The ‘Fake News’ Frenzy

Based on the laws of supply and demand, truth has become a valuable commodity. If it were tea, its scarcity would make it extremely expensive. As we are inundated with the activist media’s half-truths and lies, which some call “fake news,” the real thing is in increasingly short supply.

The activist media have overtaken us. Journalists are writing biased, agenda-driven pieces devoid of facts or truth, and many have abandoned the art of fact-finding altogether to become social-justice mavens who espouse the old mantra, “The end justifies the means.” If omitting certain truths helps their agenda, then so be it.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the perfect topic for these people. They picture Israel as a bully, harassing helpless Palestinians. Major news outlets contort their headlines to blame Israel for just about everything, while journalists stifle the truth about human-rights abuses within Palestinian society because these facts disrupt the narrative they want to convey to their readers.

The New York Times (notorious for anti-Israel “news”) recently ran an op-ed by Palestinian prisoner Marwan Barghouti called “Why We Are on Hunger Strike in Israel’s Prisons.” From inside an Israeli prison, he explained why he and 1,000 other Palestinian prisoners were peacefully refusing to eat as an act of resistance against Israel.

Barghouti used his platform to proclaim his innocence. “As part of Israel’s effort to undermine the Palestinian struggle for freedom,” he declared, “an Israeli court sentenced me to five life sentences and 40 years in prison in a political show trial that was denounced by international observers.” The Times touted Barghouti as a “Palestinian leader and parliamentarian,” and he came across as an innocent Palestinian unjustly imprisoned by Israel for his political views.

What The New York Times neglected to mention is Marwan Barghouti is serving five consecutive life sentences for multiple counts of murder against innocent Israeli civilians and for several attempted terrorist attacks. Barghouti isn’t an innocent Palestinian political activist; he’s a convicted terrorist. But The Times conveniently left out this vital information.

To make matters worse, it printed his op-ed on Passover, when Jewish people could not respond. Israeli parliamentarian and former ambassador to the United States Michael Oren called the article “a journalistic terror attack.”

When organizations like The New York Times exist in the realm of such extremes that they would publish the one-sided ramblings of a Palestinian terrorist, the action reveals more about the people writing the news than those they’re writing about.

Disseminating half-truths and lies about Israel has reached such a frenzy within the news media that media watchdogs like Honest Reporting (honestreporting.com), The Middle East Media Research Institute (memri.org), Palestinian Media Watch (palwatch.org), and the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (camera.org) work around the clock to provide the facts the mainstream media neglect to publish and to correct the misinformation they do publish.

The good news is that, ultimately, truth will win out. King Solomon understood the power of truth when he wrote, “The truthful lip shall be established forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment” (Prov. 12:19).

We all believe in justice for all people. But justice without truth isn’t justice at all; it’s merely a lie. To stay properly informed, we must be vigilant to discern the difference between what is true and what is not and pray God will reveal the truth about Himself and Israel to a world being inundated with half-truths and lies.

1 thought on “The ‘Fake News’ Frenzy

  1. The same is happening in MSM in Canada. Trudeau, a student of Marxist socialism, has seen the last of his days. He is an anti-God tyrant and has poisoned this country and is masked by the media. He is a total lie and has NDP, Bloc and the conservatives at his disposal. But Jesus is the way the truth and the life. All that is hidden will be revealed.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Features

Antique fountain pen on parchment.

From the Editor Jul/Aug 2017

Every Wednesday, we have chapel at The Friends of Israel headquarters. It’s a wonderful time when we pray together, hear a brief message, and sometimes connect via Skype with one of our workers overseas who...

FOI Canada Goes Up to Jerusalem

A look at the first-ever FOI Canada Up to Jerusalem trip to Israel and some of the wonderful experiences God provided. It is eleven days’ journey from Horeb by way of Mount Seir to Kadesh Barnea. Sounds simple enough. Forty years later...

A Trail of Carcasses

Camped at Sinai for 12 months, the fledgling nation of Israel received God’s Law, constructed His Tabernacle, and established the Levitical priesthood. It had great dreams and high expectations of entering a land that flowed “with milk and honey” as it set out from...

Rebels Without a Cause

It didn't go well for Korah and crew when they complained against God. In fact, the ended up in what people today might call a giant sinkhole. Anyone who knows a little Yiddish probably knows the word kvetch. It means complain and whine habitually.

The Covert Conspiracy

Many things happen behind the scenes that affect our lives and the history of nations. The Israelites fell prey to the enemy's devices, and it cost them dearly. If you think you know everything going on around you, think again. Life is not always what it seems. Sometimes circumstances are orchestrated...

Satisfying God’s Wrath

The biblical doctrine of propitiation is under attack in our culture. Adherents of postmodernism and even some people within the church have rejected biblical teachings they perceive to be too harsh—such as judgment, hell, and the doctrine of propitiation.


Subscription Options

1 Year Digital Subscription

  • Free PDF Book Download - "What on Earth is God Doing?" by Renald Showers

  • Free Full-Issue Flipbook & PDF Download of Current Issue

$9.99 every 1 year

1 Year Digital with Archive Access

  • Free PDF Book Download - "What on Earth is God Doing?" by Renald Showers

  • Free Full-Issue Flipbook & PDF Downloads of Current Issue & select Archives

  • Complete Access to our Growing Archive - eventually dating back through our inaugural 1942 issue

$19.99 every 1 year

2 Year Digital Subscription

  • Free PDF Book Download - "What on Earth is God Doing?" by Renald Showers

  • Free Full-Issue Flipbook & PDF Download of Current Issue

$19.99 every 2 years

2 Year Digital with Archive Access

  • Free PDF Book Download - "What on Earth is God Doing?" by Renald Showers

  • Free Full-Issue Flipbook & PDF Downloads of Current Issue & select Archives

  • Complete Access to our Growing Archive - eventually dating back through our inaugural 1942 issue

$39.99 every 2 years

3 Year Digital Subscription

  • Free PDF Book Download - "What on Earth is God Doing?" by Renald Showers

  • Free Full-Issue Flipbook & PDF Download of Current Issue

$29.99 every 3 years

3 Year Digital with Archive Access

  • Free PDF Book Download - "What on Earth is God Doing?" by Renald Showers

  • Free Full-Issue Flipbook & PDF Downloads of Current Issue & select Archives

  • Complete Access to our Growing Archive - eventually dating back through our inaugural 1942 issue

$59.99 every 3 years