Ilan Preskovsky: Kristof's NYT op-ed and the follies of the anti-Israel movement

Key topics:Critique of NYT op-ed on alleged Israeli sexual violence; disputed claimsClaims about biased sourcing and weak evidence in the articleDiscussion of Hamas violence report, media timing, and political impact.By Ilan Preskovsky.Early last week, the New York Times published an opinion piece by one of its star columnists, Nicholas Kristof, entitled “The Silence That Meets the Rape of Palestinians”. As you might imagine, it caused quite a stir. At least for those of us that The Algorithm knows to target with such a headline. Within the article, Kristof lays out what he insists is the systematic use of rape by Israeli soldiers, settlers, intelligence services, and most especially, prison guards on Palestinians. He even goes so far as to accuse Israel of training dogs to rape their victims. .Read more:.Hague Group boss Gandikota-Nellutla exposes her anti-Israel agenda: Kenneth Kgwadi.I’m not going to break down each of his points, because refutations of most of Kristof’s allegations can easily be found online by people with much more in-depth knowledge on the topic than I. The primary objections to it, though, are as follows:1) Even if we assume that each of the 14 Palestinians (two named, twelve anonymous) interviewed were telling the absolute, unvarnished truth, that’s far too few testimonies to prove that rape is a widespread tactic used by Israeli authorities, let alone that it’s “systematic”. Even Kristoff admits that there’s no evidence that such directives come from the government.2) His sources are hardly what anyone would call reliable and actual evidence is in short supply. Most of his sources are either anonymous, historically untrustworthy, or with an unmistakable bias against Israel. Especially problematic is Kristof’s constant references to the Geneva-based Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, which not only has ties to Hamas but has over the years released numerous frankly insane allegations against Israel, including Israel harvesting the organs of its Palestinian victims and, yes, sicking packs of dogs to rape Palestinian prisoners. Until now, these claims have rightly been derided as baseless anti-Israel propaganda and a no-go for mainstream publications like the New York Times.3) More than just a lack of evidence and reliable sources, many of his accusations were either already debunked as fabrications or are so far beyond the realm of possibility (the whole training dogs to rape thing) that it casts everything else in the article into doubt.Again, though, the point of this article is not to lay out each of his points and methodically refute them, but to put Kristof’s hit piece in a greater context, to explore how it affects the actual people involved, and to illuminate a crucial flaw in the tactics of Israel’s harshest critics. Hard TruthsThe great issue with Kristof’s article isn’t that it is comprised of nothing but lies, but that buried within its many lies, are some harsh truths that demand to be confronted, not least by the Israeli government – a government who will now be able to use the Israeli public’s well-deserved lack of trust in the New York Times and people like Nicholas Kristof to brush these truths aside.It is almost unquestionable, for example, that sexual abuse happens within Israeli prisons – it is an unfortunate flaw in any penal system, which by definition has one group of people in power over another. And though any and all individual acts of sexual abuse that happen in Israeli prisons should be condemned fully and those guilty of such abuses should be prosecuted accordingly, individual cases are in no way indicative of something systemic. Indeed, the fact that Israeli prisons, for all their flaws, are regularly inspected by the International Red Cross and that there is a dedicated governmental department dedicated to ensuring that the prisons are kept to international standards, suggests the opposite..Read more:.Humanitarian giants under fire for misusing “genocide” against Israel: Marika Sboros.As for the attacks of Palestinians in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) by religious-nationalist extremist settlers and the inability - or, in the case of hard-liners like Itamar Ben Gvir, unwillingness - to curb these attacks and hold the perpetrators responsible, these are a deathly serious concern. There has, until now, been no suggestion that these attacks include any sort of sexual violence, and these so-called “hilltop youth” are but a tiny offshoot of an incredibly complex settler movement, but it is a massive moral black mark against Israel that needs to be resolved swiftly and decisively.Like all countries, in other words, Israel has many very real problems. Just ask any Israeli on any part of the political spectrum. And you can, because try as some might to deny it, Israel is still a thriving democracy with a firm commitment to freedom of speech. All of the above issues, therefore, are talked about frequently in Israel, not just privately but in public and across Israeli media, and they may well be reflected in the votes cast in this year’s already highly contentious elections. And yet, discussion of these issues and a commitment to resolve them in Israel are frequently drowned out by the harsh realities of a Palestinian public that overwhelmingly endorse Hamas’ actions and an anti-Israel and anti-Jewish bigotry across much of the globe. Worse, this unique fixation on and hatred towards Israel, gives Israeli extremists the clout to declare all criticisms, no matter how deserved, to be nothing more than the antisemitic ravings of a fallen world. Suspect Timing, Suspect Motives, Terrible ResultsSomehow, though, the way Kristof relies on faulty evidence while using individual cases to smear an entire country is not the worst thing about his article. The worst thing about it is its timing. The times published it literally the day