The Demonization of

Israel

Defending Israel From Media BiasHonestReporting

Shocking…!Disgusting…!and Graphic!!

Is Israel a Monster?

Is Israel a Monster?

What is Demonization?

Trying to make someone or a group of people seem as if they are evil. Describing somebody/something in a way that is intended to make other people think of them as dangerous. Marking out or describing as evil or culpable. Definitions from Cambridge Dictionaries, The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, and The Collins Dictionary.

Demonization of Israel is considered anti-Semitism according to the working definition from the European Union and the U.S. State Department.

The EU working de!nition states, in part: “Contemporary examples of anti-Semitism include, but are not limited to: Making mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as collective — such as, especially but not exclusively, the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government or other societal institutions.”

The U.S. State Department adds the following in regard to Israel.

The U.S. working de!nition states, in part: “Examples of the ways in which anti-Semitism manifests itself with regard to the state of Israel, taking into account the overall context could include: Demonizing Israel: Using the symbols and images associated with classic anti-Semitism to characterize Israel or Israelis.”

A few contemporary examples

Printed caption: “Germany is serving. For decades now, Israel has been given weapons, and partly free of charge. Israel’s enemies think it is a ravenous Moloch. Peter Beinart deplores this situation.” Moloch is

gluttonous and ravenous

Horns

Israel as Moloch the Demon

This appeared in Germany’s most widely-read broadsheet daily Süddeutsche Zeitung in July, 2013. Moloch was a Canaanite and Phoenician deity associated with child sacrifice.

Netanyahu Cementing Peace

This “commentary” on an Israeli election appeared in The Sunday Times (UK) on Holocaust Memorial Day, January 2013.

Blood as mortar: a trope of anti-Semitism since the Passover matza blood libels

Palestinian victims

Caricature of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

The Gaza Flotilla

Images of Israel as a monster proliferated across the Internet in the wake of the Gaza flotilla in 2010. Pro-Palestinian activists worked feverishly to present Israel as the aggressor, even depicting Israel as holding a blood-stained knife. In reality, the “activists” on the ship were the ones holding bloody knives.

Big nose

Bloody knife

Tentacles spell out message in Arabic

Israel as a Nazi entity

“Human rights” under attack

Anti-semitic trope: world-spanning grip

The Jews as Monsters

Modern anti-Semitic images are not limited to demonization of Israel. Some demonize the Jews collectively. The above cartoons present the Jewish ritual of circumcision as a barbaric practice carried out by fiends.

A horri!c satire published by Norwegian daily Dagbladet in May, 2013. One panel from the ongoing

full-length comic book series, “Foreskin Man.”

Some of the worst examples of anti-Semitic images today appear in the Arabic language press. The above appeared in al-Balad, the second most popular newspaper in Lebanon, in 2010.

Demonization in the Arabic Press

Bullets as blood-dripping fangs

Demand that all media outlets publicly adopt the EU and U.S. definitions and stop the demonization of Israel.

What You Can Do

Click here

Thank You

Defending Israel From Media BiasHonestReporting