Video/Report: Israelis in the Media

I was initially hesitant about even watching this video even though the channel / media outlet usually does good work. The title is rather sensational sounding, but more importantly, it triggered a red flag for the antisemitic conspiracy theory that Jews are in control of everything, so it turned me off at first. Exposed: Israeli Spies in U.S. Media Manufacture Consent for Genocide and Empire. I was pleasantly surprised to hear them specifically explain that what they are talking about is not at all like that antisemitic conspiracy theory. In fact, what they are talking about is precisely the sort of thing—one of many things—that I was trying to refer to in my recent post No, Israel doesn’t “control” the U.S.

Basically, it’s kind of the same idea as the traditional “good ole boys club”, but the “club” is Israel. I think they do even make a point of saying something similar to what I had said about the relation to hyper-capitalism and that this is the sort of state of affairs you would expect to be the outcome of hyper-capitalism. Which is, as I said, why so much of it is right out in the open, but we don’t see it as problematic because it’s been so normalized. 

I think it makes the most sense if you think of Israel as literally the 51st state of the U.S., instead of as a foreign country. For example, consider the relationship between California and New York, or more specifically, Los Angeles and New York City, and what comes out of that relationship in regards to professions and careers and arts. Between L.A. and NYC there are deeply intertwined networks in certain professions and arts and such, so that it’s rather easy for people to move between L.A. and NYC. But if you’re coming from somewhere smalltown, America, it’s usually much more challenging to break into some of those professions and careers and arts and whatnot. And we’re all familiar with how this manifests in academia, and the favoritism and privileged status associated with certain universities and schools.

Referring to the video linked above, there’s no conspiracy, per se, in media and journalism. It may be true that Israel has a vested interest in getting Israelis into media and journalism, so they can help push the hasbara when needed. In other words, to have control of the narrative. But this kind of tactic was not invented by Israelis. Controlling the narrative by controlling the content of writings and of speech is a common tactic of the elite ruling classes of many societies throughout modern human history for as long as people have had written language and oral tradition. 

Now, I need to make very clear that none of this “good ole boys club” state of affairs has anything to do with Jews. That is another reason nothing I’m saying here is actually like those antisemitic conspiracy theories. Because those are about Jews, and I’m talking about Israel and Israelis, and that’s not the same thing. Most Jews in the world aren’t Israeli and have no genealogical connection with the Levant. (Although, to be fair, a whole lot of Israelis have no actual genealogical connection with the Levant either, though they want to pretend they do.) To me, this distinction between Jews and Israelis is very important. The fact that someone is Jewish is a fact about which I do not care because it is completely irrelevant. But if they are Israeli, then I’m paying attention and will want to know more, such as whether they served in the IOF. 

I suppose that’s all for this post, as I just wanted to share that video, in part because it very nicely demonstrates what I was referring to in that earlier post.