Has the West been taken in by Hamas’ lies and anti Israeli narrative?

Yes, we've all heard your conspiracy theory about how Mossad were responsible for all thr antisemitism in Iraq and before that the entire middle east was a utopia where everyone got along.

If it's not a coincidence then what is it? What exactly are you accusing the OP of?

You did over-egg that. A later poster posted his statements which I’m paraphrasing now that indicate he has been the victim of character assassination and that he had never concealed anything that ‘didn’t fit with the Hamas’ narrative’ (whatever that is) because he has always been critical of Hamas.

Independent journalists are less vulnerable to coercion. Any Gazan journalist has family in Gaza. Family whose lives can be threatened by either Hamas or Israel, or both. The casualty ratio of journalists and various incidents do show they have been targeted by both Hamas and Israel, as have their families in this conflict. When your family is in the war zone you are reporting from, you are vulnerable to blackmail and coercion. An independent journalist whose family is thousands of miles away is only risking their own life to faithfully witness and report what they see happening on the ground.

Agree with that, and just to add a bit, on a tangent sorry, this reminds me about UN funded teachers allegedly teaching a curriculum designed by Hamas in Gazan schools. There was an uproar about that. And to me it was all a bit daft, because of course Hamas set the curriculum, because they are the Government.

It would be a bit like a US evangelical Church sending teachers to teach Young Earth Creationism as fact, in UK public school science classes. Not allowed, because lessons need to be set on the curriculum the UK government set.

A daft example perhaps, but I hope people see what I mean.

People were rightly concerned about Palestinian children being taught to hate Jews by a curriculum designed by Hamas. It’s minimising legitimate concerns re antisemitic propaganda and children by describing it as being “a bit daft.”

I know you are not a Netanyahu supporter from previous posts.

A small group on MN will complain that any thread that seems pro Israel is manned by either bots, those being paid to post or - the latest version - those hoping to (somehow?) influence the elections in Israel. I’ve seen those same accusations on other threads too.

All the anti Israel threads are fine of course and no allegations made of bots/paid posters/political motivation.

The only reason Gaza is poor is because billions of dollars have been misspent on building tunnels and siphoned off by Hamas. Hamas is actually extremely well off. Jews are not 'Westerners', this is a deliberate lie. Over half of Israeli Jews are mizrahi and anyone with even a passing familiarity with the practice of Judaism knows about the centrality of Israel & the middle East.

Fair enough and perhaps this doesn't apply to you in particular but it does apply to some threads on here and many comments on social media. These have definitely ramped up recently, which isn't a coincidence.

The problem is that many of us can agree that Netanyahu's behaviour over 30 years has been despicable, that he is committing a genocide, etc. The question is, if he loses this election, who else will come into power? As far as I can see, all the alternatives will carry out the same policies. This appears to be an Israeli political class problem, which pervades many in the population too, unfortunately. The Israeli population are taught to hate Arabs, including the children. This is also stated publicly by some of their leaders. They talk of killing all Palestinians including the children because they will grow up to become terrorists. There really is something wrong when people make these kind of comments openly and also when they are not immediately ostracised for doing so.

People should be equally concerned about the brain washing of Israeli children and adults.

That's just not true is it Sharon.
I'm surprised that someone with all that anti racism training , hasn't taken the time to research what Israel has done to Gaza and show some concern for the Muslims in the region and various other countries that Israel has attacked over many years. It's not really anti racist to show no concern about this is it.

Israel is surrounded by hostile nations and is subjected to so much hatred regardless of who is in charge. Some of those do not want Israel to exist at all. The attacks on Oct 7th started this most recent episode of atrocities. The escalation of violence has seen huge destruction on both sides, finding a way to end this was always going to be extremely difficult, I believe that the start to finding a solution had to begin by going back to Oct 7th as that attack was unprovoked.

It's legitimate to be concerned about propaganda and children on both sides.

But this thread is about Hamas and it's not “a bit daft ” to worry about antisemitic propaganda in schools in Gaza.

How did the UN investigate and hold UNRWA to account?

After 16 UN member states, including the U.S., pulled economic support from the agency in January 2024, the UN commissioned the Colonna report, named for former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna who led the panel.

The report, issued four months later, validated concerns about UNRWA’s governance, politicization, and the hijacking of the agency, its facilities, and its mandate for Hamas-led purposes.

The report also confirmed that stronger safeguarding mechanisms are necessary to ensure UNRWA adheres to the humanitarian principle of neutrality, which dictates that humanitarian actors must not take sides in hostilities or engage in controversies of a political, racial, religious, or ideological nature. The report recommended the formation of a governance board to regularly report on neutrality issues.

Rare for a UN report on one of its entities, the Colonna report acknowledged problems with how UNRWA operates, including the permissive environment on problematic content in textbooks, supplemental material and teaching content, the politicization of staff unions and the need to better vet and train staff, and the “misuse” of UNRWA facilities – including an allusion to storing weapons, building tunnels, and other activities unrelated to a humanitarian mission.

UNRWA has committed to implementing all of the recommendations in the Colonna report, but has claimed that much of the implementation is dependent on increased funding and further action by states. So far, the oversight mechanisms of UNRWA have been strengthened, and they have committed to more proactive information sharing with Israel as well as social media monitoring of their local employees.

https://www.ajc.org/news/what-to-know-about-unrwa-and-its-controversial-role-in-the-israeli-palestinian-conflict

What is not true about the statement that the only reason Gaza is poor is because billions of dollars have been misspent on building tunnels and siphoned off by Hamas. Or that Hamas is actually extremely well off?

Not my conspiracy theory. Take it up with Avi Shlaim and the Mossad agents he not only names but interviews in the book.

Was in the pub last night and a ghastly old pair were going down the street pestering people peacefully outside sitting outside pubd and restaurants peddling a ridiculous Anti-Israeli propaganda ‘newspaper’. I bet they would have been arrested for breaking the peace if it had been listing the appalling atrocities perpetrated by the Palestinians.

The final flailing of a drowning man!

All the anti Israel threads are fine of course
What anti Israel threads? There are very few threads started by "pro Palestinian" posters. The number of posters in the CITME section is small but it is not pro Palestinian posters keeping this section active. And just because you are critical of the Israeli government doesn't mean you're anti Israel.

Unprovoked? How often has Israel "Mowed the grass"?

2006
2008
2012
2014
2018
2019
2021
2022

But hey, let's pretend this all started on Oct 7th.

The saying “truth is the first casualty of war” refers to the governments and their leaders that have decided to wage war on each other, or one on the other. Journalists are the counter to this as they are not personally invested in winning or losing a war.

If we give them the benefit of the doubt given their other posts, I think the poster meant it was a bit daft to be suprised that Hamas government written curriculum for school children would be anything other than antisemitic? I really don’t think they were saying it was daft to be concerned.

That’s not the only reason they are poor, the other reason is a 20yr and counting blockade on Gaza. In addition, the aid given to Gaza is dwarfed by the aid the US gave to Israel.

Finally, the Jewish culture in Israel is western. I don’t think the poster was referring to ethnicity so much as culturally it is more like a western democracy than say most Arab nations which are still very much not democratic and have much progress to make with women’s rights and reducing the income and wealth gap between rich and poor.