Is Qur’an View Of Jews Killing God’s Prophets False? – OpEd

 May 4, 2024  

By Rabbi Allen S. Maller

In the following eight verses the Qur’an asserts that the Jews killed their Prophets. Is this correct?  No and yes. No, because the Jewish people themselves wrote down and preserved the words of their many prophets. The rabbis identified 55 prophets by name 48 males and 7 females.

For more than one thousand years following the covenant made with God at Mount Sinai, the Jewish People were blessed with dozens of God inspired prophets. But yes because on more than one occasion Jewish rulers ordered their agents to get rid of their Prophet critics. 

The Qur’an states: When it is said to them, “Believe in what Allah has revealed,” they say, “We believe [only] in what was revealed to us.” And they disbelieve in what came after it (the New Testament and the Qur’an) while it is the truth confirming that which is with them. Say, “Then why did you kill the prophets of Allah before, if you are [indeed] believers?” (2:91)

“Those who disbelieve in the signs of Allah, and kill the prophets without right, and kill those who order justice from among the people; giving them tidings of a painful punishment. (3:21)

“They have been put under humiliation [by Allah] wherever they are overtaken, except for a covenant from Allah and a rope from the Muslims. And they have drawn upon themselves anger from Allah and have been put under destitution. That is because they disbelieved in the verses of Allah and killed the prophets without right. That is because they disobeyed and [habitually] transgressed. (3:112) 

“Allah has certainly heard the statement of those [Jews] who said, “Indeed, Allah is poor, while we are rich.” We will record what they said; and their killing of the prophets without right, and will say, “Taste the punishment of the Burning Fire. (3:181)

“And for their breaking of the covenant, and their disbelief in the signs of Allah, and their killing of the prophets without right, and their saying, “Our hearts are wrapped (and sealed)”. Rather, Allah has sealed them because of their disbelief, so they believe not, except for a few. (4:159)

 In the above passages it even sounds like all Jews killed all prophets which were sent to them — note the definite article: “the prophets”. On the other hand, there are two passages which formulate more cautiously that the Jews killed (only) some of them:

And We did certainly give Moses the Torah; and followed up after him with (with 55 male and female prophets as) messengers. And We gave Jesus, the son of Mary, clear proofs and supported him with the holy spirit. But is it [not] that every time a messenger came to you, with what your souls did not desire, you were arrogant? And a party [of prophets) you denied and another party you killed. (2:87)  

We had already taken the covenant of the Children of Israel and had sent to them messengers. Whenever there came to them a messenger with what their souls did not desire, a party [of messengers] they denied, and another party they killed. (5:70) 

[They are] those who said, “Indeed, Allah has taken our promise not to believe any messenger until he brings us an offering which fire [from heaven] will consume.” Say, “There have already come to you messengers before me with clear proofs and [even] that of which you speak. So why did you kill them, if you should be truthful?” (3:183)

The most outrageous case was that of Prophet Zechariah, son of the high priest Jehoiada, who was stoned to death in Prophet Solomon’s HolyTemple (2 Chronicles 24:21). According to the Talmud, his blood bubbled (because the rulers did not repent) for two centuries, until the destruction of the Temple (paid its price). 

Thus, “a priest and prophet were killed in the Temple” (Lamentations 2:20) is a reference to this incident, presenting a reason for the destruction of Jerusalem and its Holy Temple built by Prophet King Solomon.

Professor Rabbi Marty Lockshin points out in an article in the Times of Israel (8/1/22) that the book of Jeremiah, written soon after the destruction of the First Temple, asks the big question: What caused the destruction? Jeremiah 9:11 states: “What man is so wise that he understands this? To whom has God’s mouth spoken, so that he can explain it: Why is the land in ruins, laid waste like a wilderness, with none passing through?”

God’s answer (Jeremiah 9: 12-13) follows: “God replied: “Because they forsook the Torah I had set before them. They did not obey Me and they did not follow it, but followed their own willful heart and followed the Baʿalim (pagan idols), as their fathers had taught them.”

God accuses the Judahit (rulers) of ignoring his laws and worshipping the Baʿalim, pagan gods. Centuries later, rabbinic texts adopted Jeremiah’s answer, but added two more sins (Talmud Yoma 9b): “Why was the first Temple destroyed? For the three [cardinal] sins: idolatry, illicit sexuality, and murder.

In contrast, the poetic laments in the book of Lamentations list no specific sins the Judahites committed: Lamentations 1:5 …God has afflicted her (Jerusalem) for her many transgressions…Lamentations 1:18  “Jerusalem has sinned…  Lamentations  4:6 “The guilt of my poor people exceeded the iniquity of Sodom”

The author is certain that the destruction was warranted, and sees it as God’s will, but doesn’t suggest specifics; but one phrase in Lamentations has been interpreted as describing one specific appalling sin: Lamentations  2:20 “See, O Lord, and behold, to whom You have done this! If women eat their own fruit, their new-born babies! If a priest and prophet were slain in the Sanctuary of the Lord!” (they deserve it)

The classical rabbinic sources are clear in understanding the verse as a reference to an Israelite sin called: The Bubbling Blood of the Prophet Zechariah: The Talmud in a  passage often studied on Tisha be’Av, the rabbis describe the destruction of the First Temple by the Babylonians (Talmud Gittin 57b): Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korḥah said: An old man from among the inhabitants of Jerusalem related to me: “In this valley Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard [of the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar], killed 2,110,000 Jews, until their flowing blood came in contact with the blood of Zechariah, to fulfill what Hosea said (Hosea 4:2): “And blood came into contact with blood.”  

