By Kareen Haddad
In the last month, I’ve found myself spending more time fighting a propaganda machine than grieving the loss of my people in Gaza, because western media continues creating crises of their own, using misinformation to create hype that rivals the attention on the genocide being perpetrated by Israel. For the western media, it’s a game.
One example was the allegation of rape in the Los Angeles Times, which was later redacted in a footnote stating that “such reports have not been substantiated.” The most significant and widespread of the lies that I have found has been the reports of ’40 beheaded infants’ which was broadcasted and then not substantiated nor confirmed neither by the Israeli government, nor President Biden, nor media platforms such as CNN.
You see blatant lies being published on traditional media, only to later see the debunking of said lies from analysts on social media, and then an expected redaction. This is even assuming that they will have enough of a conscience to redact, but this is only the best case scenario, the reality is that a lot of these platforms would rather feign ignorance than accept any culpability.
So, finally, the mainstream narrative becomes saturated by a conversation about lies rather than lives, and in turn we lose the focus of the conversation. In each of these cases, the reach of the redaction does not match the original claim. The damage has already been done to a fatal degree, and Palestinians are left to deal with the repercussions – whether it is in the line of active fire, or in our streets, workplaces, and universities in the diaspora.
While a Palestinian dies, an Israeli is killed; and a violent western-backed genocide against an overwhelmingly civilian population becomes a conflict. It then further manifests in the media cycles which it perpetuates.
By Kareen Haddad