Hamas v Israel: A Media Narrative
Targeting the editors
Published: 2023-10-12
Updated 2023:-10-14: Named the ABC news editor, Justin Stevens.
A Quick Primer on the Palestinian Side of the Israel-Palestine Conflict
Preceding and soon after the creation of the modern state of Israel after WWII, Jewish settlers killed or displaced 800 000 700 000 Palestinians from their land during the Nakba (which is Arabic for Catastrophe or Cataclysm, see also Holocaust). The genocide (as defined by the United Nations) by the state of Israel against the Palestinian people continues to this day.
An occupied people have the right to resist an occupation, including armed resistance, under international law.
Here is what Israel thinks of the two state solution envisioned by the UN General Assembly in 1947:
A Reassessment of Chomsky's Description
Noam Chomsky in the 1980s and 1990s gave us a fundamental description of the mechanisms which produce a compliant, unenquiring media. His analysis is derived from George Orwell's of 50 year's previous. One is tempted to ask if the mechanisms have changed? How does this operate now rather than when Chomsky offered the insight?
Noam Chomsky Stumps Andrew Marr, Marr interviews Chomsky, Bypass Mainstream Media, uploaded 2016-08-30
The Israel-Hamas war: No matter who loses, Iran wins, Aaron Pilkington, The Conversation, 2023-10-08
Published at the government funded ABC this headline peaked my interest. The analytic conclusion seemed to me partially correct, though I expected that the reasoning for it would echo US/Israeli "talking points" propaganda rather than being based on reasonable argument. It signaled itself as asking for dissection.
An obvious benefit for Iran from this wildly successful attack on Israel by Hamas will be a delay in the negotiation between Saudi Arabia, Israel and the US. That deal includes the US giving and sponsoring the delivery to Saudi Arabia of "civilian" nuclear technology (see Sources). Should this occur the House of Saud could then derive the "military" version via the mechanism we've all been scared about because the ancient, local regional power, Iran (formerly Persia), has this capability. So, concerned were the US and Israel about this that they built the most complex and finally, publicly revealed "cyber weapon" of all time to delay Iran's enrichment processes. That weapon was called STUXNET and indicates the level of effort states will invest to prevent the emergence of some new nuclear armed states. This Saudi-Israel-US deal is a precursor to creating another nuclear armed state in West Asia/Middle East.
Analysis
The "Iran wins" article is authored by Aaron Pilkington, who I've gifted the nom de plume Pinkerton. He is a PhD Candidate at the Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver; a U.S. Air Force analyst of Middle East affairs, conducting research on Iranian national security strategy. He informs us that he intends to join the Military & Strategic Studies department at the U.S. Air Force Academy. His article was first published at The Conversation.
Pinkerton puts his heart on his sleeve with:
As an analyst of Middle East politics and security, I believe that thousands on both sides will suffer. But when the smoke settles, only one country’s interests will have been served: Iran’s.
One immediately knows that he is serving a narrative because, obviously, multiple groups can, and no doubt will, have their interests served by the current round of bloodshed in former British Mandate for Palestine.
Pinkerton begins by bending sources to his stated aim. He is attempting the "thin edge of the wedge" approach. He continues with:
Already, some analysts are suggesting that Tehran’s fingerprints can be seen on the surprise attack on Israel. At the very least, Iran’s leaders have reacted to the assault with encouragement and support.
[The italics in the quote are links in the article. See sources below for the links analysed.]
For 'fingerprints' his source is an article from the Jewish News Syndicate which states that unnamed "Current and former Israeli defense officials suspect Iranian influence played an important role". This, of course, is how evidence free propaganda is issued. Pinkerton chooses to use it as the first reference in his article after his summary of the attack and introducing himself. Pinkerton is following the expected script by quoting evidence free assertion by military intelligence propaganda.
For 'encouragement and support' Pinky links to a reprint in the Seattle Times of a NY Times article which states that Iran is pleased about the success of Hamas' operation but does not provide any evidence of support (in the material sense). One can assume that Hamas would be glad to hear that Iran is pleased with the results of Operation Al Aqsa Storm.
Pinkerton then begins his historic survey with:
The decisive factor shaping Iran’s foreign policy was the 1979 overthrow of the U.S.-friendly, repressive Shah of Iran and the transfer of state power into the hands of a Shiite Muslim revolutionary regime. That regime was defined by stark anti-American imperialism and anti-Israeli Zionism.
Pinky is using a classic piece of narrative control called "when to start the clock". The glaring omission of Pinkster's "analysis" is that the "repressive Shah" was installed by the US and UK following the CIA (with help from MI-6) overthrow of Mohammad Mosaddegh. So public is this knowledge that it is mentioned in the first paragraph of the entry for Mosaddegh at Wikipedia.
Pinkerton continues with:
The revolution, its leaders claimed, was not just against the corrupt Iranian monarchy; it was intended to confront oppression and injustice everywhere, and especially those governments backed by the United States – chief among them, Israel.
The Britannica article which is the reference for ‘corrupt’ is fairly good for a short article on the topic. It says far more that 'corrupt' Iranian monarchy.