[Nebuzaradan] saw that the blood of Zechariah was bubbling up. He said: “What is this?” They said to him: “It is the blood spilled from sacrifices.” He brought [animal] blood and it did not look the same. He said to them: “If you tell me the truth, it will be well with you. If not, I will rake your flesh with iron rakes.” They said to him: “What shall we say to you? He was a prophet among us, who used to rebuke us about religious matters, and we rose up against him, and killed him, and for many years now his blood has not settled.”

The murdered prophet Zechariah mentioned in the Talmud appears in a story in Chronicles. During the reign of King Joash, after the death of the righteous high priest, Jehoiada, the people began to sin, prompting God to send a prophetic warning through Jehoiada’s son, Zechariah: Chronicles  24:20 Then the spirit of God enveloped Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest; he stood above the people and said to them, “Thus God said: Why do you transgress the commandments of the Lord when you cannot succeed? Since you have forsaken the Lord, He has forsaken you.” 24:21 They (the king’s agents) conspired against him and pelted him with stones in the court of the House of the Lord, by order of the king.”

Reading the words in Lamentations 2:20 as referring to the story of Zechariah, the Talmud understands the word “and,” that separates the nouns priest and prophet as not two individuals, but a single person who was both a priest and a prophet. 

As he dies, Zechariah prophesies that God will take vengeance: Chronicles 24:22 “King Joash had no regard for the loyalty that his father Jehoiada had shown to him, and killed his son. As he was dying, he said, “May the Lord see and requite it.”

Given the two centuries-long gap between the murder of Zechariah, in the time of King Joash, and the destruction of the Temple in 586 B.C.E., the Talmud is envisioning the blood of this murdered priest-prophet as having bubbled for over 200 years.

In the New Testament, Matthew (23:31–35) quotes Jesus as chastising the scribes and the Pharisees, telling them that “You testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets,” promising that “upon you may come [punishment for] all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.” (2Chronicles 24:20-22) 

The theme of the Jews as murderers of their prophets appears three more times in the New Testament. (See Luke 11:47-51, Luke 13:34, and Revelation 16:6)

The Talmud’s understanding of the verse requires reading it as a dialogue. After the lamenter says “How could you (God) have done this to us? How could you have reduced us to eating our own children?” God answers, “How could you have committed the terrible crime of the murder of Zechariah?” That is how Rashi (1040–1105), who follows the Talmudic interpretation, explains the verse: “The Holy Spirit [i.e. God] responded to them, “And was it proper for you to kill Zechariah the son of Jehoiada?” …he was a priest and a prophet, and they killed him in the Temple.” (see 2 Chronicles 24:20-22)

The Jezebel/Elijah narrative in the Book of Kings refers to the killing of prophets. 1 Kings 18:4 relates, “when Jezebel (who was not Jewish) was butchering the prophets of Yahweh….” Later Elijah refers to the killing of prophets during his conversation with God on Mt. Horeb (Mt. Sinai) where he fled from the wrath of Jezebel’s husband, the Israelite king Ahab. When the Lord asks him what he is doing there Elijah responds: “I am full of jealous zeal for Yahweh Sabaoth, because the Israelites have abandoned your covenant, torn down your altars and put your prophets to the sword. I am the only one left, and now they want to kill me” (1Kings 19:9-10).

I say Shia Islam and Judaism share a yearly day of mourning and fasting for a very tragic and sad, historical religious event that happened centuries ago. For the Shia it was the slaughter and the tragic martyrdom of Prophet Muhammad’s grandson Husayn, and most members of his family, who were massacred by their enemies on the 10th day of the Islamic month of Muharram, in a battle in 680 CE. For Jews it was the destruction of the holy Jerusalem Temple; first in 587 BCE by the Babylonians, and then again by the Romans in 70 CE. Both Temples were destroyed on the 9th day of the Jewish month of Av. This year the 9th of Av and the 10th of Muharram coincide on Sunday August 7, 2022. 

Actually, the 9th of Av is on Saturday, but because the joyful celebration of Shabbat overrides the mourning for the Temple, the observance of 9th of  Av is shifted to the 10 of Av and thus coincides with the 10th of Muharram. So Jews and Muslims can use this coincidence to think we should learn to share our sorrows with each other. 

The Shia do not charge all, or even most, Sunnis with killing Prophet Muhammad’s grandson Husayn, who they believe should have become the true ruler of the Muslim Community. In the same way Muslim teachers and leaders should not interpret the above verses as applying to all, or even most Jews. 

Many leaders of the various tribes in Makkah joined in on the plot to kill Prophet Muhammad yet nobody blames their descendants for plotting to kill Prophet Muhammad. Justice demands that we punish only the rulers who order these terrible deeds. 

