Media: Cover the 10/7 Anniversary Right
An open letter to mainstream news agencies with deeply ingrained anti-Israel bias
Dear executives, editors, and all other decision makers in the media,
Your news agency is about to face a very simple test of whether it can do its job: to provide truth, always. And truth = facts + context.
October 7 will mark the anniversary of the most evil terrorist attack of modern times. The slaughter carried out in Israel that day was unimaginable to sane, non-radicalized people. Terrorists of Hamas, an Iran-backed Islamist death cult that openly says it “loves death,” gleefully carried out atrocities that aren’t even depicted in the most dystopian horror movies. Palestinians overwhelmingly support the actions of October 7.
Years of lies about Israel in the media left millions of people either so radicalized that they celebrated the slaughter or so confused that they were incapable of recognizing right from wrong.
Hate groups, like those calling themselves “anti-Zionist,” want you to continue this. They have planned more of their pro-terror (yes) demonstrations on October 7. They’re counting on you to be gullible and fall for their tricks yet again, letting them be the story. But it’s your editorial responsibility to take the day to explain facts that you have failed to draw attention to over the past year.
To educate yourself in advance of the anniversary, listen to my podcast They Stand Corrected. Start with Episode 1, which showed in very simple terms how far the mainstream media are from their mission.
Here are some key points you must understand in order to report accurately:
You’re wrong about “occupation.” Hamas, fellow terrorist group Hezbollah, and their backer Iran support occupation. They want a new Islamist empire to reoccupy Israel and the rest of the world. Hezbollah was also a strong supporter of Syria’s occupation of Lebanon.
Alleged Gaza death tolls come only from Hamas, no matter what term it uses ('“health ministry”) or which agencies parrot it (U.N., NGOs, wire services, etc.). There is no legitimate basis, despite those pretending otherwise.
Even after Hamas stopped claiming that large majorities were women and children, you kept saying it anyway.
If it’s “terrorism” everywhere else, then it’s terrorism against Israelis. You only avoid this term when Jewish people (a.k.a. The Hebrews, Israelites, People of Judea or Zion) are targeted.
You have lied about “international law” for decades, maligning Israel and violating a basic rule of journalism.
You push the conspiracy theory that Jews cry wolf, even though it’s disproven by data and objective reality.
You treat Qatar’s lying state-owned propaganda machine “Al Jazeera” as trustworthy. Some people leading your coverage are former executives of it. Stop the whitewashing.
You make fools of yourselves by “reporting” things about the IDF that are the exact opposite of what’s true.
Your audiences have no clue which other countries receive U.S. funding, including military assistance, because you never mention this while constantly slamming support for Israel. One, Ethiopia, has had hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths. Another, Jordan, is harboring a terrorist who slaughtered Americans, despite an extradition treaty.
All of this speaks to a big lie. Many of you recognize the “big lie” of the right, the false claim that the election was stolen, which is part of the antisemitic “great replacement theory.” Yet you refuse to recognize the “big lie” of the left, “big bad Israel.” Both are efforts to end democracy.
It’s time to wake up. If you want people to trust things you say, then start fact checking everything you report, and everything you allow guests/interviewees to say. Always put truth above claims and noise.
Each September 11, you report on the horror of what happened that day, the lives lost and the need to fight terrorism. As President Biden said, October 7 “was like 15 9/11s.” Americans were among the slaughtered, and have also been among those killed since. Will you memorialize them?
There are no legitimate editorial reasons to blow it yet again. Israel is, factually, the front line of the global battle against Islamist terrorism, the leading tactic used by those seeking to end democracies and create a new Islamist empire.
All of the above should be included in your coverage. We’ll be watching — and standing by, ready to correct you.
JL
P.S. I’ll discuss all this in my keynote address at a memorial.
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I wish this letter wasn't needed but since it is, I hope the publishers, editors, and advertisers who back these media companies heed your call.