Attacks against individual Jews and Jewish institutions have become so numerous, that only a sample may be listed here.

A few notable examples include: 

• In Venice, visibly Jewish tourists were attacked by a large group of Muslim migrants who chased them and shouted “free Palestine.” One tourist was attacked by a dog belonging to the migrants;
• In Athens, an Israeli brother and sister were attacked by Palestinians and then arrested. The pro-Hamas Hind Rajab Foundation has demanded the brother be investigated on charges of “war crimes”;
• In Sydney, several hundred pro-Hamas protestors attempted to take over a beach in the heavily Jewish neighborhood of Bondi Beach for a demonstration, but were met by pro-Israel counter-demonstrators. A brawl ensued but no arrests were made;
• Jewish facilities including synagogues were vandalized in London, Chile, Halifax, Chicago, and Princeton and Tenafly, NJ,  In Philadelphia, the Weitzman National Museum of Jewish History was vandalized twice in one week;
• In Los Angeles, an Israeli was attacked after pro-Hamas protestors heard him speaking Hebrew;
• In Italy, widespread disruptions and rioting were organized by left-wing labor unions, attributed to the government’s refusal to recognize “Palestine.” Rioters in Milan, Bologna, and Rome blocked major train stations and roads, while in Genoa, dockworkers blocked access to the port;
• In New York City, a mass protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s appearance at the UN brought thousands of people from around the country. The protest was organized in part by the Chinese Communist Party backed People’s Forum.

Universities continue to complain about the settlements reached by Brown, Columbia, and the University of Pennsylvania over allegations of antisemitism and systematic discrimination, with insiders describing these as shakedowns 

Momentum toward a settlement with Harvard has slowed, with the Federal government stating in September that the university has not complied with requests for data regarding race-based admission. Some reports have also indicated the question of third party monitors, such as that agreed on by Columbia, is a major sticking point.

With student protests growing, universities find themselves needing to act. Cognizant of the new levels of Federal and public scrutiny, Columbia and New York University announced anti-discrimination investigations in response to early semester incidents of antisemitic vandalism. Regulations regarding the time, place, and manner of demonstrations have also been put into place at many universities, along with complex speech rules.

In one such development, Harvard’s new guidelines noted that calling someone a “terrorist sympathizer” could violate its anti-discrimination policy.

A more systematic form of control was revealed by a House Committee on Education and Workforce investigation, which included an interview with now ousted Northwestern University president Michael Schill. Committee staff members revealed the agreement between Northwestern and the Qatar Foundation regarding the university’s campus in Qatar, which stipulates “NU, NU-Q, and their respective employees, students, faculty, families, contractors and agents, shall be subject to the applicable laws and regulations of the State of Qatar, and shall respect the cultural, religious and social customs of the State of Qatar.” 

A small number of faculty members took the lead in berating Charlie Kirk and applauding his murder. This echoed the extremist stances of faculty regarding Israel.

Similarly, a new study of Jewish faculty points to the central role of anti-Israel faculty in driving campus antisemitism. The study noted that on 77% of campuses with a Faculty for Justice in Palestine chapters, faculty were engaged in anti-Israel programming, 80% helped organize anti-Israel demonstrations, and 85% endorsed BDS campaigns.

Overall, 73% of Jewish faculty reported witnessing anti-Jewish activities or statements from faculty, administrators or staff. The intense outpourings of anti-Israel and antisemitic hatred from pro-Palestinian faculty cannot be explained as mere political beliefs, but suggest deeper devotion to a secular religious cause.

The full implications of faculty hatred of Israel as both a foundational pedagogical structure and basis for personal behavior was demonstrated at Cornell University, where a noted anti-Israel professor, Eric Chayfetz, was suspended for allegedly prohibiting an Israeli student from participating in a class on Gaza.

Cheyfitz, formerly a faculty advisor to the school’s Jewish Voice for Peace chapter, taught the class “Gaza, Indigeneity, Resistance,” in the spring.

Student protests have also escalated on campus. Examples include picketing at job fairs at the University of Louisville, Cornell University, and the University of Massachusetts, where corporations accused of “complicity” with Israel were present, such as GE Aerospace, Raytheon Technologies, L3Harris, and Toyota.

At the University of Pisa, pro-Hamas students stormed a classroom of a professor they accused of being Zionist, beating students and waving flags. The professor had criticized the university’s decision to cut ties with Israeli institutions.

At the Polytechnic University of Turin, students stormed a lecture being given by an Israeli faculty member who defended the war in Gaza and the Israeli military. The faculty member was then suspended by the university. 

A BDS resolution proposed in the University of Connecticut student government failed. The University of Maryland student government voted overwhelmingly to demand that the school “formally and publicly acknowledge the ongoing situation in Gaza as a genocide” and “issue a public statement urging for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza.” A vote on a BDS resolution originally scheduled for Rosh Hashanah, but after protests was rescheduled for Yom Kippur approved.

