{"id":47382,"date":"2025-08-22T01:51:15","date_gmt":"2025-08-22T08:51:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=47382"},"modified":"2025-08-21T16:35:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-21T23:35:09","slug":"battling-disinformation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2025\/08\/22\/battling-disinformation\/","title":{"rendered":"Battling disinformation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Why do international media outlets seem intent on repeating the Hamas narrative? According to British military expert Maj. (ret.) Andrew Fox, there are a few key factors \u2013 including antisemitism.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first [factor] is a human desire not to admit when they are wrong and we don\u2019t understand how powerful this is because it means that they have to admit that they have been wrong for the last 18 months,\u201d he told JNS during a visit to Israel earlier this year.<\/p>\n

Fox continued: \u201cThe second reason is the power of the narrative. Once you have achieved the dominance of your narrative, it is very, very difficult to present another narrative. The third one is antisemitism. While everything is not antisemitism \u2013 and I am really wary of saying that it is \u2013 certainly there are biases.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fox was a panelist at the International Conference on Combating Antisemitism hosted by the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs in Jerusalem on March 27. As a research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society who served as a top officer in the British army from 2005 to 2021, he is an authoritative voice supporting Israel, explaining how the Israel Defence Forces operates, and fighting disinformation about the Israeli military and its terrorist enemies.<\/p>\n

In December 2024, Fox released a report under the auspices of the Henry Jackson Society titled \u201cQuestionable Counting: Analyzing the Death Toll from the Hamas-Run Ministry of Health in Gaza.\u201d The report presented clear indications that Hamas was padding casualty numbers. Despite this, he said, many in the media repeated, without question, whatever Hamas put out.<\/p>\n

Fox is not the only publisher of a report that backs Israeli data with empirical evidence. On March 18, he pointed out, British historian Lord Andrew Roberts presented the All-Party Parliamentary Group report on the atrocities of Oct. 7, 2023. The 318-page report lays bare the depravity of the Hamas attack in detail.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe immediate reaction online is that it\u2019s biased,\u201d Fox said. \u201cLord Roberts is not Israeli, Israel is not his area of focus and everything is meticulously referenced. Yet, it has been utterly dismissed out of hand, and that is absolutely astonishing.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cOf course, there will be a strong counter campaign with Qatari money. I had the same thing with my report. The final aspect is that the Palestinian campaign has 10 times the supporters that Israel does. It\u2019s a numbers game, ultimately.\u201d<\/p>\n

Is antisemitism in the form of anti-Zionism, or what some call \u201cIsraelophobia,\u201d ingrained in some media institutions?<\/p>\n

According to Fox, the answer is yes. \u201cIt is institutional with the BBC. Twice this year [as of March] they have had to put out major apologies breaching their own impartiality guidelines \u2013 when they platform Hamas royalty in a documentary about kids in Gaza or when they email the Israeli embassy asking for a speaker who is specifically anti-Netanyahu,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are three parts to an apology: \u2018I am sorry, it\u2019s my fault and I will do better.\u2019 They haven\u2019t really done that third part at all. It is endemic and institutionalized.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the IDF has faced criticism from journalists who are not being allowed into Gaza, with some saying this strategy has impaired Israel\u2019s ability to present the facts on the ground, Fox backed the Israeli military\u2019s position.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you give a journalist free rein in Gaza, they will either do what Hamas tells them or they will be killed \u2013 and that will be blamed on the IDF anyway. From a military perspective, you don\u2019t want anyone filming an airstrike because they don\u2019t have all the supporting data to report fairly without knowing what went into the targeting process.\u201d<\/p>\n

