I fully agree with your take on Haaretz. Hebrew is my mother tongue, but reading any other Israeli newspapers is very difficult to me as every line is dripping with toxic cult trash (even Haaretz). I commend you for having the strength to go through this (Ynet) "article". Just the banner graphics from the top was more than enough for me. A sick, sick country - a sad "mistake" of history - shame for generations to come and the bane of my existence.
Ben, you and Avigail just happened to be born in that wretched society, just as I was born in the wretched society of the US. It's not your fault or mine. What matters is what we have done about it. Your feelings show how strongly you oppose the Zionist enterprise. That alone puts you far ahead of the vast majority of the settler-colonial population occupying Palestine.
«Haaretz» (הארץ) means 'the land', and what is implied is 'the land of Israël' (ארץ ישראל), meaning the land allegedly given by so-called God to the Jews. The very name is Zionist propaganda.
For children, there is a version called הארץ שלנו, which could be interpreted either as 'our _Haaretz_' (meaning _Haaretz_ for us children) or as 'our land'. More propaganda.
As a primary school child I had a subscription to הארץ שלנו. I was heavily brain washed but it didn’t quite work. Some people end up asking questions despite heavy childhood indoctrination, even if it takes a while to get there. I have worked with many clients who grew up in cults and had a similar experience to me.
Brainwashing didn't work on me either. Like you, I asked questions and would not be fobbed off with cheap propaganda.
Of course it is likely to take time to overcome indoctrination entirely on one's own. People in societies like the Zionist entity and the US have to do all of the work themselves.
What an interesting post, to see in real-time the propaganda and indoctrination fed to the waiting sycophants of the Israeli government. No doubt we'll see these same talking points repeated across worldwide media. Thanks as always, Avigail.
Yep. That’s how it is in the settler-colonial cult-state. I know Israel is not alone in this by any means. But that is a good example of what you find in their mass media. I am watching live news on their TV as much as I can stomach it. Israel is a very very stupid country.
Thank you Avigail. Here's a detailed explanation, with numerpus examples, of exactly why the billionaire ruling classes around the world MUST constantly keep "their" populations in a state of tribalist division, hostility and fear of a boogeyman enemy https://johnspritzler.substack.com/p/oppressors-need-bogeyman-enemies
PS. Also highly recommened reading the very informative links leading out from these posts, since they really illustrate the big picture of what is happening here
If anyone were to take the trouble to explore Iran’s history with the USA and the UK it is perfectly understandable why they would want to develop nuclear weapons. Time and again we have proven ourselves to be untrustworthy.
I agree Scott. Had we not replaced Iran’s democratically elected leader with a US/UK appointed Shah, they may well have developed into an enviable democracy with an ancient culture, and all the benefits of a highly intelligent, educated and technologically advanced society.
The US capitalist system, which leads to horrendous social and economic injustices kept Iran under US control, but gave rise to a revolution, which was deeply religious. But don’t underestimate the Iranians. They are not stupid…
It was a theocratic revolution. It set them back decades. But it was an understandable reaction with far reaching consequences. We need to learn from this, but I fear we will not.
The US prefers dictators to democracy. It works better if you want to control a country. Capitalism/neoliberalism are an anathema to democracy. We are seeing the breakdown of US so-called democracy happening in front of our eyed because Trump is too crass and too ignorant to continue the pretend game that those before him have played for so long. He is just exposing what was always there. The US moving to dictatorship was always going to happen as their capitalism deepened and became more and more wild and unchecked.
The US goes around the world installing dictators under the signboard of «democracy». Often it turns against its chosen dictators: Hussein and Noriega are two examples, and Zelensky is next in line.
I agree that Trump is just a crass and obnoxious rich-white-trash version of what the US has been for its entire history. As for the recrudescence of fascism, I predicted it more than thirty years ago.
Thank you for opening Israeli media to English speakers. There should be an effort made to do the opposite, though, to translate the English media especially from Substack sites, into Hebrew. Israeli media is highly censored and most Israelis have no access to opposing opinions. That's one of the reasons that their reaction to Gaza is so inhumane, but of course, not the only one. Something has to move in Israeli public opinion for this horror to end.