In another example of anger regarding university responses to the post-October 7th campus environment, the group Northwestern Graduate Workers for Palestine protested required antisemitism and “Islamophobia” bias training. Some 300 students have been prohibited from registering for classes and may lose financial aid and access to campus housing.

In a rare acknowledgment that arms embargoes were impacting Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel might have to become an “autarkic characteristics” which he described as a “super-Sparta.”

Other moves to isolate Israel economically expanded in September. The exclusion of Israeli state owned assets from the Danish sovereign wealth fund on the basis of “international humanitarian principles” and human rights. This followed the August decision by the Norwegian fund to exclude Israeli companies, which became an issue in the September elections, where far left parties demanded the Labor Party expand Israeli boycott as a condition for joining a coalition. The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights also added 68 companies to its blacklist of firms doing business in the West Bank.

In a move long sought by the BDS movement, Microsoft disabled Israeli military access to its Azure cloud computing platform. An internal investigation showed that data obtained from surveillance of Palestinian civilian communications was being stored on the platform and that AI services were being used. The company stated this violated its policies regarding privacy and mass surveillance. 

Efforts to boycott and isolate Israel have come as European defense industries struggle to scale up production against growing Russian threats. Fear of competitors, above all Israel and the US, motivate policies even as the need for Israeli and American products and technologies grows.

One example are European plans for continental anti-missile defenses which would integrate Israeli systems, acquisition of which is now threatened by boycott efforts. Another example is Morocco’s continued shift away from French arms to Israeli suppliers, which undermines French political influence in North Africa. Domestic political pressure, including from Muslim populations, however, has motivated the Philippines to terminate an arms contract with Israel. Greece has also delayed a major arms deal with Israel.

These economic challenges provide some of the backdrop for the British decision to ban official Israeli representation from the DSEI UK 2025 arms fair. Israeli companies were permitted to exhibit. Dubai also banned Israeli representation at the UAE air show, ostensibly over comments from Israeli ministers regarding annexation of the West Bank.

The Scottish Parliament’s vote in favor of a full boycott of Israel included demands that the British government adopt a full arms embargo, banned the import of Israeli “settlement goods,” and removed subsidies for Scottish firms accused of involvement in Israeli “genocide.”

Having taken the lead in accusing Israel of genocide, Spain announced a total arms embargo on Israel and canceled three major defense contracts. Shipments of arms to Israel will also be banned, a decision that brought criticism from the US State Department. The Spanish decision jeopardizes use of American military bases in Spain as transshipment points for resupplying Israel.

Efforts continue in the arts and cultural sphere to expel Israelis, Jews, and those who do not explicitly support the Palestinian cause.

In one notable incident, Israeli conductor Lahav Shani was scheduled to conduct the Munich Philharmonic at the Flanders Festival Ghent in Belgium. The invitation was revoked when as organizers determined that “in the light of his role as the chief conductor of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, we are unable to provide sufficient clarity about his attitude to the genocidal regime in Tel Aviv.”

The orchestra and city of Munich condemned the Belgian decision, as did German and Belgian politicians including Prime Minister Bart De Wever.

The demand that Shani clarify his stance on “genocide” is paralleled by those being placed on Israeli pop artists throughout Europe, including signed statements and videos, especially by venue organizers and owners.

Other efforts continue to exclude Israel from international cultural life. Though the next Eurovision song contest will not be held until 2026, Spain, Slovenia, Iceland, Ireland, and the Netherlands have pledged to withdraw if Israel is allowed to participate.

Reports indicate Eurovision organizers have floated the idea that Israeli could be permitted to perform but without their flag or other identification. The sponsoring body, the European Broadcasting Union, has now called for an extraordinary meeting in November at which member broadcasters will vote on Israeli participation.

The hostility toward Israel also took several notable turns in the film industry. At the Cannes Film Festival the film The Voice of Hind Rajab about a Palestinian girl in Gaza who was killed during the Israeli counterattack received an unprecedented 22 minute ovation.

The award was followed by an open letter signed by some 4000 film industry members pledging to boycott the Israeli film industry. The group which promoted the original letter, Film Workers for Palestine, is closely aligned with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

Similarly, at the Emmy Awards, a number of actors appeared with “ceasefire now” and other pro-Hamas regalia including pins representing bloody hands, a Palestinian symbol depicting the bloody hands of a Palestinian who had just murdered two Israeli soldiers.

Actor Hannah Einbinder won an award and during her speech stated “Go Birds, f**k ICE and free Palestine,” adding later that “I feel like it is my obligation as a Jewish person to distinguish Jews from the State of Israel, because our religion and our culture is such an important and long standing institution that is really separate to this sort of ethno-nationalist state.”

