When Anti-Israel Bias Finds Its Way into Coverage Choices

“Our media’s acceptance of anti-Semitic narratives is eroding Israel’s standing in the world and, in turn, the nation’s ability to defend itself against an enemy that has long ago broken its borders and used its very liberalism against it.”

Anti-Semitism today has found a new target for its hate: the State of Israel. For centuries, anti-Semitism blamed the ills of the world on its Jewish minority by perpetuating the narrative that the world Jewry ought to be held responsible for various injustices. This was a distraction tactic often used by governments to deflect responsibility. In the time since the birth of modern Israel however, there is now an opportunity for a more centralized hate, one which has manifested in the advent of a new socio-political rationale, made strong by its water carriers: much of mainstream media and social media.

The preface to the 2021 volume Confronting Antisemitism in Modern Media, the Legal, and Political Worlds, a compendium of the history and discourse about anti-Semitism, put it well:

“Extreme right-wing movements are no longer the only home for antisemitism. On the contrary, antisemitism is ever more present in all parts of our society. The unfathomable tradition of discrimination against Jews, insults, and antisemitic hate crimes is carried out by political, religious, and laygroups from all sides of the political spectrum. Modern media such as TV, the [I]nternet, and online social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter are cauldrons of antisemitic agitation and unconsciously contribute to the dissemination of Jew-hatred around the globe.”

When pro-Palestine actor Mark Ruffalo tweeted on April 22nd that the “Israeli Occupation Authority…targeted by design” hundreds of Palestinians at Al-Aqsa Mosque, few—if any—in the media challenged the claim, preferring instead to peddle a notion of victimization rather than admit that Israeli security forces only ever acted against rioters to protect civilians, regardless of said civilians’ nationality or creed.