Wartime propaganda often creates or exaggerates stories of atrocities
JVL Introduction
Terrible atrocities happen in war. We know this from the past and we know this in the present.
But wars are also fought in the media and eye-witness accounts of terrible things turn out sometimes to be untrue.
Stories of the bayoneting of Belgian babies or cutting off their hands were instrumental in generating support for Britain’s declaration of war in 1914. Stories of an assassination in Serbia didn’t really move the British public; but rumours of terrible crimes in Belgium did.
Terribly crimes were indeed committed by the Germans in Belgium. But British propaganda, both official and media driven, milked the situation for all it was worth.
Writing in 2002 historian Nicoletta Gullace commented that “one of the tragedies of the British effort to manufacture truth is the way authentic suffering was rendered suspect by fabricated tales”.
Plus ça change.
Here we link to a sensitive discussion on Israeli TV about why some people appear to have made up atrocity stories about October 7.
RK
Remarkable. An Israeli TV host & his 3 Israeli guests discuss, dissect, and debunk some of the awful lies that were told about what happened on Oct 7th (beheaded babies, etc) live on Israeli TV. 👇🏽
Can you imagine a similar discussion on U.S. or UK TV?pic.twitter.com/8Lf3vokhbb
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) January 24, 2024
People believe what they want to and need to believe IN ORDER to justify what they do. There is a deep insecurity in Israel that has been highlighted by Oct 7th because they feel their backs are against the wall and the reality is that they are….this is why an increasing number of people are leaving Israel. The death toll for Oct 7th was exaggerated and many horror stories were circulated some of which were true. What is happening in GAZA is hardly mentioned BECAUSE PEOPLE DON’T WANT TO KNOW ABOUT WHAT IS BEING DONE. If Israel is forced to retreat (as is probable) then there will be huge public breast beating – and Netanyahu and the Settlers will be blamed. But the awful, awful reality is that the majority of Israeli Jews have been fed with propaganda that reinforces their sense of victimhood and has made them bloodthirsty and heartless. This is the best argument for an active and questioning 4th estate – Hass and Levy are lonely beacons in the dark. But the politics are this: Israel and ‘the west’ that supports them are in retreat. Not before time. The casualties are who we should weep for, and there are more to come.