In contrast, an Israeli documentary on October 7th that organizers had tried to bar won a popular award at the Toronto Film Festival.

Organizers had ludicrously claimed that filmmakers had not obtained permission from Hamas to include video footage shot by terrorists during the attack.

Anti-Israel protests also continue to plague sports. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez reiterated his demand that Israel be banned from all international sports. The call came after pro-Hamas protestors wrecked the end of the Vuelta a España cycling race by blocking the final stages into Madrid.

Sánchez expressed his admiration for protestors who disrupted the race but Madrid mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida condemned both the protestors and Sánchez, as did race organizers.

The impact of the attack, however, prompted the Israeli team’s sponsor, Factor Bikes, to demand the team compete under a different flag. The company’s founder stated “There’s just a certain amount of controversy we can’t afford regarding the brand.” The Israeli team was then not invited to a competition in Italy after threats of violence prompted “safety concerns.”

The author is a contributor to SPME, where a completely different version of this article was published. 

The media has been rife with misinformation and libels about Israel’s conduct during the war that was triggered two years ago by the Hamas-led massacres in southern Israel on October 7, 2023.

HonestReporting has worked day and night to combat these anti-Israel lies as they spread through mainstream discourse, shaping a context-free narrative that promotes Israel as the sole aggressor and whitewashes Hamas’ terrorism.

While some lies quickly emerged in the mainstream media and then evaporated after a couple of days, others have persisted in one form or another.

Regardless of their longevity, each lie serves as a building block for the anti-Israel narrative that cast Israel’s defensive war as a crime against humanity and has sought to turn the Jewish State into a pariah within the international community.

The following are the top 25 lies promoted by the mainstream media since October 7:

Lie #1: Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

Truth: The claim that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza goes back almost as far as the beginning of Israel’s war against Hamas.

However, all these claims (whether by Amnesty International, scholar Omer Bartov, the International Association of Genocide Scholars, or the UN Commission of Inquiry) fail to meet the legal bar for determining genocide: That the only reasonable inference that could be drawn from Israel’s actions in Gaza is genocidal intent.

Those who claim that Israel is committing a genocide appear to pre-determine that conclusion and then attempt to twist the evidence and legal definition of genocide to find Israel guilty of this heinous crime.

I am now officially a “genocide scholar” as a member of the International Association of Genocide Scholars. I will uphold its mission to advance research & teaching on genocide and its prevention. See next link for my viral article exposing false claims of genocide in Gaza. 1/ pic.twitter.com/0bhhdvOSjp

— Aizenberg (@Aizenberg55) September 3, 2025

Lie #2: Israel is responsible for famine/starvation in Gaza.

Truth: Throughout the war in Gaza, the media and aid organizations have forecast an imminent famine in the Gaza Strip, intent on finding Israel guilty of starving Palestinians in Gaza.

However, despite the imminent and alarmist nature of these forecasts, famine was never declared in any part of the Gaza Strip until August 2025, and there was no evidence of mass starvation in the enclave.

In an August 2025 report, the UN-backed body that monitors hunger declared famine in the Gaza Governorate, which includes Gaza City and its environs. However, analysts have noted several questionable aspects of the report’s methodology and analysis, which call into question its conclusions.

For a full takedown of the famine report, see here.

Lie #3: Gaza is one of the most densely populated areas on Earth. On October 7, it had a population of 9 million.

Truth: On October 7, 2023, the Gaza Strip had a population of 2 million people. At the size of 141 square miles, the Gaza Strip does not even crack the top 200 most populated areas on Earth.

Hey, @vausecnn, “9 million Palestinians” do not live in Gaza. You are wrong by some several million.

And it’s not “one of the most densely populated areas on Earth.”@cnn, please remove this error from your website.https://t.co/ORharGq1c8 pic.twitter.com/eqMvo4gajm

— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) October 10, 2023

Lie #4: After warning them to leave northern Gaza, Israel bombed Palestinians fleeing to the south.

Truth: In October 2023, some media outlets echoed Hamas’ claim that Israel was bombing Palestinians fleeing northern Gaza, publishing images that showed explosions amid convoys heading south.

Analysts noted that there was no evidence for an Israeli airstrike on the convoys and that the explosions could have been caused by IEDs planted by Hamas (in an effort to deter civilians from fleeing the combat zone) or faulty fuel containers that were being transported by those heading south.

Note when the explosion happens, there is a significant fireball. This is highly inconsistent with conventional explosives delivered by air.

This is far more consistent with a gas canister explosion. pic.twitter.com/XcMOHdinhv

— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) October 14, 2023

Lie #5: Israel bombed Al-Ahli Hospital and killed 500 people.

Truth: On October 17, 2023, an explosion occurred at Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City. The media initially reported on Hamas’ claim that the hospital had been bombed and hundreds of people had been killed.