Everyone knows how important fasting during Ramadan, and daily worship and prayer are in Islam; but few know that Islam considers reconciling people better than many acts of worship. 

Prophet Muhammad said: “Should I not tell you what is better in degree than prayer, fasting, and charity.” They (the companions) said: “Yes.” He said: “Reconciling people, because grudges and disputes are a razor (that shaves off faith).” (Ahmad, Abu Dawood, and At-Tirmithi)

Even more amazing, Prophet Muhammad said: “The one who reconciles people is not considered a liar if he exaggerates what is good or says what is good.” [Ahmad] 

This is an excellent guide to dealing with the three-generation old Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Rather than focusing mostly on the pain and sorrow that the other side did to us, we should focus on how the conflict has hurt all of us, and how much better our future would be if we could live next to each other in peace. 

If the descendants of Prophet Isaac and Prophet Ishmael negotiate a settlement that reflects the religious policy that “…there is no sin upon them if they make terms of settlement between them – and settlement [reconciliation] is best.” (Quran 4: 128)  

The Qur’an refers to Prophet Abraham as a community or a nation: “Abraham was a nation/community [Ummah]; dutiful to God, a monotheist [hanif], not one of the polytheists.” (16:120) If Prophet Abraham is an Ummah then fighting between the descendants of Prophets Ishmael and Isaac is a civil war and should always be avoided.

If all Arabs and Jews can live up to the ideal that ‘the descendants of Abraham’s sons should never make war against each other’ is the will of God; we will help fulfill the 2700 year old vision of Prophet Isaiah: “In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt, and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship    together. On that day Israel  will join a three-party alliance with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing upon the heart. The LORD of Hosts will bless them saying, “Blessed be Egypt My people, Assyria My handiwork, and Israel My inheritance.”…(Isaiah 19:23-5)

Rabbi Allen S. Maller

Allen Maller retired in 2006 after 39 years as Rabbi of Temple Akiba in Culver City, Calif. He is the author of an introduction to Jewish mysticism. God. Sex and Kabbalah and editor of the Tikun series of High Holy Day prayerbooks.

Interview: High-tech collaboration a "flagship" of Sino-French relations, says Airbus China CFO

(Xinhua) 

 May 03, 2024

Celebrating the significant milestone of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France, Olivier Malet, CFO of Airbus China, said that bilateral economic and trade cooperation, alongside cultural exchanges, is burgeoning between the two countries.

BEIJING, May 1 (Xinhua) -- Cooperation between China and Airbus serves as a "flagship" of the Sino-French relationship, said the chief financial officer (CFO) of Airbus China.

"(China and Airbus) have found good common ground together ... and this cooperation is really a flagship of the Sino-French relationship. We expect that the Chinese market will keep growing and believe in the huge potential in China," Olivier Malet, CFO of Airbus China, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

"As a partner of China for nearly 40 years, Airbus wants to stay and take part in this growth of aviation," said Malet.

Growth and evolution have defined Airbus's history in China since 1994, when the company first established an official presence in the country. Fourteen years later, in 2008, Airbus opened its first assembly line outside Europe in China's northern city of Tianjin.

Airbus is currently promoting the A320 series aircraft's second final assembly line project. "We recently launched the second assembly line in Tianjin," he said.

"This second assembly line is a sign of the strong relationship between France and China, and it demonstrates that we are quite satisfied with the ecosystem and setup we have established here," emphasized the CFO.

"We believe these aircraft will be very suitable for the Chinese market."

Noting that aerospace manufacturing demands stringent quality and reliability requirements, Malet said that "Airbus produced 'made in China' is the same as one made in Toulouse, in Hamburg, in Mobile of the United States ... And for me, that is very important."

Today, Airbus China has more than 200 local suppliers under an increasingly sophisticated supply chain ecosystem. The inclusion of Chinese elements in Airbus aircraft is growing. This deep cooperation benefits enterprises and contributes to the high-level development of the Chinese aviation industry.

Malet said that addressing climate change and achieving sustainable development are shared global challenges and common goals between China and France, adding that Airbus aims to pioneer sustainable aerospace.

"We want to work with China on flying greener," he said.

With China being Airbus's "largest single market," Malet believes that China's continuous advancement of high-level opening-up and ongoing improvement of the business environment will bring confidence and opportunities to global enterprises, including Airbus China.

Celebrating the significant milestone of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France, he said that bilateral economic and trade cooperation, alongside cultural exchanges, is burgeoning between the two countries.

"In recent years, France and China have worked closely on topics like trade, aviation and culture," said Malet. "We feel very honored to be part of it and to contribute to this high-quality relationship."

(Web editor: Xian Jiangnan, Liu Ning)

China's home appliance giant Haier inaugurates industrial park in Egypt


Source: Xinhua

Editor: huaxia

2024-05-03 



Laborers work on an air-conditioner production line at a factory of the Haier Egypt Ecological Park in the 10th of Ramadan City, Sharqia Province, Egypt, on May 1, 2024. China's home appliance giant Haier inaugurated Thursday its first industrial park in Egypt in 10th of Ramadan, a city northeast of Cairo. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)

CAIRO, May 2 (Xinhua) -- China's home appliance giant Haier inaugurated Thursday its first industrial park in Egypt in 10th of Ramadan, a city northeast of Cairo.

Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of the Haier Group, invests 135 million U.S. dollars to build the Haier Egypt Ecological Park.

Once fully built, it will cover an area of 200,000 square meters with an annual planned production capacity of more than 1.5 million units of home appliances.

Song Yujun, a vice president at Haier Smart Home overseeing its ecosystem platform, said at the opening ceremony that the park, at its planned capacity, will not only meet Egypt's market demands but can be export-ready to neighboring markets.

Trial production is in the swing in the first phase of the industrial park with air-conditioners, televisions and washing machines rolling off the line, Haier Egypt General Manager Ahmed Mossad El Gendi told Xinhua during a media tour at the plant.

Gendi noted the park will create 3,000 local jobs and have 40-65 percent of its spare parts localized once the project's second phase is completed. ■



Laborers work on an air-conditioner production line at a factory of the Haier Egypt Ecological Park in the 10th of Ramadan City, Sharqia Province, Egypt, on May 1, 2024. China's home appliance giant Haier inaugurated Thursday its first industrial park in Egypt in 10th of Ramadan, a city northeast of Cairo. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)



Laborers work at a factory of the Haier Egypt Ecological Park in the 10th of Ramadan City, Sharqia Province, Egypt, on May 1, 2024. China's home appliance giant Haier inaugurated Thursday its first industrial park in Egypt in 10th of Ramadan, a city northeast of Cairo. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)



Laborers work at a factory of the Haier Egypt Ecological Park in the 10th of Ramadan City, Sharqia Province, Egypt, on May 1, 2024. China's home appliance giant Haier inaugurated Thursday its first industrial park in Egypt in 10th of Ramadan, a city northeast of Cairo. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)



Laborers work on an air-conditioner production line at a factory of the Haier Egypt Ecological Park in the 10th of Ramadan City, Sharqia Province, Egypt, on May 1, 2024. China's home appliance giant Haier inaugurated Thursday its first industrial park in Egypt in 10th of Ramadan, a city northeast of Cairo. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)



Unfinished air-conditioners are seen on a production line at a factory of the Haier Egypt Ecological Park in the 10th of Ramadan City, Sharqia Province, Egypt, on May 1, 2024. China's home appliance giant Haier inaugurated Thursday its first industrial park in Egypt in 10th of Ramadan, a city northeast of Cairo. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)

WAR CRIME

Attack on ICRC convoy in Sudan's South Darfur kills two drivers, injures three

03 May 2024 - 11:10BY TALA RAMADAN AND ENAS ALASHRAY

More than a year of war between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has driven at least 8.5 million people from their homes. Fighting tore through the capital and has unleashed waves of ethnically-driven violence in the western region of Darfur.
Image: Thierry Gouegnon/REUTERS/ File photo

An attack by gunmen on a humanitarian convoy of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Sudan's South Darfur killed two drivers and injured three other staff on Thursday, the ICRC said in a statement.

The team was on its way back from Layba to assess the humanitarian situation of communities affected by armed violence in the region when the incident occurred, the ICRC said.

More than a year of war between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has driven at least 8.5 million people from their homes. Fighting tore through the capital and has unleashed waves of ethnically-driven violence in the western region of Darfur.

The ICRC did not say who was to blame for the deaths and called for the immediate protection of all civilians, including humanitarian workers and medical personnel.

“Reports today of the deaths of two ICRC staff members and the injury of three staff members in South Darfur is further evidence of this war's horrific cost. These dedicated employees became victims of the violence and suffering they were working to mitigate,” US Special Envoy for Sudan, Tom Perriello, said on X on Friday.

Reuters

Forced to work as maids in Saudi Arabia, Cambodians beg to be repatriated

The women say they have been denied food and medicine while awaiting help from their embassy.

By RFA Khmer
2024.05.02

Dozens of Cambodian women trafficked to work as maids in Saudi Arabia are demanding their embassy arrange for their return home, seen here in an image posted on a Cambodian government telegram page, April 30, 2024.

Cambodia Government Spokesperson Unit

Dozens of Cambodian women trafficked to work as maids in Saudi Arabia are demanding that their embassy arrange for them to return home, saying that since authorities rescued them nearly two weeks ago, they have lacked access to adequate food and their health is rapidly deteriorating.

On April 18, Cambodia’s Ministry of Labor confirmed that 78 Cambodian migrant workers had been tricked into working in Saudi Arabia, but have now been rescued and placed in hotel rooms under the care of the Cambodian Embassy.

The ministry said 51 of the women are in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah, 15 in the capital Riyadh, and 12 in Dammam, on the coast of the Persian Gulf.

The Ministries of Labor and Foreign Affairs, along with the Cambodian Embassy, claimed to be purchasing flights for the victims to return to Cambodia, promising to return 29 on April 19, 27 on April 20, and the final 22 on April 21.

However, on April 27, RFA Khmer received videos from several of the victims in which they claimed to remain stranded in Saudi Arabia.

In the videos, the women call for help from former Prime Minister Hun Sen, his wife Bun Rany, and their son Prime Minister Hun Manet.

