Dear Friend of Israel, Friend of FLAME:

When pro-Hamas activists on the “selfie flotilla” to Gaza were detained by Israel last week, the Israelis started showing the activists a horror documentary of Hamas’s October 7, 2023 massacre and kidnappings, but the activists refused to watch it. How telling that these activists, like so many “pro-Palestinian” militants, reject factual truth in favor of canned lies about Israel—falsehoods delivered robotically, with a near universal refusal to explain or debate them.

Thus, we never hear Thunberg justify her rationale for falsely accusing Israel of “genocide.” We’re expected to believe her meme as she mindlessly repeats it.

Indeed, the case mounted by Israel’s enemies is generally a baseless smear campaign—absent facts or a rational defense. The accusers rely on ugly pejoratives—genocide, apartheid, colonialism, starvation, ethnic cleansing.

Together, these slanders form a massive, continuous smokescreen, promulgated further by willing mainstream media. Thus, though all the aforementioned accusations are factually and demonstrably false, the defamations appear with alarming frequency in media coverage of Israel.

Yet, this campaign of Big Lies, hammered by militants and media alike, has proven to be highly effective, galvanizing people all over the world to cease support for Israel, or outright rage against it.

The campaign to “free Palestine” is particularly popular with historically-marginalized communities, such as the LGBTQ+ community. The fact that members of this community could face immediate death at the hands of Hamas if they entered Gaza is of little matter to “Queers for Palestine.”

In fact, the entire campaign to “free Palestine” from “evil Israel” is built on logical and factual contradictions.

Not only are bogus slanders against Israel repeated ad nauseum at rallies and in media coverage, but the offenses of Palestinian rulers are also ignored. We see no acknowledgement of daily Hamas war crimes or denial of Palestinians’ civil rights by Hamas and the Palestinian Authority (PA)—both media and militants refuse to raise these issues.

Stunning examples of media complicity in this Israel defamation, as well as a short survey of anti-Israel falsehoods and omissions lay bare the hypocrisy. Israel’s critics, who claim to value social justice under the banner of intersectionality, blatantly violate both watchwords.

Use of “genocide” in media coverage of Israel has skyrocketed. A June 2025 Tablet Magazine study by Zach Goldberg shows a dramatic increase in the use of “genocide” in mainstream media coverage of Israel’s war in Gaza.

Though Israel’s actions in no way meet the definition of genocide, media references to Israel surpass those to actual genocides like Rwanda and Darfur. For example, in the New York Times, articles pairing Israel and genocide reached levels more than nine times higher than the peak for Rwanda. Disgraceful.

“Desmond Tutu: ‘Israeli Apartheid worse than South Africa.’”—Middle East Monitor, October 7, 2024. Similarly, in May 2025, the Guardian published an opinion headlined, “We are human rights lawyers. Our report is clear: Israel perpetrates apartheid.” If these “experts” say Israel is an apartheid state, it must be true, right? That’s what legacy media want us to believe.

Actually, Israel has no system of racial segregation remotely similar to South African apartheid. All Israeli citizens are equal before the law. They use the same hospitals, ride the same buses, and have the same rights to vote and hold office.

“Israel is a settler colony, annexing native land is what it does”—Al Jazeera, July 7, 2020. Legacy media promote the false narrative that Israel is a Jewish colonial state that stole the land of “native” Palestinians. Hence, media call many Israeli communities “settlements” or “colonies.”

In fact, Jews are not colonizers. They are the indigenous inhabitants of the land, in which they have lived continuously for 3,000 years, and established several sovereign commonwealths.

“Israel all but admits it is pursuing ethnic cleansing in Gaza in its new plan.”—MSNBC May 7, 2025. Mainstream media hammer the false accusation that Israel commits ethnic cleansing. In fact, Israel has never committed ethnic cleansing, let alone admitted to it. During the war in Gaza, the IDF asks Palestinians to evacuate for their own safety if military activity is planned in a certain area. Furthermore, Israel has no plans to forcibly transfer the Palestinians from Gaza or build new settlements. Both Israel and the U.S. have agreed, however, that Gazans should be given the option to relocate to other countries for a better life, and polls show that many Gazans would take advantage of that choice.

“Israel is starving Gaza. It’s a cheap, silent and brutal way to kill”—The Guardian, May 7, 2025. Mainstream media and humanitarian aid groups have repeatedly warned of famine in Gaza. But after 20 months, no famine has officially been declared. If Gazans are going hungry, it’s because Hamas has been looting aid, keeping it for themselves, or selling it on the black market at exorbitant prices. But legacy media seldom report this pattern.

Mainstream media ignore the offenses of Palestinian rulers. We hear plenty of news about Israel’s alleged misdeeds, virtually all of which are false, but very little about how Palestinian rulers treat their people. Thus, you don’t hear how Hamas uses ordinary Palestinians as human shields—a war crime—or how both Hamas and the PA deny Palestinians basic civil liberties, including rights and safety for women or sexual minorities. In short, legacy media would have their audience believe Israel alone is guilty and that Palestinian rulers are completely innocent.

Radical leftists like Greta Thunberg and anti-Israel activists on college campuses spin a web of falsehoods, which is reinforced by legacy journalists whose joint goal is to defeat the Jewish state in the court of public opinion. While the war crimes of Palestinian rulers are ignored by militants and media—as are their oppressive regimes against their own people—the righteous efforts of democratic Israel to defend itself are slandered.

Please make the point when speaking with family, friends, colleagues—or in letters to the editor—that false charges of genocide, apartheid and ethnic cleansing not only harm Israel, they also do a disservice to those people who are truly victimized by such policies. The lies also diminish the Palestinians, whose identity as eternal victims is further discredited by this foundation of abject lies.

If you agree we need to spread this truth, please use your email browser to forward this Hotline issue to fellow lovers of Israel—and encourage them to join us by subscribing to the Hotline at no charge.

Best regards,
Jason Shvili, Contributing Editor
Facts and Logic About the Middle East (FLAME)

P.S.      I’m sure you’d agree: If your enemy says they want to kill you and take your land, you’d be smart to believe them. If you try to make peace, but they refuse all your offers and continue to make murderous threats, it’s time to eliminate this enemy. Israel has faced exactly this danger with the Palestinians—yet continued to hope for peace . . . until Hamas’s October 7 massacre and kidnappings. Finally, Israel and many lovers of Israel are facing reality. They’ve concluded their futile dreams of peace must end. They must finally defeat their Palestinian enemies—starting with Hamas and other jihadi terrorists. I hope you’ll agree that we supporters of the Israel-U.S. relationship need to speak out. FLAME’s new hasbarah—explanatory message—“End of the Palestinian Lie”—describes how Israel and the West have for 77 years bought the myth that the Palestinians want peace. It details the many offers of land for peace Israel, the U.N. and the U.S. have made to give Palestinians their own state—all refused. Finally, it explains why Israel must adopt a bold new strategy—disarming, disabling and defeating Hamas and all other terror groups that attack Israeli civilians. Please review this convincing, fact-based editorial, which FLAME intends to publish to millions—in leading social media, as well as in the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Tampa Bay Times, Denver Post and Los Angeles Times. This piece will also be sent to all members of Congress, the President and Vice President. If you agree that this kind of public relations effort on Israel’s behalf is critical, I urge you to support us with a donation.

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