In reality, a misfired Islamic Jihad rocket hit the hospital’s parking lot, causing minimal damage to the hospital itself and tragically killing some Palestinians who had taken refuge in the area of the rocket’s impact.

Here’s a thread of all the news articles from outlets that were incredibly quick to blame Israel, taking statements from Hamas at face value. @CNN quick reminder, the Health Ministry in Gaza is run by Hamas. pic.twitter.com/wl5CynI3q1

— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) October 17, 2023

Lie #6: Israel targets Palestinian journalists.

Truth: Since the beginning of the war, various media rights organizations, including the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF), have claimed that Israel is targeting Palestinian journalists in Gaza.

It is true that, according to the CPJ, nearly 200 journalists and media workers have been killed during the Israel-Hamas war. However, an analysis of these names shows that roughly 40% of those killed had an affiliation with terror groups (including working for terror-run media organizations) and that several had participated in active combat against Israel.

With the embedding of Hamas forces in civilian areas, it is tragic but inevitable that civilians (including journalists) will be killed during military activities. This is not, however, evidence of intentional targeting of journalists.

1/
Let’s be absolutely clear: Israel targets terrorists, not journalists.

But here are just a few examples of when so-called journalists were deliberately targeted – because they were terrorist operatives.  pic.twitter.com/wQwgdQTmc6

— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) August 28, 2025

Lie #7: 500 trucks are needed to meet Gaza’s pre-war levels of aid.

Truth: The claim by the United Nations and aid organizations that prior to October 7, 500 trucks entered Gaza daily, and that number is needed to meet the needs of Gaza’s civilian population, is misleading.

Before October 7, an average of 500 trucks entered Gaza daily, but the vast majority of them carried commercial goods, agricultural products, textiles, and construction materials. Only 100 trucks contained humanitarian aid, which is roughly the same number of trucks that have entered Gaza daily for most of the war.

This data is a manipulated, @CNN.
The 500 trucks a day pre-war figure included trucks of import and export carrying building materials and industrial supplies. Only an average of 70 food trucks a day entered Gaza pre-war, the average number of food trucks entering Gaza now – 140. pic.twitter.com/63F5FuNZfN

— COGAT (@cogatonline) March 30, 2024

Lie #8: Israel’s evidence that Hamas used Al-Shifa Hospital as a base is not compelling.

Truth: Contrary to media claims, the IDF has provided considerable evidence that Hamas used Al-Shifa Hospital for terror purposes.

This evidence includes testimonies from captured terrorists, intercepts of communications discussing Hamas’ use of Al-Shifa, the discovery of weapons and military gear in the hospital area, the unearthing of a terror tunnel beneath the hospital, and video footage showing hostages being brought to the hospital on October 7.

Lie #9: UNRWA is not a problematic aid organization and is one of the key humanitarian resources in the Gaza Strip.

Truth: Despite media and UN denials, there is incontrovertible evidence that the UN aid organization for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, plays a problematic role in the Gaza Strip.

1,200 UNRWA employees are members of either Hamas or Islamic Jihad, the organization’s schools teach antisemitism and promote anti-Israeli violence, and the globally-funded agency turns a blind eye to the placement of terror infrastructure and weaponry near its facilities. Even underneath UNRWA’s headquarters, there was a Hamas command center, of which the body claimed blissful ignorance.

Lie #10: Israel slaughtered Palestinian civilians waiting for aid during the “Flour Massacre.”

Truth: On February 29, 2024, scores of Palestinians died while waiting for aid to arrive in Gaza City. The media initially echoed Hamas’ claim that they had been killed in a targeted Israeli strike.

In reality, the vast majority of those who died were either crushed by the crowd during the chaos that erupted upon the arrival of the aid trucks, or were run over by the trucks themselves. Roughly 10 Palestinians were killed by Israeli gunfire when they rushed toward nearby IDF positions.

The media rushed to report Hamas’ false claim that the IDF had killed dozens in a strike against Palestinians waiting for aid. But what really happened, and who is responsible?@AP @France24_en @haaretzcom pic.twitter.com/V3Ht9OvYLd

— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) March 2, 2024

Lie #11: During the Israeli operation in Al-Shifa Hospital in March 2024, Israeli forces raped Palestinian women and brutally murdered other civilians.

Truth: This lie was perpetrated by a Gazan woman named Jamila al-Hessi during an interview with Al Jazeera Arabic’s top news presenter.

Less than 24 hours after the interview, al-Hessi’s claim was denounced by both a former director of Al Jazeera and Hamas itself. Al-Hessi admitted to spreading this lie to “arouse the nation’s fervor and brotherhood.”