They said the companies that brought them to Saudi Arabia had “violated their contracts,” leaving them mired in legal issues surrounding their salaries and basic rights. They claim several of them were subjected to physical abuse by the households where they worked, including being denied food and sleep.

They singled out Saudi firm BAB, which places workers from Cambodia-based company Fatina Manpower, for allegedly threatening them and accusing them of working illegally in the country. Some of the victims said they were unable to leave the country because BAB had refused to terminate their contracts.

The women told RFA that since their rescue, some of them had been “confined” to their hotel rooms “without proper access to food,” and said they were appealing for help because they could “no longer wait for the government” to send them home.

According to Cambodia’s Ministry of Labor, nearly 1.4 million people were provided with employment opportunities to work abroad in 2023, more than 93% of which are in Thailand, while the remainder are in South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia.

Stranded in Saudi Arabia

RFA contacted one of the women, Thaing Sokyee, who said she had been forced to work as a maid in multiple homes each day without being provided enough food to eat before she was rescued, and is now suffering from health issues.

“I’ve called on the [labor] ministry and the embassy to find prompt solutions for us so that we may return to Cambodia,” she said. “We’ve faced mounting difficulties; our bodies have deteriorated as we were forced to work without food.”

Doeun Pheap, another victim who said she is sick as a result of her working conditions, told RFA that she has been confined to her room since her rescue and has not been permitted by embassy staff to go outside to purchase medicine.

She said the staff told her to wait for the government to send her home and that she was advised to record a video clip “saying that my health condition is getting better and that I have been provided with enough food to eat.”

“I still hurt all over my body – I’m able to stand up, but my waist and my back still hurt,” she said, adding that embassy staff had provided her with “rice, but not food.”

“I didn’t do it [record the video] because I was too hungry and exhausted; I couldn’t bear doing anything.”

Other victims claimed that Uk Sarun, Cambodia’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, had “threatened to abandon us if we continue to publicly call for help.”

Trafficking designation

On Monday, Ambassador Uk Sarun confirmed to RFA Khmer that only 16 of the 78 women had been returned home so far. He said that some of the women had faced a shortage of food due to the ongoing holy month of Ramadan, during which Muslims fast during the day and only eat at night.

He did not address claims by victims that he had threatened to withhold assistance if they continued to speak out about their situation.

The Khmer Times reported last week that 29 of the 78 had been safely repatriated as of April 19, while the rest were awaiting documentation to leave, but provided no attribution for the numbers.

The report said that the embassy was providing the victims with food and accommodation and cited Cambodian Ministry of Labor spokesman Katta Orn as saying that the ministry was conducting an investigation into the employment scam.

RFA spoke with Bun Chenda, a Cambodia-based anti-human trafficking officer for labor rights group CENTRAL, who said the women had been “exploited” when they were sent to Saudi Arabia without proper compliance with labor contracts.

“We are not sure if the government is treating their cases as human trafficking,” he said. “If they are being rescued as human trafficking victims, intervention would likely be easier and they wouldn’t be subject to legal action by a Saudi Arabian company.”

Translated by Yun, Samean. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.

‘Constant terror’ in Rafah as Gazans brace for Israeli invasion

AFP
April 27, 2024

Displaced Palestinian children line up to receive food in Rafah - Copyright AFP -

Palestinians in Rafah told AFP Saturday they were living in “constant terror” as Israel vows to push ahead with its planned assault on the south Gaza city flooded with displaced civilians.

Most of Gaza’s population is sheltering in Rafah at the very south of the territory after fleeing Israeli bombardment elsewhere.

The Israeli army insists it will carry out a ground assault to eliminate Hamas militants, despite an international outcry and concern for the roughly 1.5 million Palestinians sheltering in Rafah, many in tents.

“We live in constant terror and fear of repeated displacement and invasion,” said Nidaa Safi, 30, who fled Israeli strikes in the north and came to Rafah with her husband and children.

“We think about it all day long,” she said.

Even before Israeli forces begin the expected assault, they have been carrying out devastating air strikes.

An overnight strike on a house in Rafah killed a four-month-old baby, her mother, father, and two brothers, relatives and neighbours told AFP.

Hospital officials in Rafah said more than a dozen people were killed during the night.

“Every day we hear news about a Rafah invasion and that it’s a certain fact, on top of the bombardments we witness and hear,” Safi said. “Fear is controlling us, we don’t know how to think anymore.”

Her family has now decided to leave for Deir al-Balah, in centre of the Gaza Strip. Safi said they hoped to “flee Rafah before they kill us.”

– ‘Nowhere safe’ –

Others are unable to bear the thought of being uprooted again.

Samah Deeb, 32, has decided to wait before leaving.

“The thought of displacement again makes me extremely terrified, because I’ve fled so many times,” she said.

Before travelling to Rafah, she had already left home and taken shelter at the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.

“Just the thought of having to work on another tent and transfer all of our belongings and the new expenses it will cost is unbearable,” she said. “There is nowhere else safe, and nowhere else after Rafah to go.”

Deeb said she was monitoring the news closely.