Can you imagine if a deal faltered with the US and Russia? And the next day, the chief general of the US Army (along with other top officials) are assassinated and multiple sites blown up with casualties? It would be insanity. THIS is insanity. But it's not because of a deal or no deal. It's pre-meditated like you said and an old dream. They want to drag this all the way into the abyss.. perhaps it needs to all crumble. And we can shepherd the new in time. Until then, wishing everyone peace and safety.
The US constantly throws around the term «state-controlled media» in reference to countries out of favour with the US. Its own media are state controlled but are never described in that way. The fact remains that one gets exactly one line on any important issue from the Yankee press—in a country of 340 million people. Why such uniformity, if the media are «free» as is universally claimed?
The Zionist entity, as Avigail said, openly censors the press, through a military censor. Unsurprisingly, the state-controlled Zionist press turns out military propaganda.
One of the most popular, and hip radio stations in Israel, especially with young people is Galei Tzahal, which is the IDF’s radio station (using the term IDP while holding my nose). I used to listen to it all the time. It is there to make the military feel fun, and benign and like it is a normal part of Israeli society’s DNA. The military isn’t something separate from civilian society. It is embedded right into it. A lot of people have argued that it is not a military of the state but that the state that exists for the military. The point is Israeli society is settler-colonial, which means that it is in a permanent state of war by its own definition, therefore it perceives itself as unable to exist without its military. Israel is a fully-armed militant society. Everything is secondary to this.
In occupied Palestine, one sees soldiers carrying machine guns on ordinary urban buses. Where else in the world can that be seen? It's a militarised society.
Complete madness. The mask has come off for most people when it comes to Israel, but what is most insane is that they are basically barely bothering to lie any more and gaslighting the world. As a Jew who has visited Israel several times, I have never met people more brainwashed. They honestly think they are a country whose main motivations are love and bravery. I hope I live to see their regime fall.
I have visited Palestine once, and that was enough for me. The contrast between the settler-colonial population and the Palestinians is striking. I met quite a few settlers but greatly preferred to move in Palestinian circles.
The West is just plain diabolical. This bait and switch approach was also seen in the Minsk I and Minsk II Accords whereby NATO nations passed treaties aimed at eliminating attacks by Ukrainian forces on ethnic Russian provinces. Later the heads of NATO nations admitted they were only created to bide for time in up-arming Ukrainian forces.
They used to say war is a part of diplomacy. Now, diplomacy is an act of war.
Yes, it's utter evil. The West began setting up that proxy war against Russia in 2014, with its coup and installation of a «democratic» neo-Nazi puppet régime in the Ukraine. Of course, the Western media spout a uniform lie framing Russia as the aggressor, when the Ukraine is just the West’s cat's-paw and the aggressor is the US.
Let's not adopt the Zionist/Yankee term «preëmptive attack». That term serves only to justify the unjustifiable. The attack was nothing more than an imperialist attempt to harm Iran. There was nothing «preëmptive» about it.
Confucius said 'If the terminology is incorrect, the discourse will not follow; if the discourse does not follow, things cannot be accomplished' (名不正，则言不顺；言不顺，则事不成). Imposing biased or downright incorrect terms is a classic trick of those who would deceive us. Both the Zionist entity and the US do this routinely.
Another example of politically motivated terminology is «Israël» as the name favoured by the Zionist entity. «Israël» refers to all of Jewry, and the name was chosen precisely to equate the Zionist entity with Jews collectively, such that any criticism of the former is framed as an anti-Semitic attack against the latter. I refuse to refer to the Zionist entity as «Israël».
I fully agree with your take on Haaretz. Hebrew is my mother tongue, but reading any other Israeli newspapers is very difficult to me as every line is dripping with toxic cult trash (even Haaretz). I commend you for having the strength to go through this (Ynet) "article". Just the banner graphics from the top was more than enough for me. A sick, sick country - a sad "mistake" of history - shame for generations to come and the bane of my existence.
I have to agree with you Ben. I am so sorry.
Ben, you and Avigail just happened to be born in that wretched society, just as I was born in the wretched society of the US. It's not your fault or mine. What matters is what we have done about it. Your feelings show how strongly you oppose the Zionist enterprise. That alone puts you far ahead of the vast majority of the settler-colonial population occupying Palestine.
