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Israel's patronising manipulation of Gaza's narrative

July 7, 2015 at 3:32 pm

Not content with inscribing the renewed attempts at colonising Gaza through Operation Protective Edge last summer, the Israeli media has since filled up column space by churning out its deceitful narrative on the beleaguered territory. The result is a series of patronising articles that depart from a sliver of the mundane in order to encapsulate the ongoing repercussions as a helpless, humanitarian situation divested from its obvious political context.

The latest example of such “analysis” published by the Times of Israel follows a description of Gaza’s beaches after Iftar (breaking of the Ramadan fast at sunset), with diatribes against Hamas claimed to have been uttered by a Palestinian from the Gaza Strip who blames the movement for the delays in reconstruction. Quotes attributed to the person interviewed for the article suggest a subjugated individual willing to converse with Israeli media representatives, an integral part of the colonisation process.

Statistics being another favoured component of Israel’s propaganda, the article points out that “16,000 homes (some say 20,000) were destroyed completely during Operation Protective Edge, and almost no massive construction of replacement homes has begun yet.”

In keeping with the invented Israeli narrative, the article claims that “unemployment, poverty and Hamas’s inability to pay salaries to its workers” constituted the factors which led to Hamas “confronting” Israel last year. Selective remembrance has served its purpose well, in this case negating the premeditated Israeli colonial efforts to render Gaza uninhabitable through destruction and forced displacement, under pretexts that changed according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s aggressive strategies.

Ruminating upon the reconstruction process which has been stalled for months, the article shifts blame upon donor countries that promised financial aid but have so far failed to transfer the funds. Once again, the narrative is distorted. While the lack of funds is certainly a factor, the reconstruction process as agreed upon by the UN, the US, Israel and the Palestinian Authority is another colonial effort aimed at sustaining Gaza’s current status as an uninhabitable area.

Reality, which absconds effectively from Israel’s propaganda, reveals an international conspiracy that protects Israel and creates the foundations for disseminating twisted, vile rhetoric and, subsequently, state impunity for decades of war crimes committed against the Palestinian population through colonisation. In a speech several months ago, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon endorsed Israel’s intent to colonise Gaza by stating that funds for reconstruction would not be allocated in the event of another bout of aggression against the enclave, effectively aligning the international organisation’s aims with that of the fabricated state it constantly supports.

While the Israeli media has intentionally created fiction out of Gaza, articles have exhibited clearly the dynamics of compliance between the international community and the settler-colonial state, effectively creating the parameters through which Israel can plan additional massacres destined for Gaza; blame Palestinian resistance factions, notably Hamas, for the aggression; and navigate through the usual currents of condemnations and justifications issued by the UN in particular. Self-styled impunity remains the ultimate aim, aided by the fact that the international community will never allow the Palestinian narrative to take precedence over Israel’s macabre deceit.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.