The Difference Between the Media and Propaganda

 

From Yaffa Shir Raz of the Reichman International School, Haifa University

Honesty, accuracy, information verification, fairness, independence, responsibility.

This is not a theoretical concept. These are the fundamental principles that differentiate between press and propaganda.

And when we're in the midst of a war for our existence, this question is not just principled - it's fatal. Because when a journalist violates these standards, he not only abuses the public trust - he puts them in grave danger.

In an article written in October 2023 after the explosion at Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza, I described the moral, ethical and professional failure of the elite newspapers - The New York Times, the BBC, the CNN, the Guardian - which almost unanimously stood by the Hamas propaganda, echoed his lies without even checking or verifying, and without really correcting even when it was already clear that the lie was revealed.

In recent months this sick propaganda has been infiltrating, like a poisonous bug, also into the conversation in Israel, with the movements and messages that have been developed in the explanatory systems of Hamas and Iran - penetrating the press, academia and Israeli politics:

• israel kills children"

• "Concentration Camp"

• "Genocide"

Same narrative, same framing, same rhetoric, same terms that Hamas and Iran have planted in their propaganda starting October 7.

Already on the 7th of this month, the Guardian published an interview with a holocaust historian from the Hebrew University, Prof. Amos Goldberg, who without hesitation used the horrifying pair of words "concentration camp".

And just yesterday - the Haaretz newspaper published an opinion column that sounded almost identical.

This is not investigative journalism. Not a criticism, nor a "human journalistic observation".

This is copy paste of the words of the terrorists.

A page of messages and rhetoric of Hamas and Iran - copied and adopted by the international press, and now mostly the horror also by journalists, academics and politicians in Israel.

And in the journalistic aspect - it's a kick in the head for any ethical, moral and professional code. Because a journalist does not make an effort and echoes a narrative of a terrorist organization and doesn't even quote the Hamas message page as if there was an investigation.

I don't step on our children, brothers and friends who are in the active field - just to show "morality".

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GHF Doing its Job - delivering meals

 The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has provided details about the type of food it is distributing in Gaza, regarding its ongoing operations and its application for US government funding.

According to the organization, each aid box distributed is designed to sustain a family of 5.5 individuals for approximately 3.5 days.

The contents of the boxes vary slightly depending on availability and cost but typically include flour, sugar, rice, cooking oil, pasta, a protein such as canned tuna, and dried beans. Additional items such as tea, coffee, cookies, chocolates are available. GHF has also begun distributing potatoes, which the organization said have been well received by recipients.

GHF delivered more than 66 million meals over a month

The group stated that the food packages exceed the caloric minimums set by the international humanitarian community and are consistent with aid typically provided by other organizations. GHF said it has also distributed aid on behalf of other humanitarian groups.GHF spokesperson Chapin Fay said on Tuesday that the organization has delivered more than 66 million meals over a month and highlighted what he described as the group’s success in distributing food without interference from Hamas.

“GHF has done what others could not: deliver free, nutritious, and secure emergency food aid directly to the people of Gaza without interference from Hamas,” said Fay. “In just over a month, we’ve delivered more than 66 million meals. We’re grateful to the Trump Administration for recognizing the impact of our work with a $30 million commitment to help expand our operations.”

The group also addressed questions surrounding a review performed by USAID of GHF’s application for grant funding, stating that the process is routine and that the organization is cooperating fully. Fay noted that the organization’s operational model is designed to prevent diversion, fraud, or misuse of aid.

“Every dollar we receive is safeguarded to ensure all resources – which will eventually include American taxpayer funds – reach the people of Gaza, not Hamas,” he said.

GHF also alleged that some long-standing international aid groups have failed to prevent diversion of aid in Gaza and claimed that such organizations view GHF as a threat. Fay said that such criticism only harms the civilian population.

“The bottom line is GHF is delivering where others have not,” the organization concluded.

Nvidia boosts presence in Israel with multibillion-dollar tech campus.

 (For full article go to https://tinyurl.com/mry8yf26)

Nvidia is actively seeking land to build a massive multibillion-dollar tech campus in Israel’s north, which is expected to provide thousands of jobs in what promises to be a major expansion of the US chip giant’s operations in the country.

The computing juggernaut announced on Sunday that it had issued a so-called request for information (RFI) tender to locate a plot of land spanning 70 to 120 dunams (30 acres) with construction rights to build a campus of 80,000–180,000 square meters. Nvidia is interested in buying land with “high accessibility to main traffic arteries and public transportation” around Zichron Yaakov, Haifa, and the Jezreel Valley areas.

“It’s a very sizable investment, and to decide to locate it in Israel goes a long way and is a sign of confidence in the Israeli high-tech ecosystem,” Israel Innovation Authority CEO Dror Bin told The Times of Israel. “This declaration is mutually beneficial: Nvidia is enjoying the benefits of the local ecosystem and talent, and the ecosystem will enjoy this big investment of Nvidia because it will help Israel remain at the forefront of innovation and technology, especially in the artificial intelligence space.”