«Haaretz» (הארץ) means 'the land', and what is implied is 'the land of Israël' (ארץ ישראל), meaning the land allegedly given by so-called God to the Jews. The very name is Zionist propaganda.
For children, there is a version called הארץ שלנו, which could be interpreted either as 'our _Haaretz_' (meaning _Haaretz_ for us children) or as 'our land'. More propaganda.
As a primary school child I had a subscription to הארץ שלנו. I was heavily brain washed but it didn’t quite work. Some people end up asking questions despite heavy childhood indoctrination, even if it takes a while to get there. I have worked with many clients who grew up in cults and had a similar experience to me.
Brainwashing didn't work on me either. Like you, I asked questions and would not be fobbed off with cheap propaganda.
Of course it is likely to take time to overcome indoctrination entirely on one's own. People in societies like the Zionist entity and the US have to do all of the work themselves.
Totally.
What an interesting post, to see in real-time the propaganda and indoctrination fed to the waiting sycophants of the Israeli government. No doubt we'll see these same talking points repeated across worldwide media. Thanks as always, Avigail.
Yep. That’s how it is in the settler-colonial cult-state. I know Israel is not alone in this by any means. But that is a good example of what you find in their mass media. I am watching live news on their TV as much as I can stomach it. Israel is a very very stupid country.
Thank you Avigail. Here's a detailed explanation, with numerpus examples, of exactly why the billionaire ruling classes around the world MUST constantly keep "their" populations in a state of tribalist division, hostility and fear of a boogeyman enemy https://johnspritzler.substack.com/p/oppressors-need-bogeyman-enemies
And here is how this boogeyman enemy principle is applied specifically by the israeli ruling class https://www.pdrboston.org/israel-s-government-attacks-jews-to
PS. Also highly recommened reading the very informative links leading out from these posts, since they really illustrate the big picture of what is happening here
I had suspected what you said:
"Israel has always sought a major conflict behind which to conceal the ‘final solution’ to their ‘Palestinian problem.’"
as soon as I saw, yesterday, that the last fiber optic cable to the Palestinians had been cut.
You mentioned a while back what it does to you, to go into Israel's media swamp. I am so sorry. Thank you for doing it.
If anyone were to take the trouble to explore Iran’s history with the USA and the UK it is perfectly understandable why they would want to develop nuclear weapons. Time and again we have proven ourselves to be untrustworthy.
Iran would be insane *not* to develop nuclear weapons.
I agree Scott. Had we not replaced Iran’s democratically elected leader with a US/UK appointed Shah, they may well have developed into an enviable democracy with an ancient culture, and all the benefits of a highly intelligent, educated and technologically advanced society.
The US capitalist system, which leads to horrendous social and economic injustices kept Iran under US control, but gave rise to a revolution, which was deeply religious. But don’t underestimate the Iranians. They are not stupid…
That I am aware of. I went to school with several Iranians. They are a highly educated and intelligent people.
And to think that the US’s overthrow of Mossadegh was done in the name of «democracy». The installation of a king is democratic?
Unfortunately, the response to that Yankee coup was a theocratic revolution—not my preference, but the Great Satan has only itself to blame.
It was a theocratic revolution. It set them back decades. But it was an understandable reaction with far reaching consequences. We need to learn from this, but I fear we will not.
The US prefers dictators to democracy. It works better if you want to control a country. Capitalism/neoliberalism are an anathema to democracy. We are seeing the breakdown of US so-called democracy happening in front of our eyed because Trump is too crass and too ignorant to continue the pretend game that those before him have played for so long. He is just exposing what was always there. The US moving to dictatorship was always going to happen as their capitalism deepened and became more and more wild and unchecked.
The US goes around the world installing dictators under the signboard of «democracy». Often it turns against its chosen dictators: Hussein and Noriega are two examples, and Zelensky is next in line.
I agree that Trump is just a crass and obnoxious rich-white-trash version of what the US has been for its entire history. As for the recrudescence of fascism, I predicted it more than thirty years ago.
