Israeli Propaganda Masquerades as Truth; Don't Be Fooled

During the past decade, journalism has undergone dramatic change – not for the better but for the worse.

Newsrooms are filled with individuals that are journalists by name only – any other description is more fitting. As a profession, it’s lost more than it’s gained – truth, trust, and honesty are no longer pillars of its essence. Instead, it’s a vehicle for deception and bias.

Considering the lack of transparency that now exists in the media, believing what’s read and seen requires everyone to critically evaluate the sources and motives behind what’s being reported.

Earlier this month, a video was released purporting to show young Israeli women being terrorized by Hamas – an example of propaganda meant to manipulate public and political sentiment.

Contrary to the video’s claims, the women weren’t young Israeli girls all, but trained Israeli soldiers, negating the video’s record of reality. Instead, it was a carefully constructed piece of propaganda.

The identities of the women in the video raise doubts about the narrative being peddled. Their portrayal as helpless young girls were a deliberate attempt to evoke sympathy and anger, diverting attention away from their roles as combatants in a highly volatile war.

Where the video originated from raises a red flag and is another shameless Israeli lie. Interestingly though, mainstream media continues to persist in presenting an alternate reality about what happened on October 7. Recent revelations have exposed a new kind of October 7 hoax video, highlighting the manipulation and deceit involved in its presentation.

While the video is real in the sense it shows actual events, the way it is being portrayed to the Western public and the Israeli audience is deliberately misleading. The distortion is intended to reinforce the false narrative that Hamas carried out mass sexual violence during their invasion of Israel.

The video depicts five female Israeli soldiers, all adult members of the Gaza division, being attacked at their base, taken captive, and presented as prisoners of war to be exchanged for Palestinian detainees. However, the video has been twisted to portray these women as mere girls, innocent and helpless, being rounded up by Hamas.

Its deliberate misrepresentation is further compounded by several mistranslations and misinterpretations of Arabic words, such as "sohabiya," which means female prisoner of war. These misinterpretations are used to falsely claim that Hamas commandos intended to use these women as sex slaves, similar to the tactics employed by ISIS with Yazidi women.

The video is just one of many lies being circulated. Mainstream media and journalists like The Australian's Gemma Tognini have uncritically accepted and propagated this misinformation, failing to question the authenticity and context of the footage. Their poor reporting has made them unwitting pawns in Israel's propaganda machine – misleading the public and distorting the reality of the conflict.

Discrediting the mainstream narrative is Hebrew University Professor Nurit Peled-Elhanan, who claims the video reveals the deliberate misrepresentation of what really happened, explaining that the women were not innocent civilians but trained soldiers, and the blood seen in the video, initially used as "evidence" of sexual assault, was from injuries sustained during a firefight, not sexual violence.

The Israeli public is shielded from the grim realities of Gaza, including the water shortages, destruction, and starvation. Instead, Israelis are fed a narrative that either glorifies the heroism of Israeli soldiers or depicts the destruction of Gaza as justified revenge for October 7. This one-sided portrayal perpetuates a distorted view of the conflict, reinforcing racist attitudes and dehumanizing Palestinians.

Since 2005, when Gaza was placed under siege and the West Bank sealed off, Palestinians have largely disappeared from Israeli public life. This separation has coincided with an escalation in racist attitudes among Israeli youth, who have been raised without any real interaction or understanding of Palestinian lives. Israeli textbooks further the disconnect by depicting Palestinians as terrorists or anonymous farmers, but never as normal people.

The timing of the video's release is suspicious. It comes at a time when international opinion is highly polarised regarding the Israeli-Palestinian war. If the video were factual in what it was depicting, then the inconsistencies within the video are overwhelmingly glaring and undermine its credibility. Close examination of the video reveals a dialogue scripted and unnatural – indicative of a staged scenario rather than a spontaneous recording of real events.

By amplifying Israel’s fabricated narratives without assessing their validity, they aren’t only misleading the public but are contributing to a distorted reality and understanding of the war. The media’s responsibility is to rigorously fact-check and present balanced perspectives, yet it continues to fall for and knowingly help propagate Israel's lies and deceit.

Misrepresenting the soldiers as girls and hostages exemplifies the desperate extent of propaganda Israel is prepared to go to and what they will do to facilitate and employ the lie. What’s even more fascinating in the video sham is the parents of these soldiers who decided to publicize the video’s existence to pressure Netanyahu to negotiate their release.

Propaganda isn’t a new phenomenon in the wars that have existed between Israel and Palestine. But it’s been the Israelis who have consistently used the media to wage a war of victimhood and sympathy as a means of gaining public support to demonize the Palestinians.

It’s been the sophistication of modern propaganda, amplified by social media and instant communication, that hasn’t only taken these efforts to new heights but exposed the Israelis for being a lying and oppressive terrorist state.

Social media has become the new battleground for disturbing narratives in the Israeli-Palestinian war. Videos like the fake sexual assault are often shared without verification, reaching millions globally. Their virality can shape public opinion and political debate, making it imperative for consumers of social media to approach it with scepticism.

Propaganda videos always aim to manipulate emotions. Showcasing brutal scenes and helpless victims seeks to elicit strong emotional responses that cloud judgment and critical thinking.

Living in a period where misinformation spreads like wildfire, critical media literacy is now more important than ever. Israel for decades has pulled the wool over the world’s eyes and cast itself as the victim, but it’s failed to do so since October 7 – social media and independent journalists have exposed Israel for being a war-mongering genocidal state that has consistently oppressed the Palestinian people.

The video of young Israeli women supposedly terrorised by Hamas is a reminder of the power and prevalence of propaganda. Far from a spontaneous recording, it was a carefully crafted piece of misinformation designed to manipulate emotions and political opinions.

Journalists like Tognini should approach viewing content with scepticism, demand evidence, and resist the manipulation propaganda seeks to achieve. By doing so, journalists like Tognini won’t fall for the lies Israel propagates and will give their reporting greater credibility and a better understanding of the realities of the Israel-Palestine war.