Israel: Always the villain?

No matter what Israel says to the global media, says Jonah Goldberg at Real Clear Politics, it will always be cast as the bad guy

Is the global community unfairly critical of Israel?
(Image credit: Getty)

The world media has cast the Gaza activists as the natural heirs to Gandhi, writes Jonah Goldberg at Real Clear Politics. But these "new Gandhians" were far from nonviolent, breaking out the metal bars as soon as the Israelis boarded their boat. No one's arguing that the raid wasn't a disaster — but, in a world where "big lies matter more than obvious truths," the aggression of the so-called "humanitarians" is being ignored in favor of the presumed villainy of Israel. And no amount of P.R. bluster will change that:

"The assumption is that world opinion is open to hearing Israel's side of the story. But that hasn't been the case for years. From the "Jenin massacre" that was no massacre to the idiotic charges of "genocide" that erupt across the Arab world, the moment Israel defends itself from missiles or "martyrs," the presumption is always that Israel is the villain. When it turns out the facts support Israel, it's at best a footnote or proof the Israelis have manipulated the media.

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