“At any moment they tell us to evacuate Rafah, we will leave like the rest of the people but we pray to God they won’t invade Rafah and force us to relive the suffering of displacement,” she said.

Qasim Abu Nahl, a 40-year-old from Gaza City, said he had already been displaced four times.

“Moving from one place to another has been incredibly hard for us,” he said.

“We spent nearly two weeks enduring heavy bombardment, shells, and smoke bombs” at the city’s Al-Rantisi Hospital before fleeing to Nuseirat in the centre of Gaza “with nothing but the clothes on our backs,” he said.

He said he fled bombing in Nuseirat and went to the southern city Khan Yunis, which “became overcrowded and increasingly dangerous” before he arrived in Rafah.

“We don’t know if we’ll be safe tomorrow or not,” he said. “Every day brings new unsettling news about Rafah.”

Resident Noor al-Farah, 56, has been packing clothes, food and firewood with her husband and children in preparation.

“I am mentally exhausted from the worrying news and waiting for the unknown,” she said.

She has been unable to find anywhere outside Rafah for her family to stay, and said she was afraid of snakes in displacement camps.

– ‘New death’ –

Gazans living in Rafah’s camps have also had to contend with unbearable temperatures as a heatwave takes hold.

Intisar Ramadan Ghaban said life inside a hot tent in fear of an Israeli invasion was like a “new death.”

The 61-year-old said she had already been displaced from Gaza City and Nuseirat refugee camp before reaching Rafah.

“Invasion of Rafah is what we fear the most,” she said. “We fear the day will come when they tell us to get out, but until then we don’t know where we’ll go.

“Will they give us a warning in advance? Or will we leave urgently without knowing what’s going on, carrying only ourselves without anything else? Or will it be under heavy bombardment?

“We have no idea,” she said.

Chamber of Propaganda Horrors

by Media Lens / April 27th, 2024

Tourists visiting Spanish cities like Córdoba, Toledo and Sevilla have the option of whiling away an hour or so at a ‘Museum of the Inquisition’, sometimes known as a ‘Gallery of Torture’. For around three euros, visitors can view an exotic range of devices used to impale, immolate, strangle and dismember human beings in the name of God.

It’s tempting to reassure ourselves that these are relics of a far-distant past, horrors that could never happen now. But did the Dark Ages ever really end? Noam Chomsky commented:

‘Part of the tragedy of the Palestinians is that they have essentially no international support. For a good reason – they don’t have wealth, they don’t have power. So they don’t have rights. It’s the way the world works – your rights correspond to your power and your wealth.’

It is indeed the way the world works. It is also the way the medieval world worked. UK Foreign Secretary, Lord David Cameron (Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton), recently passed judgment on the war in Ukraine at a Washington press conference:

‘It is extremely good value for money… Almost half of Russia’s pre-war military equipment has been destroyed without the loss of a single American life. This is an investment in the United States’ security.’

According even to Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky, 31,000 Ukrainians have been killed in the conflict. US officials estimate 70,000 dead, while Russia claims to have killed 444,000. Are these deaths ‘good value for money’?

And what about the 50,000 Russians estimated by the BBC to have died? Do they matter? After all, European civilisation is supposed to be founded on Christ’s teaching that we should love, not just our ‘neighbour’ but our ‘enemy’. On Britain’s Channel 5, BBC stalwart Jeremy Vine offered a different view to Bill, a caller from Manchester:

‘Bill, Bill, the brutal reality is, if you put on a uniform for Putin and you go and fight his war, you probably deserve to die, don’t you?’

Elsewhere, the Most Reverend and Right Honourable Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, commented after Iran retaliated to Israel’s bombing of an Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria, killing 16 people, including two senior Iranian generals:

‘The attacks on Israel by Iran this weekend were wrong. They risked civilian lives and they escalated the already dangerous tensions in the region. I pray for the peace and security of Israel’s people at this time and I appeal to all parties both for restraint and to act for peace and mutual security.’ (Our emphasis)

If Christ had done political commentary, he would have declared both the Iranian and Israeli attacks wrong, and he would have prayed ‘for the peace and security’ of the peoples of Israel and Iran, and also Palestine.

Cameron responded on the same issue:

‘[It was] a reckless and dangerous thing for Iran to have done, and I think the whole world can see. All these countries that have somehow wondered, well, you know, what is the true nature of Iran? It’s there in black and white.”

He was immediately asked: ‘What would Britain do if a hostile nation flattened one of our consulates?’

Cameron’s tragicomic response:

‘Well, we would take, you know, we would take very strong action.’

Naturally, ‘we’ would do the same or worse, but it’s a grim sign of Iran’s ‘true nature’ when ‘they’ do it. The ‘Evil’ have no right even to defend themselves when attacked by the ‘Good’. Standard medieval thinking.

‘Murderous’ And ‘Brutal’ – Tilting The Language

In idle moments, we sometimes fantasise about opening our own Media Lens Chamber of Propaganda Horrors, a Hall of Media Infamy. It would be a cavernous space packed with examples of devices used to strangle and dismember Truth.

A special section would be reserved for the sage effusions of BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner, who wrote recently of Israel:

‘It responded to the murderous Hamas-led attacks of 7 October… and then spent the next six months battering the Gaza Strip.’

