Israel’s unholy policy trinity – destroy, kill, lie – has been underway for decades. But since October 2023 it has reached horrific levels. The horror of Israeli destruction, torture and slaughter is apparently taken for granted by Israeli citizens and by supporters in western countries, largely because telling lies as a feature of warfare is not challenged.
Israeli military spokespersons, the Israeli ambassador to the UN and Prime Minister Netanyahu express outrage if anyone dares question their claims, hence a genocide legitimised by western politicians’ and journalists’ refusal to respond to Israeli spokespersons by saying, ‘You lie, you are deceiving yourselves, why don’t you try telling the truth, at least occasionally.’
The schoolboy who tells lies gets that sort of reprimand, so why not Israeli leaders who have been charged with war crimes, why not military spokespersons who speak proudly of successful assassinations – the kill kill syndrome – and their slaughter of thousands of children?
Before examining the consequences of failure to challenge liars, consider the false claims about two sides in a so called war. The notion ‘war’ is central to hasbara........