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Gaza Starvation and the Jenin Massacre Hoax

(Los Angeles Jewish Journal) Gerald M. Steinberg - For those who remember the April 2002 Jenin "massacre" hoax, the whirlwind of accusations of genocide, starvation and mass killings in Gaza are familiar. Then, as now, there is very little verifiable information, but, relying on Palestinian "sources," with their UN and NGO industry allies, Israel is again pronounced guilty. The Jenin massacre hoax serves as an object lesson for how a concerted campaign can turn propaganda and lies - parroted in a closed echo chamber - into unquestioned fact. Israeli forces were accused of a large-scale massacre in the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank. The dense urban area was the center of a Palestinian terror network that had carried out mass bombings, including a Passover night attack in Netanya that killed 30 Israeli civilians (a real massacre). Israeli casualties numbered hundreds of dead, and thousands with major injuries. Immediately after IDF forces entered Jenin, Palestinian officials and NGO "experts" rushed to the BBC and CNN, where they authoritatively declared that Israeli forces killed 500 or even 1,300 civilians. They described IDF tanks allegedly bulldozing homes and executing civilians. The UN Human Rights Commission held an emergency session to demand that Israel open the area to "international observers." NGOs lobbied intensively for the creation of an "independent investigation commission" to examine the evidence of Israeli war crimes. (The hundreds of Israeli victims of the Palestinian mass bombing campaign were of no interest to these human rights stalwarts.) But it was all a lie. Only 50 confirmed names of dead Palestinians were published (most affiliated with terror groups). 23 Israeli soldiers were killed In the fighting. But there were no consequences for the journalists, UN or NGO officials who spread the lies and added to anti-Israel hate propaganda. The storm regarding the food distribution process in Gaza features the same combination of unverified claims and the central role of NGOs like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch in spreading the myths. As in Jenin, it could take months to discern and separate the facts in Gaza from the lies. It is important to maintain a healthy skepticism regarding unverified rumors. The writer is founder and president of NGO Monitor and professor emeritus of political studies at Bar-Ilan University.
2025-08-05 00:00:00
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