The Hamas attack was ‘murderous’, then, with Israel administering a mere ‘battering’ with its attack that has caused at least 30 times the loss of life. A ‘battering’ is generally bruising but not necessarily fatal. The term is certainly not synonymous with genocide. Is this biased use of language accidental, or systemic?

Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) commented on their careful study of the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal:

‘Looking at all attributions, 77% of the time when the word “brutal” was used to describe an actor in the conflict, it referred to Palestinians and their actions. This was 73% of the time at the Times, 78% at the Post and 87% at the Journal. Only 23% of the time was “brutal” used to describe Israel’s actions…’

The Intercept reported on a leaked memo which revealed that the New York Times had ‘instructed journalists covering Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip to restrict the use of the terms “genocide” and “ethnic cleansing” and to “avoid” using the phrase “occupied territory” when describing Palestinian land’. The Intercept added:

‘The memo also instructs reporters not to use the word Palestine “except in very rare cases” and to steer clear of the term “refugee camps” to describe areas of Gaza historically settled by displaced Palestinians expelled from other parts of Palestine during previous Israeli–Arab wars. The areas are recognized by the United Nations as refugee camps and house hundreds of thousands of registered refugees.’

The memo was written by Times standards editor Susan Wessling, international editor Philip Pan, and their deputies. A Times newsroom source, who requested anonymity ‘for fear of reprisal’, said:

‘I think it’s the kind of thing that looks professional and logical if you have no knowledge of the historical context of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. But if you do know, it will be clear how apologetic it is to Israel.’

Our Chamber of Propaganda Horrors might feature this barely believable sentence from a BBC report by Lucy Williamson, which reads like something from the film ‘Dr. Strangelove’:

‘If you wanted to map the path to a healthy, functioning Palestinian government, you probably wouldn’t start from here.’

Probably wouldn’t start from where? From the middle of a six-months genocide, with two million civilians starving, with children literally starving to death, with tens of thousands of children murdered, with Gaza in ruins? It is hard to imagine a more ethically or intellectually tone-deaf observation. The BBC’s Jeremy Bowen added to the sense of surreality:

‘The decision not to veto the Ramadan ceasefire resolution is also an attempt by the Americans to push back at accusations that they have enabled Israel’s actions.’

Is it an ‘accusation’ that the US has supplied billions of dollars of missiles and bombs without which Israel could not conduct its genocide? Is there any conceivable way the US could ever ‘push back at’ that unarguable fact? The Guardian described how the US has worked hard to avoid Congressional oversight:

‘The US is reported to have made more than 100 weapons sales to Israel, including thousands of bombs, since the start of the war in Gaza, but the deliveries escaped congressional oversight because each transaction was under the dollar amount requiring approval.

‘The Biden administration… has kept up a quiet but substantial flow of munitions to help replace the tens of thousands of bombs Israel has dropped on the tiny coastal strip, making it one of the most intense bombing campaigns in military history.’

These hidden sales are in addition to the $320m in precision bomb kits sold in November and 14,000 tank shells costing $106m and $147.5m of fuses and other components needed to make 155mm artillery shells in December.

In response to the latest news of a massive additional supply of arms to Israel, Edward Snowden posted on X:

‘ok but you’re definitely gonna hold off on sending like fifteen billion dollars’ worth of weapons to the guys that keep getting caught filling mass graves with kids until an independent international investigation is completed, right?

‘…right?’

Because we no longer live in the Dark Ages, right?

Waiting For The Hiroshima Bombing Scene

People are generally not tortured on the rack in Western societies, but are we really any less callous?

Christopher Nolan’s film ‘Oppenheimer’ has been lauded to the skies. It earned 13 nominations at the Academy Awards, winning seven Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor. It also won five Golden Globe Awards.

And yet the film is a moral disgrace. It focuses on the life of physicist Robert J. Oppenheimer, and particularly, of course, on his key role in developing the first atomic weapons. The direct results of his efforts were the dropping of nuclear fireballs on the civilian populations of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan that killed between 129,000 and 226,000 people.

These were the first acts of nuclear terrorism, by far the greatest single acts of terrorism the world has ever seen. Although the moral doubts haunting the ‘Manhattan Project’ then and since feature strongly in the film, a portrayal of the hideous impact of Oppenheimer’s invention on civilians is almost completely absent. This single, dignified comment from an elderly Japanese viewer reported by the Guardian says it all:

‘“I was waiting for the Hiroshima bombing scene to appear, but it never did,” said Mimaki, 82.’

Although the BBC sought out the opinion of cinemagoers in Hiroshima, ‘only meters away’ from where the bomb exploded, the film’s shocking moral failure was not mentioned.

On reflection, our museum might be better called, The Museum Of Media Madness. Thus, the BBC reported on the refusal of event organisers, The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), to ban Israel from the Eurovision Song Contest. The EBU opined:

‘We firmly believe that the Eurovision Song Contest is a platform that should always transcend politics, promote togetherness and bring audiences together across the world.’

The BBC claims to be obsessed with reporting ‘both sides of the story’, but it conveniently forgot to mention that Russia has been banned from the song contest since 2022 for a reason that did not ‘transcend politics’ – its invasion of Ukraine.