before Israeli NGO, the Civil Commission, released its own, independent findings on Hamas’ widespread use of unspeakable sexual violence on 7 October 2023 – and, for its hostages, over the ensuing two years.The Civil Commission’s report is every bit as meticulous as Kristof’s article isn’t. It is based on the accounts of 400 individuals, including survivors, witnesses, families of the dead, and first responders. It is based on forensics, and on tens of thousands of videos and photos, including the bodycam footage taken by the Hamas terrorists themselves as they committed their unspeakable atrocities.Within its hundreds of pages is a methodical presentation of the many varied ways that Hamas used sexual violence with the explicit intention of inflicting maximum harm on its victims. This includes an endless barrage of rape, necrophilia, sexual humiliation, sexual torture, and paedophilia. These attacks even required the coining of an entirely new term to describe Hamas’ depravity: kinocide, described as “the systematic targeting and destruction of family units, where familial bonds are weaponized as a form of psychological and physical violence” particularly through the use of sexual acts. The Civil Commission let the media, including the Times, know well in advance when it would be releasing its report, so for all that the paper’s editorial heads may assert that this was all just a big coincidence, it hardly takes conspiratorial thinking to question the timing of Kristof’s article.I don’t know why the New York Times, an otherwise highly reputable, even venerated, publication, has such a hate-on for the Jewish State, but its reporting on Israel has long been heavily biased, frequently inaccurate, and often inflammatory. But what it did with Kristof’s article truly takes the proverbial cake.I can hardly think of a more cynical and coldly calculated move than the way Kristof’s piece was used to, at best, draw some moral equivalence between Israel and Hamas, and at worst, to actively drown out, even nullify, the Civil Commission’s comprehensive report of Hamas’ truly unparalleled monstrousness. Especially because for all that Kristof calls on all of us, regardless of politics, to unequivocally condemn all forms of rape and sexual violence (and we obviously should), it is Hamas’ own exceedingly well documented use of rape and sexual violence that has been met with the most equivocations and outright denial, particularly by the so-called “pro-Palestine” movement. By rushing Kristof’s article ahead of the findings of the Civil Commission, the New York Times insured that they can and will continue to do so. Who Is This Helping?As always, I use quotation marks when talking about the “pro-Palestine” movement because for all of their moral posturing, they do precious little to help actual Palestinians. Take the phrase “globalize the Intifada”. It goes without saying that this is a call for violence against Jews worldwide, but it also invokes a movement that left thousands of Palestinians dead, the two-state solution in ruins, and the Israeli left all but entirely destroyed. Until 7 October 2023, the second Intifada was the greatest blow for peace, by far, since the founding of the State of Israel, and it is mind-boggling how anyone who fashions themselves as some sort of activist for Palestinians would want to return to it.Similarly, the constant use of blood libels, lies and exaggerations of the sort found in Kristof’s article may give their authors the air of moral virtuousness, but are nothing less than disastrous when it comes to fixing the reality on the ground. The massive explosion of (frequently violent) antisemitism that follows such single-mindedly hateful rhetoric is obvious, but the damage they do to the Palestinian cause cannot be overstated.Ultimately, the future of both Israel and the Palestinians will come down to the people involved, and the primary role of the rest of the world in creating any sort of lasting peace – or even just in fixing the internal flaws in both Israeli and Palestinian society – is to create an environment where both sides would actively want to work towards a better future. The United States, especially, who actually have the ears and hearts of the Israeli people, can be a particularly powerful force for good in this regard.If the “pro-Palestine” movement really wants to help Palestinians, they would stop calling for a “free Palestine from the river to the sea”, stop trying to “globalize the intifada”, stop belittling the suffering of Israelis, and stop spreading ludicrous lies like those found in Kristof’s article. A concerned, compassionate, balanced, and fair international voice - one that could criticise Israel without demonizing it, and could call out Palestinian leadership for their own role in making the situation what it is - would embolden the moderate, centrist, even leftist voices in both Israel and the Palestinian territories and allow them the chance to fix the actual wrongs in their societies..Read more:.Right of reply: Woode-Smith misses the mark on Dr Soni, Israel-Palestine.Instead, voices like Kristof’s do nothing but spur Palestinians on in their current suicidal trajectory and tacitly endorse the savage terrorism of Hamas, while emboldening people like Ben Gvir, even Netanyahu, to take increasingly hard-line positions and to enjoy more and more popular support by an Israeli public that feel threatened, on the one hand, and abandoned, even vilified, on the other.Frankly, if Netanyahu and the current government wins the upcoming election, it will be in large part because of the anti-Israel movement and a media that pushes biased, disingenuous, libellous hit pieces like Kristof’s.How is that for irony? .Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. 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Ilan Preskovsky: Kristof's NYT op-ed and the follies of the anti-Israel movement

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