1) How Israel censors American Media Coverage 2) Why Censor the News in this Way? 3) Seeing through the Propaganda

1. Name 2 recent wars that didn’t require
Lies/Censorship & dehumanization?
https://www.azquotes.com/quote/555566

2. How Israel Censors American
News Coverage
Opportunities to Counter Propaganda
by Tim Langeman
Feb 25, 2024

3. Topics in this Presentation
1.How Israel censors American Media Coverage
2.Why It Censors the News in this Way?
3.Seeing through the Propaganda

4. Censorship in US and Israel?
• US: Censorship primarily comes from private entities like
social media platforms, not the government.
• Israel: Military censorship plays a significant role, with a
government agency proactively reviewing and potentially
restricting information deemed detrimental to national
security. This centralized system gives the government
considerable control over information dissemination.

5. How Israel Censors
American Media Coverage
• Israel is Ranked 97th in the World Press Freedom Index.
• Israel has an official Military Censor that requires
organizations like CNN and Reuters with bureaus in Israel to
submit sensitive stories to them prior to publication.
• Israeli press restrictions shape American Coverage of Israel.
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Press_Freedom_Index
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censorship_in_Israel

6. CNN Caught Letting IDF
Censor Content
https://youtu.be/70emdU6lemk

7. Censorship in Practice
• “War-crime” and “genocide” are taboo words
• Israeli bombings with be reported as “blasts” attributed
to no one unless Israel wants to take responsibility
• Information provided by Israel is approved quickly,
but quotes and information from Palestinians is heavily
scrutinized and processed slowly

8. “New York Times” story, Feb 10, 2024
• How did she die?
• Who killed her?
(Notice the Passive voice)
“.. Found Dead”
“..Trapped in a car with dead relatives”
• https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/10/world/middleeast/hind-rajab-gaza.html

9. “Fixing” the Headline
• Who killed Hind?
• How did she die?
• Why are escaped hostages and
• civilians being killed
• (rules of engagement)

10. Missing 6-Year-Old and Rescue Team Found Dead in Gaza, Aid Group Says
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/10/world/middleeast/hind-rajab-gaza.html
Notice: Red Crescent .. “accused”

11. Why Censor
• Passive voice and withholding attribution of
responsibility is a way that maintains uncertainty,
to get people to withhold judgement
• Intent: blunt the truth and paralyze opposition

12. Suppress “Geneva Convention”
https://youtu.be/KAoLfHX2Ou4?t=668

13. “Information Operations”
https://www.rand.org/topics/information-operations.html

14. “Information Operations”
1. Iraq War: have we learned to deal with these tactics?
• Conflate Opposition to Iraq War with Support for 911
Terrorists
2. Today: US Army Combat Veteran:
• I would be in jail if I called in the bombing Israel is doing
• Calling out War Crimes is suppressed.
3. Analyze the current Information Operations with Israel

15. Wikipedia Article
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Hind_Rajab

16. Others Sites Cover what New York
Times Suppresses
https://youtu.be/_Y4yu8UoSpc

17. Concepts to See through the
Propaganda
1. Dahiya Doctrine
2. “Mowing the Grass”
3. Power Targets
4. Roof Knocking
5. Rules of Engagement
6. Israel Lifts all Restraints
7. 40-45% of all Bombs in Gaza were “Dumb Bombs” (Unguided)
8. Great March of Return

18. Rhetoric: Human Rights
https://youtu.be/4ZtgCeSpr6w

19. Dahiya, Lebanon
Photo: Stefanos Kouratzis
https://www.kouratzis.com/lebanon-war?lightbox=dataItem-ipuzwivn2

20. 1. Dahiya Doctrine
• Context: Unable to defeat Hezbollah militarily in 2006, so they
targeted Civilians: Beruit suburb of “Dahiya”
• Target Civilian Infrastructure with disproportionate force to cause
unbearable civilian suffering
https://bit.ly/israel-military-doctrine

21. Dahiya Doctrine
• Original Goal:
• Unbearable Civilian Suffering will lead to pressure on militants
• After 10/7: “vengeance” & ethnic cleansing
• Disproportionate: 100 times more losses
• Deputy Prime Minister, Eli Yishai’s statement “even if the rockets
they have launched land on open areas or sea, we must destroy
100 houses for each of rockets”

22. 2. “Mowing the Grass”
• Dahiya Doctrine used in Gaza 5 times:
• Called “Mowing the Grass”: 2008-09, 2012, 2014, 2021, 2023
• The term was coined by Efraim Inbar and Eitan Shami to describe 'a
patient military strategy of attrition .. as seen with the three Gaza
Wars and the Second Lebanon War (and epitomized by the "Dahiya
doctrine").
• These are usually carried out by conducting short, sharp military
operations to maintain a certain level of control over the area
without committing to a long-term political solution, similar to how one
would mow a lawn to keep it neat and tidy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mowing_the_grass

