The industry of lies
Israeli Journalist Ben Dror-Yemini explored the “Industry of Lies” targeted at Israel at a community event in Melbourne’s Lamm Jewish Library of Australia.
Ben Dror-Yemini and Jennifer Huppert
The event was co-hosted by the Jewish Community Council of Victoria (JCCV), the Zionist Council of Victoria (ZCV) and the Embassy of Israel, with Ambassador of Israel Shmuel Ben-Shmuel helping to answer audience questions on the night.
Mr Yemini quoted writer Thomas Friedman, when he said, “Singling out Israel out of all proportion to any other Middle East state is antisemitic, and not saying so is dishonest.”
He outlined many examples of blatant lies, untold truths, misleading lies and disproportionate lies, such as the flooding of Gaza by Israel opening dams, which do not exist, lies about the position of Arabs within Israel and the demonisation of Israel while disregarding the facts.
Mr Yemini stated that prominent academics and journalists had published outright lies and had not been called to account. When he challenged them on the facts, they did not respond. They would not let the facts stand in the way of their political objectives.
The lies aimed at Israel were compared to the propaganda of the Nazis and blood libels of the past.
During the course of Mr Yemini’s extensive historical analysis, he dispelled many myths, and highlighted that the West Bank and Gaza had the highest rate of University graduates in the Arab world and that life expectancy in Gaza was better than in Glasgow, some European countries and the world average.
Jennifer Huppert, JCCV President and Sharene Hambur, ZCV Vice President thanked Mr Yemini and the Ambassador for their participation in the event, and the insights provided.