Hamas admits: Reports of IDF raping Palestinian women at Shifa hospital are fake; Gaza woman interviewed by Al-Jazeera made it up; why is Hamas admitting it? fake rape story backfired, prompted many families to flee northern Gaza to protect their daughters; this is not what Hamas…

— Israel Radar (@IsraelRadar_com) March 25, 2024

Lie #12: Mass graves outside two Gazan hospitals are evidence of Israeli executions and desecration of bodies.

Truth: In late April 2024, mass graves were unearthed outside Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City and Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.

Analysts noted that the graves had actually been dug before the arrival of Israeli forces, to bury those who had died in the hospitals but could not be interred in a formal cemetery. It is possible that newer bodies were added during the battles between Israeli forces and Hamas, but they were most likely buried by fellow Palestinians.

Despite claims by some that bodies had been found with their hands tied behind their backs, no independent evidence was ever provided for this claim.

In addition, while Israeli forces did dig up some graves while searching for Israeli hostages, the IDF re-interred any bodies that had been temporarily removed and did not destroy any identifying markers or desecrate the graves.

1/5 Geolocation | Disproof of Palestinian lies about Nasser Hospital mass graves.

Fake claims by @tamerqdh about #IDF-caused massacre.

In Jan/Feb, this exact place was used by palestinians as temporary cemetry.
I found a burial video of 30+ persons on 28 January. >> https://t.co/l8UMI95NWA pic.twitter.com/k7Dnlo0RqV

— Middle East Buka (@MiddleEastBuka) April 22, 2024

Lie #13: The Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health provides accurate casualty figures.

Truth: Since the beginning of the war in Gaza, the media and the United Nations have sought to convince people that the casualty figures provided by the Gaza Ministry of Health are accurate.

However, there are several indications that the Ministry of Health and its claim of 70% of casualties being women and children are unreliable.

Examples of this unreliability include unverifiable and anonymous “media reports” in the Ministry’s figures, the low proportion of non-combatant men among casualties, and discrepancies between the figures for one day and the next.

For an example of the last point, between December 2 and December 5, 2023, the number of women and children’s deaths surpassed the total number of deaths, an absurd statistical anomaly.

Hamas’ Casualty Count: The Math Isn’t Mathing  pic.twitter.com/MBLX7I9EFd

— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) February 15, 2024

Lie #14: The ICJ ruled that there is “plausible” evidence for genocide in Gaza and that Israel must cease its operations in Rafah.

Truth: In December 2023, South Africa brought a case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) claiming that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza. In January 2024, the ICJ issued its initial ruling on the matter. As clarified by Joan Donoghue, the Court’s former President, there was no finding of “plausible genocide” in Gaza, only that the Palestinians “had a plausible right to be protected from genocide.”

In May 2024, the ICJ issued a decision on Israeli military activity in southern Gaza, ruling that Israel would have to cease any military activity that “may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.”

This was not a blanket restriction on Israeli military activity, and Israel’s war against Hamas was allowed to continue in the enclave’s south.

Joan Donoghue, former President of the International Court of Justice, clarified on air with @BBCNews that the court did *not* decide that Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza could plausibly be considered genocide. pic.twitter.com/oz1lOCUMD6

— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) April 26, 2024

Lie #15: Israel purposefully bombed a refugee camp in Rafah and caused a tent fire that killed tens of civilians.

Truth: In late May 2024, Israel targeted two senior Hamas commanders who were hiding near a civilian population but outside of a designated safe zone.

Based on Israeli and US reports, it is likely that shrapnel from the targeted strike hit something flammable (either munitions or a fuel container) that ignited and led to the lethal fire that swept through the tents. As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commented, this was a “tragic accident.”

As tragic as this incident was, Israel did not carry out an airstrike “on refugee tents.”

The IDF targeted senior Hamas terrorists outside of the designated humanitarian zone. Despite @guardian‘s headline, Israel does not deliberately target civilians.https://t.co/Gs1xSHcrbo pic.twitter.com/GPmjE9nHXe

— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) May 28, 2024

Lie #16: Israel massacred more than 200 Palestinians while rescuing four Israeli hostages in the Nuseirat refugee camp.

Truth: On June 8, 2024, Israeli security forces rescued four hostages (Noa Argamani, Almog Meir Jan, Shlomi Ziv, and Andrey Kozlov) from civilian homes where they were being held in the Nuseirat refugee camp. During the rescue operation, local Hamas forces attacked the rescue team and hostages as they attempted to escape, leading to a firefight in the middle of a civilian area.

There was no independent evidence to back Hamas’ claim that hundreds of Palestinians had been killed during the rescue operation or that the majority of those killed were civilians and not combatants who took part in the firefight.

You couldn’t make this up. A raid dependent on the element of total surprise and a @BBCNews anchor asks whether the IDF should have warned Palestinians first.

