Ma'ariv's senior journalist Ben-Dror Yemini published the first installment of a three part series about media representation of the Arab-Israeli conflict worldwide. The piece was entitled And the World is Silent. Gadi Taub reveals the obvious but hidden truth behind the blood libel here.
A central part of these attempts is the persistent myth about systematic "genocide" allegedly committed by Israel against Muslims in general and Palestinians in particular. Yemini did a simple thing: he collected the available numbers – they are staggering indeed – of Muslims murdered during the years of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Some 10,000,000 (ten million!) Muslims were murdered by the more conservative estimations. But only about 0.6% of these deaths were caused by the Arab-Israeli conflict itself. Read again: about half a percent. Here's one finding from the margins of Yemini's research: France is responsible for about ten times more Muslim deaths than Israel during the same years. Not something your average newspaper reader in Europe is likely to guess. Imshin, an Israeli blogger, has translated the whole piece, which you can now read in English here .
The numbers in a nutshell:
Israel is responsible for about 60,000 Muslim deaths (all its wars and the occupation included). The USA is responsible for about 70,000. France is responsible for about half a million (in the 1950s alone, by the most conservative estimate). Russia (along with the former Soviet Union) over one million. About 8.5 million Muslims were murdered by Muslim regimes, internal Arab civil wars, and Arab tribal ethnic cleansing.
The first thing that meets the eye when you read the piece, since that was the piece's intention, is the discrepancy between Israel's image in world public opinion, and the actual numbers. But the more profound result of reading this research is quite other. If Israel is responsible for some 60,000, how have the deaths of the other 10,000,000 been so effectively marginalized in public opinion? The numbers were never secret, after all. Yemini collected them from Human Rights Organizations, UN agencies, and the like. That those who have care fairly little about those who have not, we know. But that genocide on such a vast scale should slip under the radar and leave so small an impression is beyond pedestrian cynicism.
3 comments:
Hello there A Guy Who's Kicked More Ass Than you Ever will
Personally, I got the impression that the article was highlighting the issue of the truth deficit that seems apparent in the mainstream media and not about a return to the Crusades. Furthermore, I would like to assure you that there are many non-religious people who are worried about this truth deficit. I myself am agnostic and am suspicious of all religious excess; I worry about my future ability to be left alone to live according to my own beliefs. As an atheist would you want to live under Shari’a law?
The principal issue is to ensure that Western values and freedoms can continue. A healthy democracy requires people to be informed about the issues of the day, and for this to be possible balanced news reporting is essential. If the figures reported are correct, then it would appear that this is not happening.
As an atheist I would, quite literally, rather die than live under Shari'a law. (Maybe that's just because I'm a female atheist, Mr. Too Long Name Who Thinks He's Funny.)
And how clever of you to skip over the disclosure that it is predominantly Muslims, rather than Westerners and Jews, who kill Muslims -- to the tune of 8.5 million -- and leap straight to the notion that we are Bush-worshippers who think he will "save us". That's the neatest encapsulation of the general Leftard attitude I've read in a long time. Part of the problem is that we are indeed lacking in leadership that can "save us", and part of that problem is that most of you have your heads stuck so firmly in the sand.
As Aeneas so capabably explains, the issue is whether Western values and freedoms will continue or be overwhelmed by the growing Islamist fanaticism, hysteria and imperialism that infects the burgeoning Muslim population. Many, like yourself, take the It Can't Happen Here attitude. But it is already happening in Europe, and there are millions of the jihad-minded out there searching for the best way to cripple the United States and thereby clear the way for their ultimate triumph.
And ranting won't make it all go away. Sorry.
I tried out the facts of this article on some local moonbats. I have previously accused them of homophobia and misogyny for their ideas about Islam. I may actually be getting through. We'll see.
In reply to the first poster, there is no guarantee in life. Just consider being a native American in 1491, before the disaster struck. The native Americans didn't stand a chance to know before hand. We, on the other hand, are told over and over again by the muslims what they plan to do. Maybe we should take their hints, and stop saying muslims don't understand they are saying. I invite you to read up on the situation. A secular gay, man Bruce Brawer has written a book "While Europe Slept" that that may make you rethink your ideas on this subject. You could also read the widely admired atheist Oriana Fallaci on this subject, but I think she writes more to inspire people who already agree than to patiently explain the problem to other people.
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