Thank you for opening Israeli media to English speakers. There should be an effort made to do the opposite, though, to translate the English media especially from Substack sites, into Hebrew. Israeli media is highly censored and most Israelis have no access to opposing opinions. That's one of the reasons that their reaction to Gaza is so inhumane, but of course, not the only one. Something has to move in Israeli public opinion for this horror to end.
Can you imagine if a deal faltered with the US and Russia? And the next day, the chief general of the US Army (along with other top officials) are assassinated and multiple sites blown up with casualties? It would be insanity. THIS is insanity. But it's not because of a deal or no deal. It's pre-meditated like you said and an old dream. They want to drag this all the way into the abyss.. perhaps it needs to all crumble. And we can shepherd the new in time. Until then, wishing everyone peace and safety.
The US constantly throws around the term «state-controlled media» in reference to countries out of favour with the US. Its own media are state controlled but are never described in that way. The fact remains that one gets exactly one line on any important issue from the Yankee press—in a country of 340 million people. Why such uniformity, if the media are «free» as is universally claimed?
The Zionist entity, as Avigail said, openly censors the press, through a military censor. Unsurprisingly, the state-controlled Zionist press turns out military propaganda.
One of the most popular, and hip radio stations in Israel, especially with young people is Galei Tzahal, which is the IDF’s radio station (using the term IDP while holding my nose). I used to listen to it all the time. It is there to make the military feel fun, and benign and like it is a normal part of Israeli society’s DNA. The military isn’t something separate from civilian society. It is embedded right into it. A lot of people have argued that it is not a military of the state but that the state that exists for the military. The point is Israeli society is settler-colonial, which means that it is in a permanent state of war by its own definition, therefore it perceives itself as unable to exist without its military. Israel is a fully-armed militant society. Everything is secondary to this.
In occupied Palestine, one sees soldiers carrying machine guns on ordinary urban buses. Where else in the world can that be seen? It's a militarised society.
Thank you. These are insights we - outside the hebrew reading world - don't usually have access to.
Lets hope for a well meditated response from Iran.
I hope that Iran will blast the Zionist entity clear off the map.
As Avigail said, the Zionist entity is nothing but the US’s dutiful little cat's-paw.
Complete madness. The mask has come off for most people when it comes to Israel, but what is most insane is that they are basically barely bothering to lie any more and gaslighting the world. As a Jew who has visited Israel several times, I have never met people more brainwashed. They honestly think they are a country whose main motivations are love and bravery. I hope I live to see their regime fall.
I have visited Palestine once, and that was enough for me. The contrast between the settler-colonial population and the Palestinians is striking. I met quite a few settlers but greatly preferred to move in Palestinian circles.
The West is just plain diabolical. This bait and switch approach was also seen in the Minsk I and Minsk II Accords whereby NATO nations passed treaties aimed at eliminating attacks by Ukrainian forces on ethnic Russian provinces. Later the heads of NATO nations admitted they were only created to bide for time in up-arming Ukrainian forces.
They used to say war is a part of diplomacy. Now, diplomacy is an act of war.
Yes, it's utter evil. The West began setting up that proxy war against Russia in 2014, with its coup and installation of a «democratic» neo-Nazi puppet régime in the Ukraine. Of course, the Western media spout a uniform lie framing Russia as the aggressor, when the Ukraine is just the West’s cat's-paw and the aggressor is the US.
Let's not adopt the Zionist/Yankee term «preëmptive attack». That term serves only to justify the unjustifiable. The attack was nothing more than an imperialist attempt to harm Iran. There was nothing «preëmptive» about it.
You’re right. This is the language Israel is using.
Confucius said 'If the terminology is incorrect, the discourse will not follow; if the discourse does not follow, things cannot be accomplished' (名不正，则言不顺；言不顺，则事不成). Imposing biased or downright incorrect terms is a classic trick of those who would deceive us. Both the Zionist entity and the US do this routinely.
Another example of politically motivated terminology is «Israël» as the name favoured by the Zionist entity. «Israël» refers to all of Jewry, and the name was chosen precisely to equate the Zionist entity with Jews collectively, such that any criticism of the former is framed as an anti-Semitic attack against the latter. I refuse to refer to the Zionist entity as «Israël».
https://substack.com/@worldwarnow/note/c-64704148