To illustrate his point, Fox said he had flown to Israel with Sir John McColl, a former British army four-star general who had been \u201cvery anti-IDF.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAll week he was pushing the IDF like a hawk \u2013 and then came home and wrote an op-ed saying he was convinced Israel is doing everything it can to protect civilians, and that\u2019s what the IDF should be showing journalists,\u201d Fox said.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cYou can\u2019t send journalists in with fighting troops; that is too dangerous. Fighting in Gaza is a 360-degree war. You have high-rise buildings, ground level, underground. As a soldier, I would probably refuse to take a journalist into that battle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fox expressed concern that we are in a very dangerous information environment when many people turn to social media for information because of the 24-hour news cycle, and very often what is posted is not factual and has not been verified. In the rush to make the news cycle, journalists are also not fact-checking properly, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fight against antisemitism is the most important thing to me,\u201d he said. \u201cThe stories I hear from my friends are just shocking.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked what communities around the world could be doing better, he said: \u201cWe are not going to stop 2,000 years of antisemitism; it is not something we can defeat. It is not easy, but I would work to bring the silent majority on to our side.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cFrom a British perspective, we need to make it about a community that is part of the country. The \u2018Palestine\u2019 marches are horrendous and very un-British. It\u2019s about how we frame it.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Rolene Marks<\/b> is a journalist and commentator specializing in Israeli advocacy, global Jewish affairs and Middle Eastern politics for\u00a0JNS.org. She is a member of\u00a0Media Team Israel\u00a0and\u00a0Truth be Told, both dedicated to promoting accurate reporting on Israel. Additionally, she serves as the\u00a0chair of WIZO\u2019s hasbara division, where she leads efforts in public diplomacy and advocacy. This article was originally published on jns.org<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n

* * *<\/i><\/p>\n

Marks\u2019s two stops here<\/h2>\n
\"photo<\/a>
Rolene Marks (photo from CHW)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Israeli journalist, advocate, and chair of WIZO\u2019s hasbara<\/i> (communications) division Rolene Marks is touring Canada this September with Just the Facts, about the current situation in Israel, the realities of the war between Israel and Hamas (and other hostile groups), and the resilience of the Israeli people. Marks stops in Vancouver on Sept. 12 for an event hosted by CHW and the Ohel Ya\u2019akov Community Kollel, and also helps open CHW Vancouver Centre\u2019s new year, on Sept. 14.<\/p>\n

At the Kollel young professionals event, Marks will talk about the United Nations, Gaza and Israel-related topics, and the Canadian government\u2019s agenda, as it affects Israel and the Jewish diaspora. She will dispel lies, misinformation and blood libels, sharing links for where people can find accurate information and sources, stressing the need for Jews in Canada to share accurate information on social media. As well, she will discuss WIZO\u2019s work in Israel and the importance of belonging to CHW (Canadian Hadassah-WIZO).<\/p>\n

To join the CHW-Kollel Young Adults Shabbat experience on Sept. 12, 7:30 p.m., go to chw.ca\/just-the-facts<\/a>. Registration is by donation.<\/p>\n

The CHW Vancouver Centre\u2019s opening luncheon and fashion show on Sept. 14, 10:30 a.m., will feature fashions from After Five and Maison Labelle,\u00a0 <\/span>lunch and door prizes, as well as an exclusive pre-event meet-and-greet for sponsors with Marks, CHW national president Tova Train and CHW chief executive officer Lisa Colt-Kotler. Tickets ($96) are available at chw.ca\/region\/western-region<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2013 Courtesy CHW<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why do international media outlets seem intent on repeating the Hamas narrative? According to British military expert Maj. (ret.) Andrew Fox, there are a few key factors \u2013 including antisemitism. \u201cThe first [factor] is a human desire not to admit when they are wrong and we don\u2019t understand how powerful this is because it means […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[24233,801,20646,1668,7306,4361,24234,23672,24235,24236],"class_list":["post-47382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-world","tag-andrew-fox","tag-antisemitism","tag-canadian-hadassah-wizo","tag-chw","tag-community-kollel","tag-hamas","tag-israelophobia","tag-rolene-marks","tag-young-adults-shabbat","tag-young-professionals"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47382"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47382\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}