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It’s been a difficult week watching in real time as Israel pummels Gaza – the world’s largest open-air prison – with Western-provided bombs that target civilians, schools, hospitals, residential neighborhoods, electrical grids and even water treatment facilities. Some 300 children have died so far, and nearly half a million people have lost their homes. Thousands have been killed and injured, a majority of them women and children.
After Hamas’s surprise attack and the subsequent rush of Palestinians breaking through the Gaza border wall, we’ve heard Israeli politicians refer to Palestinians as human animals that should be nuked and will be given hell. We’ve heard similar sentiments from U.S. politicians like Nikki Haley and Lindsey Graham, who have made genocidal calls for Israel to “finish them [Palestinians] off” and “level them.”
The U.S. sent six warships headed by the Navy’s largest and most advanced aircraft carrier to the Mediterranean Sea this week, raising questions about whether the U.S. will get directly involved in this war. Israel has targeted southern Lebanon with artillery, bombs and even white phosphorus, a deadly chemical banned by the Geneva Convention. It has also taken the war to Syria, bombing airports in Allepo and Damascus and shelling the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
This crisis has also ignited a war of narratives. Deliniarting worthy and unworthy victims and underlining the Western establishment’s inability – or unwillingness – to hold Israel accountable for its blatant war crimes.
However, one thing is sure: many outrageous, unverified claims are making the rounds and being intentionally and unapologetically spread by Western media and the Israeli government itself, including the now ubiquitous claim that Hamas beheaded 40 babies.
They say that the first casualty of war is truth, and on this special MintCast live stream, MintPress’ Mnar Adely, Lowkey and Alan Macleod unpack Israel’s less visible war being waged on the people of Gaza, the battle of hearts and minds.
Mnar Adley is an award-winning journalist and editor and is the founder and director of MintPress News. She is also president and director of the non-profit media organization Behind the Headlines. Adley also co-hosts the MintCast podcast and is a producer and host of the video series Behind The Headlines. Contact Mnar at mnar@mintpressnews.com or follow her on Twitter at @mnarmuh
Lowkey is a British-Iraqi hip-hop artist, academic, political campaigner, and a MintPress video and podcast host. As a musician, he has collaborated with the Arctic Monkeys, Wretch 32, Immortal Technique, and Akala. He is a patron of Stop The War Coalition, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, the Racial Justice Network, and The Peace and Justice Project founded by Jeremy Corbyn.
Alan MacLeod is Senior Staff Writer for MintPress News. After completing his PhD in 2017 he published two books: Bad News From Venezuela: Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the Information Age: Still Manufacturing Consent, as well as a number of academic articles. He has also contributed to FAIR.org, The Guardian, Salon, The Grayzone, Jacobin Magazine, and Common Dreams.
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