23. 3. Power Targets
• Non-military targets whose bombing is intended to “shock” (terrorize)
• a deliberate attack on Palestinian society will exert “civil pressure” on
Hamas.
• High rises, residential towers
• Public buildings: universities, banks, government offices
• During the first 5 days of fighting, 1,329 of 2,687 were power targets
https://bit.ly/power-targets

24. Why attack “Power Targets”?
• The goal was to collapse the high-rises in order to put pressure on
Hamas, and also so that the [Israeli] public would see a victory
image,”
• Sometimes the army found something in a high-rise building that
was related to Hamas, but it was also possible to hit that specific
target with more accurate weaponry. The bottom line is that they
knocked down a high-rise for the sake of knocking down a
high-rise.”
Source: +927 magazine: https://bit.ly/power-targets

25. Power Targets: Intent
• The perception is that it really hurts
Hamas when high-rise buildings are
taken down, because it creates a
public reaction in the Gaza Strip and
scares the population,” (Edit:
terrorize civilians?) said one of the
sources. “They wanted to give the
citizens of Gaza the feeling that
Hamas is not in control of the
situation.
Al Qaeda: “Power Targets”? https://bit.ly/power-targets

26. 4. “Roof Knocking”
• .. it has also seen the army abandon prior policies that aimed at
avoiding harm to civilians. Whereas previously the army’s official
procedure was that it was possible to attack power targets only after
all civilians had been evacuated from them, testimonies from
Palestinian residents in Gaza indicate that, since October 7, Israel
has attacked high-rises with their residents still inside, or
without having taken significant steps to evacuate them, leading to
many civilian deaths.
• no longer in use “where there is an enemy. .. relevant to rounds [of
fighting] and not to war.”
https://www.972mag.com/mass-assassination-factory-israel-calculated-bombing-gaza/

27. 5. Rules of Engagement
https://youtu.be/n0KKHIS9D7I?t=344

28. Rules of Engagement
• A former IDF soldier says that in previous attacks, the IDF legitimized
shooting anyone who stayed after they told everyone to leave.
• This approach is not legal under international law, but does this
explain why hostages were shot when they tried to surrender?
• Reporters should ask officials what the rules of engagement are.
• Would this may be censored?
• Have the lifted all restraints?

29. 6. Israel Lifts all Restrictions
https://youtu.be/RpEYKwjxRMw?t=105

30. 6. Israel Lifts all Restrictions
• Israeli Defense Minister Galant publicly announced he'd
removed every restrictions on Israeli forces (Oct 12,
2023). This wasn’t widely covered by the press.
• In response to viral Tik Toks depicting IDF depravity,
this isn't a breakdown of discipline. This is soldiers
behaving as you would expect them given the
leadership they are subject to.

31. 7. 40-45% “Dumb” Bombs
• About 40-45% of the 29,000 air-to-ground munitions Israel
has used have been unguided. (December)
• During the first six weeks of the war in Gaza, Israel
routinely used one of its biggest and most destructive
bombs in areas it designated safe for civilians,
according to an analysis of visual evidence by The New
York Times.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/21/world/middleeast/israel-gaza-bomb-investigation.html

32. 2018-19 March of Return
Protests
• a series of demonstrations held each Friday in the Gaza Strip
near the Gaza-Israel border from March 30 2018 until December 27
2019 (18 months)
• More than 13,000 Palestinians were wounded as of 19 June 2018.
One Israeli soldier was reported as slightly wounded
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018-2019_Gaza_border_protests

33. March of Return: Reviewed
• a United Nations Human Rights Council's found that of the 489
cases of Palestinian deaths or injuries analyzed, only two were
possibly justified
• The commission deemed the rest of the cases illegal

36. Cyclist Shot @ March for Return

37. Response
• How can we use this info to avoid being “paralyzed”
by “Information Operations?”
• Does Corporate Media Coverage hold up to
scrutiny?
• If not, how do we use to our advantage?

38. My Reaction
• I’m more skeptical of official narratives
• Have more faith in own “lying eyes” and intuition,
while leaving room for “grey”
• Seek out independent media sources

39. Bringing Awareness
Caitlyn Johnstone: Keep Bringing Awareness to the
Depravity of the Empire in as many ways as possible.
“All positive changes in human behavior at any level are always
preceded by an expansion of awareness, so anything you can do
to help bring awareness to the reality of our situation is energy
well spent.
Any effort you make to shove human consciousness toward the light
of truth in even the tiniest way has a beneficial effect on our
species.” (Feb 23, 2024)

40. Creating new Pathways
Image: 9news.com
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desire_path

41. My Projects
• Personally, I’m exploring research, collaboration, and
media projects:
• MICIMATT: “military industrial complex” (song)
• The Humanity of Gaza (video)
• Puttin’ on the RITZ (song in progress)
• Gaza and 5th Avenue (comic in progress)
https://writing.openpolitics.com/

42. My Blog
https://writing.openpolitics.com/