Bin added that a project of this size is slated to be one of the largest tech campuses in Israel. Its economic implications for the north of the country, he said, range from Nvidia’s level of commitment to Israel to the broader employment and suppliers needed to support the tech campus, and the companies that will develop around the site.

As global tech firms including Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, and Tesla race to build AI data centers and dominate the emerging technology, demand for Nvidia’s most advanced processors is surging.

“Israel is a superpower when it comes to chip design and development, and most of the large multinationals such as Intel and Apple that develop chips have a presence in Israel because of the local human talent and its capabilities in making real breakthroughs,” Bin added.

Nvidia’s R&D activities in Israel are already the firm’s largest outside of the US. At the end of December, the chipmaker announced the completion of the acquisition of Israeli AI workload management startup Run:ai for an estimated $700 million.

 

Nvidia employs over 5,000 workers in Israel in seven R&D centers, from Yokne’am, the headquarters of Mellanox, to Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Ra’anana, and Beersheba in the south. This year, Nvidia also boosted its footprint in Tel Aviv by renting another 10 floors in the Rubinstein Twin Towers, in addition to the eight floors it already occupied.

GHF Confirm Success in Food Distribution in Gaza

 

Senior Mossad Officer on Iran: "The Mission is Not Over"

(With thanks to the IDSF - The Israel Defense and Security Forum)

A former senior Mossad official describes his reaction

to the 12 day war between Israel and Iran and

seeing 30 years of preparation become operational.

He talks about how the Mossad planned their activities

and what is next for the agency. He also shares

his broader strategic assessment for the region.

The Eternal Riddle

 The following poem was written in 1914 byPhilip M. Raskin 

(how true this is even today)

Israel, my people, God's greatest riddle,
Will thy solution ever be told

Fought - never conquered, bent - never broken,
Mortal - immortal, youthful, though old.

Egypt enslaved thee, Babylon crushed thee,
Rome led thee captive, homeless thy head.

Where are those nations mighty and fearsome
Thou hast survived them, they are long dead.

Nations keep coming, nations keep going,
Passing like shadows, wiped off the earth.

Thou an eternal witness remainest,
Watching their burial, watching their birth.

Pray, who revealed thee Heaven's great secret:
Death and destruction, thus to defy

Suffering torture, stake, inquisition -
Prithee, who taught thee never to die

Ay, and who gave thee faith, deep as ocean,
Strong as the rock-hills, fierce as the sun

Hated and hunted, ever thou wand'rest,
Bearing a message: God is but one!

Pray, has thy saga likewise an ending,
As its beginning glorious of old

Israel, my people, God's greatest riddle,
Will thy solution ever be told

Kharg Island - Iran's Economic Lifeline

 Following the U.S. bombing of Iran’s three most fortified nuclear sites, the Iranian government swore revenge. The Iranian parliament voted to close the Strait of Hormuz.

However, this is more symbolic than real, given both that elected Iranian bodies have no power over security policy and that the Islamic Republic relies on the Strait of Hormuz both to export its oil and import much of its refined gasoline.

Still, the United States and its allies should counter any move to interfere with freedom of navigation and commerce across a major waterway, especially one in which its Arab allies depend for their commerce.

The U.S. response should be overwhelming. First, it should seize Kharg Island. Most tankers cannot safely get into Iranian ports because the Persian Gulf is so shallow, and the Iranian side is very rocky.

As a result, they load their supply from offshore terminals, the largest of which is the Kharg oil terminal on Kharg Island, 16 miles off the Iranian coast. Iran exports approximately 90 percent of its crude oil through Kharg.

However, bombing Kharg will be counterproductive because if Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei falls and the Islamic Republic collapses, Iran could become a Western ally again; its new government will need Kharg to fuel Iran’s reconstruction and bring revenue to support the new government.

Occupying Kharg would strain the Islamic Republic financially, but preserve the infrastructure.

Strike the Navy

Continued Iranian aggression also merits a response against Iran’s two navies: the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy patrols the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy speedboats regularly harass shipping. It is now time to sink the speedboats and the piers upon which the Revolutionary Guards depend for their vessels and the smuggling upon which the organization depends far more than its official budget.

The regular Iranian navy projects power far beyond the range of its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps counterparts. Its submarines now ply the northern Indian Ocean, and its vessels, both official naval ships and cargo vessels operating on its behalf, support the Houthis.

The United States should issue an ultimatum: Either ships dock at key Indian Ocean ports and surrender to local authorities, or the United States will sink them.

Iranians should not complain; after all, they once launched Operation Morvarid, a 1980 operation in which Iranian forces largely sank Iraq’s navy, an event that for Iraq was equivalent to the 1941 Japanese strike on Pearl Harbor.

Limit the Damage The United States must take care to limit damage to Iran itself for two reasons: First, the Iranian people are not an enemy, and second, the less damage Iran suffers, the easier it will be for the country to recover once Iranians throw off Khamenei and his fellow clerics.

Occupying Kharg, an isolated island of less than eight square miles, and targeting the Islamic Republic’s two navies would fulfill the objective of preventing any meaningful damage to Iranian territory while ensuring freedom of navigation.

If Khamenei challenges Trump to continue, Trump must deftly call his bluff.