter.com/1T16CIRWmE

— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) August 25, 2024

But a fact used to implicate someone in violence needs to be watertight, and in this case, it certainly isn’t:

The AK47 assault rifle is not issued to any Israelis, who are required to hold a gun license & to register any weapons. Odd that an Israeli settler would be armed with a weapon more commonly used by Islamist terrorists. Is @christinalamb sure about this? pic.twitter.com/MxgumPiAR9

— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) August 25, 2024

The tensions and violence in the West Bank are fair game for the media, and it is incumbent upon decent journalists to expose genuine malfeasance, but it isn’t fair to distort facts or omit them. Lamb, seemingly driven by her own biases, fails to interview any mainstream Israelis from either the settler movement or security services — which seriously impacts the direction of her story.

If an author is reporting on Israeli settler violence, he or she should also report Palestinian violence in the West Bank — to accurately report why the IDF carries out raids in the West Bank and who exactly was killed during those raids. There must be an accurate picture, and not the media’s favorite distortion of it.

The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.

The post Why Does the Media Keep Pushing Lies About Israeli Settler Violence? first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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New Poll: Majority of NYC Voters ‘Less Likely’ to Support Mamdani Over His Refusal to Condemn ‘Globalize the Intifada’

Zohran Mamdani Ron Adar / SOPA Images via Reuters Connect

Zohran Mamdani. Photo: Ron Adar / SOPA Images via Reuters Connect

In a warning sign for the campaign of Democratic nominee for mayor of New York Zohran Mamdani, a majority of city voters in a new poll say the candidate’s hardline anti-Israel stance makes them less likely to vote for him.

In the survey of likely city voters conducted by American Pulse, 52.5 percent said Mamdani’s refusal to condemn the slogan “globalize the intifada” coupled with his backing of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement made them less likely to vote for him in November. Just 31% of city voters polled were more likely to support him because of these positions.

At the same time, a significant share of young New York City voters support Mamdani’s anti-Israel positioning, a striking sign of shifting generational views on Israel and the Palestinian cause.

Nearly half  of voters aged 18 to 44 (46 percent) said the State Assembly member’s backing for BDS and “refusal to condemn the phrase ‘globalize the intifada’” made them more likely to support him.

Mamdani, a democratic socialist from Queens, has been under fire for defending “globalize the intifada,” a slogan many Jewish groups associate with incitement to violence against Israel and Jews. While critics argue it glorifies terrorism, supporters claim it’s a call for international solidarity with oppressed peoples, especially Palestinians. Mamdani has also voiced support for BDS, a movement widely condemned by mainstream Jewish organizations as antisemitic for singling out Israel.

The generational divide exposed by the poll comes amid a broader political realignment. Younger progressives across the country are increasingly critical of Israeli policies, especially in the wake of the Gaza war, and more receptive to Palestinian activism. But to many Jewish leaders, Mamdani’s rising support is alarming.

Rabbi David Wolpe, visiting scholar at Harvard University, condemned the phrase with a sarcastic analogy.

“‘Globalize the intifada’ is just a political slogan,” he said. “Like ‘The cockroaches must be exterminated’ was just a housing authority slogan in Rwanda.”

Jewish organizations have reported a surge in antisemitic incidents in New York and across the U.S. since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war last fall. The blending of anti-Zionist slogans with calls for “intifada,” historically linked to violent uprisings, has deepened fears among Jewish communities that traditional red lines are being crossed.

Whether this emerging coalition reshapes New York politics remains to be seen. However, the poll indicates that among younger voters, views that were once considered fringe are quickly moving into the mainstream.

The post New Poll: Majority of NYC Voters ‘Less Likely’ to Support Mamdani Over His Refusal to Condemn ‘Globalize the Intifada’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Report: Jews Targeted at June’s Pride Month Events

A Jewish gay pride flag. Photo: Twitter.

The research division of the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) released a report on Wednesday detailing incidents of hate against Jews which took place last month during demonstrations in celebration of LGBTQ rights and identity.

Incidents reported by the group include:

  • At a Pride march in Wales, the activists Cymru Queers for Palestine chose to block the path and show a sign that said “Profiting from genocide,” an attempt to link the event’s sponsors — such as Amazon — to the war in Gaza.
  • A Dublin Pride march saw the participation of the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign, which labeled Israel a “genocidal entity.”
  • In Toronto at a late June Pride march, demonstrators again attacked organizers with a sign declaring, “Pride partners with genocide.”