Maybe Israeli special forces should’ve also politely knocked on the doors of the houses where the hostages were held?  https://t.co/6XJ23MC6kq

— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) June 9, 2024

Lie #17: Studies in The Lancet prove that many more Palestinians have been killed than is claimed by the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health.

Truth: In July 2024, The Lancet published a non-peer-reviewed correspondence that claimed that the number of dead in Gaza could be as high as 186,000. This faulty analysis reached this number by taking Hamas’ questionable casualty count (at the time, 37,000) and then multiplying it by five on the baseless assumption that there will be five times as many indirect deaths as those actively killed during the war.

The pushback to the piece was so great that one of the authors had to admit that it was not a scientifically-based analysis but was “purely illustrative” of what could be.

Seen the wild claim “186,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza”?

Here’s the scoop: they multiplied current, inaccurate death tolls by 4 to get this number. Even worse, the media ran with it, spreading false info far and wide. pic.twitter.com/dPfRM9mVlN

— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) July 9, 2024

In January 2025, The Lancet published an article purporting to prove that the Gaza Ministry of Health’s casualty count was an under-reporting of reality.

However, this study came under scrutiny due to several flaws, including that its algorithm comparing social media-reported deaths to other casualty lists was faulty in 30% of cases, that the three casualty lists that were used by the study were intertwined (thus skewing the results), and that the authors disregarded analytic models that showed the estimated casualty figures to be lower.

¹ Yet another “Lancet study” about the death toll in Gaza is making rounds in the media, and unlike several previous “studies”, this one has been published as a regular article, rather than a ‘Correspondence’ (which is not peer-reviewed).

Unfortunately, this doesn’t change the… pic.twitter.com/tGKzcE8sWk

— Mark Zlochin – מארק זלוצ’ין༝ (@MarkZlochin) January 15, 2025

Lie #18: Ismail Haniyeh was a moderating and pragmatic voice within Hamas that Israel silenced when it assassinated him in July 2024.

Truth: Contrary to how he was depicted in media reports at the time of his death, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was not a moderate.

Haniyeh was a cold-blooded terrorist who celebrated the October 7 attacks, called for “resistance” (i.e. terrorist) activities across Israel, and encouraged the death of Palestinian civilians for the greater cause of fighting Israel and ultimately destroying the Jewish state.

Watch Haniyeh celebrate the murders of 1200 Israelis on October 7 after murdering countless himself and then ask yourself why you trust anything written by @Reuters that calls him a moderate.https://t.co/drHaijJB4Y pic.twitter.com/cTpOqYrcfY

— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) July 31, 2024

Lie #19: As shown in a New York Times essay, Israeli forces are purposefully targeting children.

Truth: The New York Times published a guest essay entitled “65 Doctors, Nurses, and Paramedics: What We Saw in Gaza.” Written by medical personnel who had served in Gaza, the piece claimed that they had seen evidence for Israel intentionally targeting children by shooting them in the head.

However, several military, medical, and forensics experts called into question certain aspects of the piece, including x-ray images that purported to show 5.56 caliber bullets lodged in the skulls of these children, but which did not appear to comport with the impact of a bullet of that size. For example, there were no exit wounds, skull fractures, or changes in the bullet’s shape.

In addition, there is no evidence that the bullets were fired from an Israeli gun rather than one operated by a Palestinian terrorist. To further cast doubt on the piece, one of its authors responded to the criticism by falsely claiming that Hamas does not use human shields but that Israel does.

The New York Times appears to have published completely fake news in order to falsely accuse the IDF of committing war crimes and shooting children “at point blank range” which Gazan and foreign medics testify they witnessed.

The only problem with this is the “evidence”… pic.twitter.com/Dsi9YR5TBa

— Emily Schrader – אמילי שריידר امیلی شریدر (@emilykschrader) October 12, 2024

Lie #20: Israel forces burned Kamal Adwan Hospital in December 2024.

Truth: During a counter-terror operation at Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, which saw the arrest of 240 Hamas and Islamic Jihad members and the confiscation of a considerable amount of weaponry, a fire broke out in an empty part of the hospital and was quickly contained.

An initial IDF investigation determined that there was no connection between the fire and Israeli forces operating in the area.

Despite IDF denials, too many media, including @AP, prefer to believe the propaganda and lies spread by Hamas-controlled sources.

Israel is not “burning” hospitals. Period. 

See @LTC_Shoshani below.  https://t.co/4kIgbL1JHS https://t.co/9w3rxOEJaj pic.twitter.com/auhDKq7zwN

— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) December 29, 2024

Lie #21: Unless aid workers got to them immediately, 14,000 babies would die in the next 48 hours.

Truth: This absurd claim was put forward by the UN’s humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, in May 2025 during an interview with the BBC.

When pressed on it, Fletcher provided no evidence for his claim except for asserting that they have capable teams on the ground.

