Political, Media, Public and Legal Bias Against Israel
Anti-Israel media bias.
Image: Anne’s Opinions
Israel suffers from unjustified international prejudice or bias against her. The result is widespread misunderstanding and ignorance of the true nature and purpose of Israel. This bias comes from the general public, the media, political organizations (as in the UN and EU), and even the church (as in the World Council of Churches, WCC). Invariably it has one underlying objective – to change Israeli government policy with respect to ownership and use of land e.g. land boundaries, and with respect to Israel’s claim on Jerusalem. At its extreme, bias aims to bring down the country and destroy it.
Political Bias Against Israel
The United Nations does Israel no favours by passing many resolutions against Israel. As of 2012, the UN had passed 79 resolutions directly critical of Israel, and 40% of UN Human Rights Council Resolutions have been against Israel (see YouTube video). EU bias became clear in 2014 when the parliaments of Sweden, Britain, France, Spain, Ireland, Portugal and Luxembourg voted in support of recognizing, in principle, a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, link, link. Similar EU activity aggravated Israel in 2014:
“In Geneva they call for the investigation of Israel for war crimes, while in Luxembourg the European court removed Hamas from the list of terrorist organizations” [Benjamin Netanyahu, 2014].
And why does the British Foreign Office (BFO) not allow the Queen to make a state visit to Israel, but permits her to visit Islamic states?
Media Bias Against Israel
The media (BBC, CBC and CNN …) is often accused of reporting bias against Israel. For example, the BBC reported:
“Recently, two Palestinians, unprovoked, attacked Israeli police officers in Jerusalem with guns and knives, while the third stabbed to death Border Police staff sergeant Hadas Malka, age 23”
There’s the fact. But the BBC headline was misleading:
“Three Palestinians killed after deadly stabbing in Jerusalem”
When Israel acts in self-defense, the narrative is distorted to fit the (BBC) narrative of Zionist aggression
[Lord Michael Grade, former chairman of the BBC]
Similarly, CNN (the American satellite TV and Cable News Network) has been awarded first prize for its biased reporting of atrocities in Israel. Such bias must contribute to the 1.1 billion people in the world who harbour anti-Semitic attitudes, link, and to the increasing aliyah to Israel from anti-Semitic Europe, link.
Legal Bias Against Israel
Legal misinformation again from the media, leads to the frequent but erroneous claim that “Israel occupies Palestinian land”; legally it does not, link. Sadly, the World Council of Churches (WCC) tends to follow this misinformation, link, and the institutionalized churches e.g. the Anglican Church lean to the view that the church has replaced Old Testament Israel (Replacement Theology).
Public Bias & University Campus Bias
Israeli Jews teaching Christians Worldwide
Root Source
Amongst the UK public, Israel ranks as one of the world’s most unfavorably viewed countries; even Iran is liked more than Israel, link. Worldwide, public bias is seen in the well-known global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign. This is a social protest that wages economic warfare on Israel’s economy. It aims to boycott Israeli goods from so-called ‘occupied territories’. But, to date, Israel claims BDS has had only limited success, link. In reality, BDS supporters are blind to the fact that economically destroying Israel hurts the very populations they want to save:
“Israelis continue to come to the West Bank to do business, and most Palestinians continue to buy Israeli goods. If you ask Palestinians what they want, they’ll tell you they want jobs, secure education, and health” [The Washington Institute]
When it comes to the University campus, Israel is always “the bad boy”. A 2015-16 course run at the University of California presents the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from the (incorrect) assumption that Israel practices Apartheid, and is an illegitimate state, link. In the UK, top universities Oxford and Cambridge have held pro-Palestinian lectures and suppressed the voice of Israel, link. Even some University academics promote anti-Israel propaganda, link, link.
It is time for Christians on campus to inform themselves of the lies about Israel and then challenge the campus bias. Also, put Root Source and Israel First into the hands of students!
