Israel’s crackdown on pro-Palestinian voices has become even more damaging since October 7 – Analysis

By Robert Inlakesh

Doxing, disinformation, buying political candidates, Islamophobia, racism, baseless accusations, physical attacks, verbal attacks, censorship and even anti-Semitism are all tools used and abused by pro-Israel propagandists to intimidate and silence pro-Palestinian voices.

A recent investigative article in the Guardian exposed the central figure behind the Shirion Collective, an Israeli disinformation network that offered “bounties” for information about pro-Palestinian activists.

That report, which revealed that technology entrepreneur Daniel Linden heads the self-proclaimed “surveillance collective,” raised eyebrows among many about the vicious nature of the information war Israel is waging independent of its genocidal attack on Gaza.

I welcome any review of my mandate and all documents are available to the United Nations because I have never had and never will have anything to hide.

But the latest #UNWatch This step is intolerable. They are using an email from the UN, which merely confirms receipt of their complaint, to… pic.twitter.com/5lxfsuSnzh

— Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur for the Palestinian Territories (@FranceskAlbs) July 2, 2024

Doxing pro-Palestinian advocates

In addition to promoting conspiracy theories that cross over into classic anti-Semitic ideas about the Jewish people, the Shirion Collective claims that its campaign to spread demonstrably false information for the benefit of Israeli public relations is actually aimed at combating anti-Semitism.

Among the most pernicious aspects of the online disinformation network is the doxxing of pro-Palestinian activists, particularly students involved in the anti-war camps that spread across North America and later around the world.

While the peaceful student camps that took place all over the world were demonized as ant-Semitic protests equivalent to the actions in Germany against the Jews in the 1930s, professors and staff at numerous universities were removed from their posts and/or subjected to smear campaigns because of their pro-Palestinian stance.

Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of the ADL, a nonprofit organization recently labeled unreliable by Wikipedia editors, even claimed at the time that “Iran has its military proxies like Hezbollah, and Iran has its proxies on campuses, for example groups like SJP (Students for Justice in Palestine) and JVP (Jewish Voice for Peace).”

Intimidation for money – Pro-Israel disinformation network behind anti-Palestinian propaganda

UN Special Rapporteur

Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, is the latest high-profile victim of a vicious smear campaign accusing her of accepting money from “Hamas sympathizers.”

She has contributed massively to spreading the facts about Israeli war crimes in the Gaza Strip and has called the Israeli military attack genocide. At the same time, she has had to endure a massive pressure campaign, coupled with mountains of threats and insults against her.

Israel’s UN ambassador Gilad Erdan labelled her an “anti-Semite sympathising with terrorism”. The campaign to discredit her was so presumptuous that the United Nations was forced to launch an investigation into claims of an alleged sum of $20,000 that had not been declared, despite public evidence to the contrary.

Disinformation campaign

Al-Jazeera and the Palestine Chronicle themselves have been victims of a pro-Israel disinformation campaign, and even CNN is now accused of hiring a journalist who allegedly works for Hamas.

This has shown that media platforms – even those that frequently spread pro-Israel propaganda – are not safe from slander and accusations aimed at discrediting their coverage of the situation in Gaza.

However, most of the mainstream media in the West, especially in the US, have adhered to the Israeli narrative and have demonstrably adopted pro-Israel perspectives, even spreading fact-free fake news without critical thinking.

What Israel and pro-Israel organizations want to achieve by denigrating the Palestine Chronicle – Factsheet

“Luntz Report”

Much of what we hear today are actually the same propaganda points compiled in the so-called “Luntz Report” of 2009, written by Republican pollster and political strategist Dr. Frank Luntz.

The 112-page booklet, marked “Not for distribution or publication,” was intended for those “on the front lines of the media war for Israel,” and was later leaked by Newsweek.

If you study Booklet 112, a source in the style of Israeli Hasbara (propaganda) 101, you will find that it contains the same reactions, accusations and diversions that are communicated every day in the broadcast media, largely based on the guidelines of the Luntz Report.

Take Rupert Murdoch, for example, perhaps the most powerful man in the media world, who owns over 100 publications and channels. He maintains close ties not only to the Israeli government, but also to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu personally.

So when you watch Piers Morgan Uncensored, broadcast on Murdoch’s Talk TV, don’t be surprised that every interview begins with “the horrors of October 7,” in addition to Morgan’s “moral dilemma” about whether or not tens of thousands of children should be killed, plus a ritual “Do you condemn Hamas?” question.

Whether it is the blatant anti-Islam rhetoric spouted by people like Douglas Murray, the gurus of the new pro-Israel right wing, or the ADL openly labeling pro-Palestinian protests as anti-Semitic incidents, to Zionist activists shouting the N-word and attacking students on campus, all of this is part of an internationally waged war designed to enable Israel’s ongoing war.

This is why AIPAC boasts about spending nearly $15 million to oust Jamal Bowman in a Democratic primary because it is seen as part of Israel’s war effort.

(The Palestine Chronicle)

– Robert Inlakesh is a journalist, author and documentary filmmaker who focuses on the Middle East, with a focus on Palestine. He wrote this article for The Palestine Chronicle.