It was further discovered that Fletcher’s claim was a misrepresentation of an IPC report that projected that 14,000 Gazan children could experience acute malnutrition between April 2025 and March 2026.

The UN’s humanitarian chief claims, without providing evidence, that 14,000 Gazan babies could die in the next 48 hours.

That would be some 27% of the total alleged death toll for this entire war. All babies. All within 48 hours.

This is how anti-Israel libels are spread. https://t.co/io5FJ80Eew pic.twitter.com/FlVqbNXnNh

— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) May 20, 2025

Lie #22: Israel is planning on interning 600,000 Palestinians in camps in southern Gaza.

Truth: In July 2025, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced plans to build a “humanitarian city” in southern Gaza that would house 600,000 Palestinian civilians from the Al-Mawasi area who would have better access to humanitarian aid. To guarantee the civilian nature of this city, all people would be processed to ensure that they had no affiliation with Hamas. At no time did Katz use the word “camp” when discussing this plan.

According to Israeli reports at the time, Katz’s idea was a contingency plan for aiding civilians while fighting Hamas, but no work had been started on it.

Have you seen the media claim Israel is planning to build concentration camps in Gaza?

Here’s what you need to know. pic.twitter.com/fuTyx2VW2G

— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) July 9, 2025

Lie #23: Images of malnourished children are evidence for widespread starvation in Gaza.

Truth: In late July 2025, various media organizations published photos of emaciated and malnourished children, passing them off as evidence of widespread starvation in Gaza.

However, many of these children who were showcased suffered from pre-existing conditions, some of which (such as muscular dystrophy and cerebral palsy) have a heightened risk of malnutrition even in times of peace.

In some instances, photos of malnourished children included their well-nourished siblings standing in the background.

While the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is certainly tragic, images of malnourished children with pre-existing conditions are not evidence for widespread starvation.

Lie #24: Israel is preventing aid from entering Gaza.

Truth: Aside from the first two weeks of the war and a two-month blockade in 2025 that was an attempt to force Hamas to surrender, Israel has allowed for the continuous entry of aid into the Gaza Strip.

In fact, between the beginning of the war and the end of August 2025, over two million tons of aid were facilitated into the Gaza Strip. This is one of the largest humanitarian operations during a war in modern history.

Any delay in Gazans receiving this aid is due to the inherent difficulties in delivering it in combat zones, Hamas stealing aid, the UN refusing to pick up the aid, and the refusal of the UN to use Israeli-approved routes.

 Israel has now facilitated over 2 MILLION tons of aid into Gaza, since Hamas initiated the Oct 7th massacre.

To accuse Israel of “starvation” is not just a lie, it’s a malicious inversion of truth and a modern-day blood libel, that only empowers Hamas. pic.twitter.com/tvzx25JXYI

— Arsen Ostrovsky  (@Ostrov_A) August 29, 2025

Lie #25: Israel is massacring Gazans as they seek aid from GHF sites.

Truth: When Israel restarted delivering aid to Gaza in May 2025, both it and the United States backed a new aid organization, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), that would deliver aid to Palestinian civilians while ensuring that Hamas could not get its hands on it.

While it has delivered millions of meals to Palestinians, it has been maligned by the media, the UN, and other aid agencies.

One of the chief libels about the GHF is that Israel routinely massacres those who are seeking aid. While the IDF does sometimes fire warning shots at those who stray from the designated paths near the aid centers, and sometimes have fired on those who get too close to their positions in unfortunate situations, many cases of reported massacres have proven to be unfounded or have been misreported instances of fire not related to the aid site.

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.

President Donald Trump has done what few thought possible: he helped broker a sweeping ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, negotiated the release of hostages, and achieved the first genuine breakthrough toward calm in nearly a year. For Israelis, the deal means quiet skies and the return of abducted families. For Palestinians, it offers desperately needed relief. For Americans, it represents a rare moment of when diplomacy actually worked.

And yet, the reaction from much of the American Left has been silence. The same political and moral voices that have spent months demanding a ceasefire in Gaza have fallen mute now that one has arrived. Even Barack Obama, who cautiously said we should all be “encouraged and relieved,” stopped short of acknowledging Trump’s role. Progressive leaders and influencers who once posted daily about “ending the killing” have said little. Media outlets that elevated every previous diplomatic setback have moved on.

It is a remarkable dissonance: the very outcome so many claimed to desire — peace, de-escalation, humanitarian access — has been achieved, but by the wrong hands. That contradiction tells us something profound about the state of American civic life. Our politics have become so saturated by affective polarization, so defined by visceral emotional hostility toward the other side, that many cannot even celebrate peace if it arrives through a political rival.

