On Using Jews as Props for One's Vile Media Agenda

And they're not above using kidnapped babies for it, too

If you had told me 2 years ago that I would be thinking daily about strangers living thousands of miles away during a war that Israel would fight for a year and a half, I would have asked for a sample of whatever you were high on. Even now that we are starting to see the light at the end of this dark tunnel with the current ceasefire and the gradual release of the hostages, that light is very dim still. As long it all drags on, the obsessive media coverage continues. Every development has been gut-wrenching, occasionally punctuated by a few moments of relief (such as seeing some of the hostages return to their families).

One media icon happily milking this conflict like a cow since the beginning is Piers Morgan, whom I have already written about. He’s platformed some of the most hateful and antisemitic voices with large social media followings. They don’t necessarily voice any mainstream or original views on the issue, just the loudest.

Because Israel lacks a robust PR arm, there aren’t enough Israelis working professionally to combat the lies and misinformation about the country that go out to millions of people around the world every day. And understandably, there aren’t a ton of Israelis or pro-Israel Jews with the burning desire to appear on a show where they know they will be confronted in a rude and hostile manner by the severely misinformed.

One of the few Israelis actively doing it (and doing it well) is Jonathan Conricus. He has represented Israel and global Jewry in general like a champion throughout this protracted crisis. The problem is that there is only one of him, and Israel needs far more Jonathans if they wish to combat the PR war that I genuinely believe Hamas is winning. Here he is on the Piers show “debating” (I use that term very loosely when it comes to interactions like this one) Mehdi Hasan, the CEO of Zeteo (which I refuse to link here because I will not directly facilitate traffic to antisemitic publications):

Jonathan asks Mehdi a crucial question: what do you stand for? Mehdi can’t answer—except to deflect back on what he’s against.

Zeteo’s motto is all about “media accountability.” May I ask then why this vile piece of “journalism” made it onto their front page?

This article is behind a paywall, which makes me wonder how many people would actually pay to read it because the headline by itself is despicable. While I will often gladly wade through antisemitic bullshit to pick it apart for educational purposes, I absolutely refuse to do so for this one. There’s really not much to say about it other than to point out how normalized it’s become to accuse Jews of “weaponizing” things that actually cause them direct harm. I suppose that bringing up the wrongness of a terrorist organization holding a young mom and her two babies hostage for nearly 500 days (whether dead or alive, no one knows) carries the risk of offending “journalists” like Muhammad who lack the critical thinking skills to see why Hamas might feel compelled to lie about hostages being killed in Israeli airstrikes.

Those of us following the current crisis have had the Bibas babies in our hearts and minds every day for a year and a half. They have become global household names for the worst reasons. As of this writing the father of the children, who was kidnapped with the rest of his family on October 7th but held in captivity separately, has been released. However, there is no clear status update on the mother and the two children.

Of course, we hope and pray that the Bibas babies and their mom are still alive, even if people like Muhammad and Mehdi don’t. But that fact that Hamas has not yet produced them during the current ceasefire can only mean one of two things: 1) they are being withheld because they’re still alive (and thus Hamas’s most “valuable” hostages should that be the case); or 2) they’re being withheld because they’re dead—and let’s face it, it’s the most likely scenario—and releasing them in body bags will result in riots. Quite an interesting weaponization of psychological terrorism during a war that Hamas claims to have “won.”

Jonathan Conricus was right about Mehdi Hasan and his garbage publication. He stands for nothing, which means that he’ll gladly voice support for terrorists while bringing up the names of Jewish babies he not-so-secretly hopes are dead if doing so lines his pockets and his ego. What an absolutely pathetic way of being.