Molotov cocktail: Page to pavement

Many awoke on June 1 to read headlines on fire from all the usual mainstream suspects claiming that yet another massacre occurred at the hands of their favorite hated Zionist entity, this time in one of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation centers, and worse, during aid distribution.

As is the case by now, the natural reaction was to roll my eyes and wonder what the actual number of eliminated terrorists was. Without much searching, it turned out the number was a grand total of zero … because the event never happened.

It was again just another blatant lie casually thrown out by Hamas and their callous cohorts. Just like the great parking lot massacre at Al-Ahli Hospital. Just like IDF executing Gazan children by shooting them in the head. Just like the 14,000 dead kids in 48 hours who weren’t actually going to die. Just like every bit of manufactured news that comes out of that terror-infested strip.

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We’re used to this. The only difference is that this time it was not just on-brand exaggeration but complete fabrication. While this isn’t unexpected behavior for a Machiavellian death cult in an increasing pressure cooker, it takes two to tango with spreading terrorism to Western minds, and so the true problem is the always-waiting vampiric media, ever thirsty for their next dose of blood libel … the same media that willingly and eagerly reported this phantom episode as if it were truly made of flesh and blood.

Never mind that they later admitted in print that they have no way of verifying the “tip” they received. No video footage or neutral witnesses whatsoever.

Never mind that after 20 months, they are still taking the word of literal terrorists who have a penchant for deception. No conflict of ethics there.

Never mind that this is truly something that could be (and was) easily refuted with just an ounce of time and evidence. No need to wait for those nuisances.

Obviously, it is harmful enough when such crazed rhetoric is believed in ignorance, but it is a different degree of sinister malice to knowingly spread life-threatening libel … and these organizations knew exactly what they were doing.

Here we have the true insidious objective of such a deliberate decision: intentionally spreading grotesque yet identifiable lies, not simply because truth is not valued, but because the propagandistic damage that it will inflict on the average reader cannot be undone. The reality is that the vast majority of the audience who readily chooses to consume such “news” is either dangerously ignorant to the truth of the situation in Gaza or already has an unshakeable predisposition against Israel. Clearly those still choosing ignorance by this point have no inclination to look up the truth, and those choosing bigotry have no interest in truth whatsoever. So when a retraction or correction is published, assuming it is even noticed while buried far down the page, the weight of the original lie will continue to remain, anyone calling out inaccuracies will be written off as a lying Zionist, and therefore the ultimate goal of inflicting deeply antisemitic harm stays intact. Each instance is a true Molotov cocktail, a piece of incendiary propaganda deliberately tossed to set reality aflame and watch it burn.

So it’s no surprise when Molotov cocktails start getting thrown around in real life as well.

Many have said that the recent antisemitic crimes of murder and arson were directly caused by the explosive media hit pieces that aired hours to days beforehand, but I disagree. Anyone who is so fully entrenched in the ideology of jihad that he is willing to give it all up to take out some Jews doesn’t need to be inspired by some fiery headline. These fanatics are already psychopathically ready to go.

Instead, the media’s cocktails of lies serve to desensitize the rest of the population who won’t necessarily go to the same violent lengths. In this purpose, these repeated alternate realities not only become so typical that they are accepted as reality, but are readily accepted as reason for such crimes when they eventually occur. Therefore, these bombs don’t just seek a reaction from the most combustible of society. They genuinely seek to normalize and ingrain such reactions as legitimate, unavoidable and necessary.

This literary arson is just the latest in a long line of timeless attempts to paint Jews as cold-blooded, blood-lusting, murderous beings lacking any humanity. It is the single most important linchpin of the antisemitic playbook, because if one can prove that Jews are void of humanity, it is then more than reasonable to treat them as subhumans, and therefore rational to lay a pathway for the destruction they deserve. The flambéed cherry on top is that this programming inevitably and intentionally aids in discrediting and disparaging subsequent Jewish alarm and outcry over a world burning around them. Nothing more appropriate than adding a little gaslighting onto the bigoted bonfire, I suppose.

It has been nothing short of, well, utterly inflaming to watch this cycle of lie, “apologize,” and lie again, play out in various ways, on various topics, and in various “reputable” publications for years.

Our world has boards and organizations for policing malpractice among medical and legal fields in order to deter harm through unethical behavior and punish those who still cause it. Why is there nothing of the kind in place for journalism?

An unethical physician or attorney can cause harm to dozens of individuals during their time of practice, but the damage is typically localized. Conversely, an unethical journalist at a major news outlet can spread harm to millions of readers, locally to internationally, with a single publication. Given that such harm can carry across the world and through later generations, how is this danger not taken as seriously?

At least in the case of the Jewish state and community, the depressing reality is that because libel against Jews and the desire to cause harm is so ancient across time, and so ingrained in society, it is not assumed to be something worth taking seriously at all.

It is shameful that at the same time Israel is forced to fight a physical war among multiple neighboring enemies, it is also subject to a written war across the globe … and with supposed allies.

It is shameful that we live in a world where the Jewish state is so dehumanized that, as the saying goes, it is forced to continually turn out its pockets to prove its innocence — while its antagonists, military or literary, never have to prove their wild accusations in the same way.

And it is despicable that when the loaded antipathy makes the short leap from page to pavement, it is seen as not only understandable, but worse, considered defensible.

It is nearly impossible to think of another industry that has performed its job so badly in public for all to see. Though it shouldn’t be on us, it does start with all of us calling out every piece of vile libel thrown out to the public, and never tolerating timeless as acceptable. Jews in the legal field must brainstorm ways to take tangible action against these brazen perversions of reporting, and it is essential that we all stop indulging the offending outlets through consumption of any of their other incompetent journalism.

As the saying goes, you truly do not hate the mainstream media today enough. It’s time to do so like your life depends on it, because as we’re starting to see, it just might. PJC

Sarah Kendis is a musician living in Pittsburgh.