Affective polarization is more than disagreement. It is the phenomenon, now well-documented by scholars like Shanto Iyengar and Lilliana Mason, in which partisans grow to hate and distrust their opponents as people, not merely oppose their ideas. It is a moral emotion more than a rational stance: disgust, fear, contempt. The more one side is loathed, the more moral it feels to reject everything associated with it. This emotional sorting has turned politics into a theater of identity rather than a contest of policy.

That is why so many on the Left cannot bring themselves to give Trump credit for this deal. In a healthy political culture, a ceasefire and hostage release would be an occasion for shared relief, if not gratitude. But in our polarized one, positive feelings toward an opponent are experienced as betrayal. To say that Trump succeeded is not, in the mind of many progressives, to acknowledge a fact; it is to wound one’s tribe. The reaction becomes moralized: silence as purity, acknowledgment as contamination.

Political sorting has made this response all but inevitable. Over the past several decades, many Americans have come to live, worship, and socialize with those who think like themselves. Partisanship now defines moral boundaries and social identity. To be “on the Left” no longer simply means favoring redistributive policies or progressive reforms, it means belonging to a moral community defined in opposition to Trump and the movement that supports him.

When identity is at stake, the ordinary norms of evaluation break down. The achievement of peace becomes inseparable from the personality associated with it. The act cannot be good if the actor is, in the tribe’s imagination, evil. As affective polarization deepens, moral reasoning collapses into reflex. Emotion crowds out judgment.

This isn’t unique to the Left, of course. Conservatives behaved similarly under Obama, dismissing or minimizing his role in successes such as the raid on Osama bin Laden or sanctions on Iran. But today’s reaction carries a different weight. The moral intensity that animates the modern progressive movement — its conviction that it alone occupies the side of justice — makes acknowledgment of an opponent’s virtue especially threatening.

Affective polarization doesn’t just distort how people feel about politics; it reshapes how they feel about truth. Once emotions determine perception, facts that contradict the emotional order must be ignored or reframed. This is why even a genuine diplomatic success can be spun as suspect: perhaps the deal was coerced, perhaps it was opportunistic, perhaps it will fail. These rationalizations serve an emotional function, they preserve the purity of contempt.

Former President Obama’s muted response captures the dilemma perfectly. He offered relief without recognition, validation without credit. The avoidance is deliberate. He knows that open praise of Trump would fracture the progressive coalition that still reveres him. Acknowledging the achievement would invite accusations of appeasement or betrayal. In an era of affective polarization, even measured generosity risks being reinterpreted as treason to the cause.

But this silence comes at a moral cost. When leaders cannot acknowledge good done by their adversaries, they model a politics of negation. They teach citizens that truth is partisan and that virtue is contingent on affiliation. The habit of withholding praise corrodes the civic trust that democratic life requires. It signals that what matters most is not reality but narrative: the preservation of emotional coherence over empirical fact.

That logic now governs much of American political life. The reaction to Trump’s Middle East deal is simply the latest and starkest case.

This is how affective polarization hollows out moral courage. It makes sincerity dangerous and honesty costly. It turns politics into a form of emotional hygiene, where purity must be maintained at all costs. The moment we fear that recognition of another’s good deed might “taint” us, civic reasoning has already given way to tribalism.

The tragedy is that this pattern is self-reinforcing. Each refusal to acknowledge the other side’s success deepens distrust and confirms the caricature.

The result is a democracy that can no longer experience joy together. A moment of peace in the Middle East becomes not a unifying event, but another test of loyalty. Even moral goods, saving lives, freeing captives, are recoded through partisan emotion.

There was a time when American leaders resisted that temptation. When Richard Nixon opened up to China, Democrats recognized its strategic value. When Jimmy Carter mediated peace between Israel and Egypt, Republicans offered credit. When Ronald Reagan forged arms agreements with Gorbachev, Democrats applauded the breakthrough. These gestures were not signs of weakness, but of civic strength. They reflected a shared moral confidence that truth and goodness could exist outside partisan lines.

We have lost that confidence. Affective polarization has made cross-party acknowledgment feel morally dangerous. It has replaced civic humility with moral narcissism.

The solution begins with a small but radical act: honesty. A willingness to recognize good wherever it appears, and to praise virtue even when it originates in the hands of a rival. That act does not diminish one’s convictions; it dignifies them. It affirms that truth exists independently of our tribes, that moral worth is not determined by partisanship, and that peace — real, tangible, human peace — is a universal good.

The ceasefire and hostage release will face challenges, as all fragile peace deals do. But for now, lives have been spared, families reunited, and the possibility of stability renewed. That is cause for gratitude, not partisan discomfort.

Peace, like truth, does not belong to one party or president. It belongs to all who value life over politics. To say so should not require courage. But in today’s polarized America, it does.

And that, perhaps, is the clearest measure of how much work remains to be done.

Samuel J. Abrams is a professor of politics at Sarah Lawrence College and a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.