Fool Me Twice...

By Rabbi Shea Hecht

Now that the bullets have stopped for the moment, and the Middle East has settled back into its uneasy status quo, let's take a look at some of what transpired during the recent Gaza War. It seems that not all of the shots were coming from the same direction.

Once again, news agencies throughout the world make repeated reports of the "barbarism" of the IDF. They lament that all might have been well, if not for Israel's "disproportionate response" to the years of bombardment from Gaza. Today's reporting of the Gaza War would be almost comical, if it didn't ignite some of the most powerful and public Jew-hatred since Hitler.

Honestly, I have started to become accustomed to this kind of journalism.

During the 2006 Lebanon War, Reuters ran a picture of the Beirut skyline, obscured by many plumes of black smoke from Israeli bombardment. It was indeed a very powerful photo-except that it was a fake, photo shopped image. At second glance, dozens of images peddled by prominent news wire agencies were found to be either staged or outright bogus.

Likewise, a few years prior during the "Rosh Hashanah War", the killing of 12 year old Muhammad Al Dura by the IDF became a rallying point for, well, pretty much everyone to decry Israel's wanton murder of Palestinian children. The IDF and Israeli leaders struggled to explain the terrible incident, only adding to the loathing of the public.

The rage directed at Israel and the Jews spiraled to new depths. But years after the frenzy of violence that ensued, the Al Dura coverage came under very heavy scrutiny. Ultimately the coverage of the Al Dura killing was shown to be either altered to incriminate the IDF or an outright, staged fiction.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. This saying conveys a very simple but powerful message. Namely, that we bear no shame in being tricked, unless we allow ourselves to become suckers, getting caught in the same trap again and again.

Towards the end of the Gaza offensive, reports came in about the IDF shelling the UN Headquarters in Gaza. UN Secretary-General was quick with a damning condemnation of Israel. Defense Minister Ehud Barak was quick with an embarrassing, sheepish apology. The usual suspects in the News Media were quick to pick up on the story and paint all of the familiar pictures. But this time, the "breaking news" hardly caught my attention. I shrugged it off, supposing (correctly) that the truth was hidden between the lines and would come out another day. See, I've been duped before.

I've been hit with the print, photos and video depicting Israel's "violence against innocent civilians", her "disregard for international law", and the "collective punishment" inflicted upon the Palestinian people. I have been told to feel pity, outrage and shame... only to have been played for a fool.

Well, that was a good one, media. You really had me going for a while, but you won't fool me again.