CAM also identified a recurring narrative deployed against Israel by some far-left activists: so-called “pinkwashing,” a term which the Boycott, Divest, Sanctions (BDS) movement calls “an Israeli government propaganda strategy that cynically exploits LGBTQIA+ rights to project a progressive image while concealing Israel’s occupation and apartheid policies oppressing Palestinians.”

The report notes that at a Washington DC Pride event in early June Medea Benjamin, cofounder of activist group Code Pink and a regular of anti-war protests, wore a pair of goofy, oversized sunglasses and a shirt in her signature pink with the phrase “you can’t pinkwash genocide.”

Other incidents CAM recorded showed the injection of anti-Israel sentiment into Pride events.

A musical group canceled a performance at an interfaith service in Brooklyn, claiming the hosting synagogue had a “public alignment with pro-Israel political positions.” In San Francisco before the yearly Trans March, a Palestine group said in its announcement of its participation, “Stop the war on Iran and the genocide of Palestine, stop the war on immigrants and attacks on trans people.”

CAM notes that this “queers for Palestine” sentiment is not new, pointing to a 2017 event wherein “organizers of the Chicago Dyke March infamously removed participants who were waving a Pride flag adorned with a Star of David on the grounds that the symbol ‘made people feel unsafe.’”

In February, the Israel Defense Forces shared with the New York Post documents it had recovered demonstrating that Hamas had tortured and executed members it suspected of homosexuality and other moral offenses in conflict with Islamist ideology.

Amit Benjamin, who is gay and a first sergeant major in the IDF, said during a visit to New York City for Pride month that “All the ‘queers for Gaza’ need to open their eyes. Hamas kills gays … kills lesbians … queers cannot exist in Gaza.”

The post Report: Jews Targeted at June’s Pride Month Events first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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IAEA pulls inspectors from Iran as standoff over access drags on

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi at the agency’s headquarters in Vienna, Austria, June 23, 2025. REUTERS/Elisabeth Mandl/File Photo

The UN nuclear watchdog said on Friday it had pulled its last remaining inspectors from Iran as a standoff over their return to the country’s nuclear facilities bombed by the United States and Israel deepens.

Israel launched its first military strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites in a 12-day war with the Islamic Republic three weeks ago. The International Atomic Energy Agency’s inspectors have not been able to inspect Iran’s facilities since then, even though IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has said that is his top priority.

Iran’s parliament has now passed a law to suspend cooperation with the IAEA until the safety of its nuclear facilities can be guaranteed. While the IAEA says Iran has not yet formally informed it of any suspension, it is unclear when the agency’s inspectors will be able to return to Iran.

“An IAEA team of inspectors today safely departed from Iran to return to the Agency headquarters in Vienna, after staying in Tehran throughout the recent military conflict,” the IAEA said on X.

Diplomats said the number of IAEA inspectors in Iran was reduced to a handful after the June 13 start of the war. Some have also expressed concern about the inspectors’ safety since the end of the conflict, given fierce criticism of the agency by Iranian officials and Iranian media.

Iran has accused the agency of effectively paving the way for the bombings by issuing a damning report on May 31 that led to a resolution by the IAEA’s 35-nation Board of Governors declaring Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations.

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has said he stands by the report. He has denied it provided diplomatic cover for military action.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Thursday Iran remained committed to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

“[Grossi] reiterated the crucial importance of the IAEA discussing with Iran modalities for resuming its indispensable monitoring and verification activities in Iran as soon as possible,” the IAEA said.

The US and Israeli military strikes either destroyed or badly damaged Iran’s three uranium enrichment sites. But it was less clear what has happened to much of Iran’s nine tonnes of enriched uranium, especially the more than 400 kg enriched to up to 60% purity, a short step from weapons grade.

That is enough, if enriched further, for nine nuclear weapons, according to an IAEA yardstick. Iran says its aims are entirely peaceful, but Western powers say there is no civil justification for enriching to such a high level, and the IAEA says no country has done so without developing the atom bomb.

As a party to the NPT, Iran must account for its enriched uranium, which normally is closely monitored by the IAEA, the body that enforces the NPT and verifies countries’ declarations. But the bombing of Iran’s facilities has now muddied the waters.

“We cannot afford that … the inspection regime is interrupted,” Grossi told a press conference in Vienna last week.

The post IAEA pulls inspectors from Iran as standoff over access drags on first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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