Martin Österdahl, EBU’s executive supervisor for Eurovision, was asked to explain the contradiction. He responded that the two situations were ‘completely different’. True enough – Israel’s crimes in Gaza are much worse even than Russia’s crimes in Ukraine. Österdahl’s casual brush off:

‘We are not the arena to solve a Middle East conflict.’

Media and political voices seeking to challenge the reigning brutality are not burned alive, but they are buried alive in high security prisons like Julian Assange, beaten up on the street like George Galloway, and forced into exile like Edward Snowden. Dissidents may not be pelted with rotten fruit and vegetables in the stocks, but they are pelted with relentless media attacks intended to discredit them.

In the Guardian, John Crace greeted the news that Galloway had returned to parliament, with a piece titled:

‘The Ego has landed: George Galloway basks in his swearing in as MP’

Crace wrote:

‘Wherever he goes, his giant ego is there before him. Like most narcissists, the only fool for whom he makes allowances – for whom he has a total blindspot – is himself.’

He added:

‘… there is a lot about Galloway to dislike. His self-importance is breathtaking. Most MPs suffer from an excess of self-regard, but George is off the scale. It has never crossed his mind that he is not right about everything.’

Before Galloway’s victory, a Guardian news piece commented:

‘“A total, total disaster”: Galloway and Danczuk line up for Rochdale push – Two former Labour MPs are back to haunt the party in what has been called “the most radioactive byelection in living memory”’

As we have discussed many times, this is the required view, not just of Galloway, but of all dissidents challenging the status quo – they (and we) are all toxic ‘narcissists’. Thus, the BBC observed of Galloway, a ‘political maverick’:

‘To his critics and opponents, he is a dangerous egotist, someone who arouses division.’

What percentage of Tory and Labour MPs under (and including) Sunak and Starmer are not dangerous egotists? Are the thousands of MPs who, decade after decade, line up to vote for US-UK resource wars of aggression of first resort, for action to exacerbate climate collapse, not dangerous egotists?  Of course they are, but they are not labelled that way. The only egotism perceived as ‘dangerous’ by our state-corporate media system is one that threatens biocidal, genocidal and suicidal state-corporate narcissism.

We have to travel far from the ‘mainstream’ to read a more balanced view of Galloway. Former British ambassador Craig Murray commented:

‘I have known George Galloway my entire adult life, although we largely lost touch in the middle bit while I was off diplomating. I know George too well to mistake him for Jesus Christ, but he has been on the right side against appalling wars which the entire political class has cheer-led. His natural gifts of mellifluence and loquacity are unsurpassed, with an added talent for punchy phrase making.

‘… But outwith the public gaze George is humorous, kind and self-aware. He has been deeply involved in politics his entire life, and is a great believer in the democratic process as the ultimate way by which the working classes will ultimately take control of the means of production. He is a very old-fashioned and courteous form of socialist.’

We strongly disagree with Galloway’s views on fossil fuel production and climate change – in fact, he blocked us on X for robustly but politely challenging him on these issues. Nevertheless, it is clear to us that Murray’s view of Galloway is far more reasonable.

Neon-Lit Dark Age

In ‘Brave New World Revisited’, Aldous Huxley wrote:

‘The victim of mind-manipulation does not know that he is a victim. To him, the walls of his prison are invisible, and he believes himself to be free.’ (Huxley, ‘Brave New World Revisited’, archive.org, 1958, p.109)

This is certainly true of corporate journalists. Borrowing illiberally from authentically dissident media, a recurring Guardian appeal asks readers to support its heroic defence of Truth. The declared enemy:

‘Teams of lawyers from the rich and powerful trying to stop us publishing stories they don’t want you to see.

‘Lobby groups with opaque funding who are determined to undermine facts about the climate emergency and other established science.

‘Authoritarian states with no regard for the freedom of the press.

‘Bad actors spreading disinformation online to undermine democracy.

‘But we have something powerful on our side.

‘We’ve got you.

‘The Guardian is funded by its readers and the only person who decides what we publish is our editor.’

They have indeed ‘got you’, many of you, and not in a good way. The real threat to truth in our time, quite obviously, is the fact that profit-maximising, ad-dependent corporate media like the Guardian cannot and will not report the truth of a world dominated by giant corporations. The declared aspiration is a sham, a form of niche marketing exploiting the gullible.

The truth is that ‘mainstream’ media and politics are now captured in a way that is beyond anything we have previously seen. All around the world, political choices have been carefully fixed and filtered to ensure ordinary people are unable to challenge the endless wars, the determination to prioritise profits over climate action at any cost. The job of the corporate media system is to pretend the choices are real, to ensure the walls of the prison remain invisible.

The only hope in this neon-lit Dark Age is genuinely independent media – the blogs and websites that are now being filtered, shadow-banned, buried and marginalised like never before.

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Media Lens is a UK-based media watchdog group headed by David Edwards and David Cromwell. The most recent Media Lens book, Propaganda Blitz by David Edwards and David Cromwell, was published in 2018 by Pluto Press. Read other articles by Media Lens, or visit Media Lens's website.