Pinky gives a bit away here with 'those governments backed by the United States'. This assertion is not supported by the reference given. It is taken as fact. It is also disproven by other references which Pinky provides. However, the reference for 'chief among them, Israel' is excellent. It allows one to read a summary in English of Khamenei's work published by an Iranian site. Khamenei was an intelligent strategic thinker whose recommendations are still relevant to how Iran approaches government and foreign policy. Khamenei saw the Zionists behind Israel, and their US and European colonial support, as a threat to both Iran and Islam. From the reference:
The Palestinian issue and the malicious behavior of Israel were always topics that Imam Khomeini talked about in his speeches, because it was of great importance to him. The Imam considered the increasing power of Israel and the subjugation of Muslim nations at the hands of this brutal regime to be the destruction of Islam and the Qur’an.
The error by Pinkerton is to label Iran solely in this resistance. Iran is, and was, one of many nations which were shocked at the genocidal treatment which Israel executed on the Palestinians. These include other local, ancient heavy weights like Egypt and Syria. Indeed, it would be fair to say that almost the entire region was up in arms against the brutal treatment of the Palestinians from both an Arab and Muslim perspective. Pinky's sole targeting of Iran gives away his biases.
You get the idea. Let skip to his conclusion.
Cut Me to the Chase
Pinkerton concludes his article with his argument for the assertion expressed in his headline. The entire conclusion of the article is quoted verbatim below.
How Iran wins
There are at least three possible outcomes to the war, and they all play in Iran’s favor.
No, Pinky is not implying one of “Israel loses”, “Palestinians lose” or “they all lose”. He is about to list his three ‘outcomes’.
First, Israel’s heavy-handed response may turn off Saudi Arabia and other Arab states to U.S.-backed Israeli normalization efforts.
Pinky believes that because Israel will be heavy handed (again) Iran's interests will be served. Is he advising Israel to be 'light handed' else they help their regional rival? This is his ‘outcome’ one.
Second, if Israel deems it necessary to push further into Gaza to eradicate the threat, this could provoke another Palestinian uprising in East Jerusalem or the West Bank, leading to a more widespread Israeli response and greater instability.
Pinky is alarmed that if Israel gets excessively murderous the oppressed Palestinians might fight back harder, which he is implying will help Iran even more. I'm still trying to work out how this is Iran's fault. This ‘deems necessary’ is Pinky’s ‘outcome’ two.
Lastly, Israel could achieve its first two objectives with the minimal amount of force necessary, foregoing usual heavy-handed tactics and reducing chances of escalation. But this is unlikely. And even if this occurred, the underlying causes that led to this latest outbreak of violence, and the enabling role Iran plays in that process, have not been addressed.
Earlier in the article Pinky has listed Israel’s three objectives, the first two are highlighted.
He thinks that a soft hand approach might 'restore peace' and 'exact an immense price' but that Israel will succumb to the temptation of brutality. The problem he laments is that even with the soft hand approach, which he fails to describe a method of success for, Iran will still achieve useful advantage from any Israeli response. They will still be able to 'enable' Hamas or other regional resistance to Israel because Israel is brutal!
Oh, the tragedy of not being able to restrain Israel from its murderous ways! Stop, I tell you, you're helping Iran!
Yes, this is the lamentable state of argumentation which is rolled out when one's moral compass is twisted into a pretzel.
And when the next round of Israeli-Palestinian violence occurs – and it will – I believe Iran’s leaders will again congratulate themselves for a job well done.
Now, Pinkster, you’ve provided no evidence of “Iran’s leaders congratulat[ing] themselves” or that they actually did anything, apart from express their pleasure at Hamas’ success. You did provide references to support your point that Iran provides military support for Palestinian resistance groups like Hamas. Is this ‘doing’ what you are referring to in ‘job well done’? If so, the US is doing it better, to the annual value to its military industries of $4 billion. Who is congratulating themselves, Aaron?
If you’re reading this, Ph.D candidate, I’ll let you in on a public secret. Most of the world is quite happy that Israel is getting some comeuppence for their murderous treatment of the occupied Palestinians. The problem is that with Operation Al Aqsa Storm, Hamas is killing civilians, which no sane person can tolerate.
Open Skies
Aaron's article contains some useful references which have been bent towards the required narrative and a few that are just pure propaganda. The good ones indicate that his supervisors at Denver have been assisting him in learning about the complex history of his region of interest. As he's a Ph.D candidate he still has a way to go, and I expect that he'll learn much from his studies. He will be confined in the types of analysis he can author due to various pressures, either from the expectations of the Air Force or his perceptions of those pressures, and because of funding pressures felt by his supervisor(s). I wish him all the best in his studies.
The problem here is not Aaron Pilkerton, but that his undergraduate level analysis dominated by absorbed Israeli and US propaganda has been published at 17 sites on the internet. It is the editors of these publications upon whom I train my sights.
They should be not much younger than I, probably older, and theoretically much better trained to spot this level of shoddy analysis. But, they have published it anyway. It is free, it looks authoritative, most readers wont perform the analysis presented above and these editors expect that their bosses will be satisfied with the publication of this narrative hiding as analysis.
Chomsky asserts to Marr that he is not self-censoring, that he believes what he is writing. I expect that these editors probably think that this work by Pilkerton is good, or at least of sufficient standard to be consumed by the lesser informed masses. The editors, like Marr, have been selected to have this level of lack of insight and critical thinking.
This, combined with the fact that publishing via the Internet is low cost, is the reason why "mainstream media" are becoming less main. I dont have the training, but I can spot the narrative bullshit in Pilkerton’s article a mile off. I'm happy to cut Aaron some slack, but not these editors. I dont care if they've succumbed to the temptation of career advancement via accepting accepted narrative. They have betrayed the principles of their profession.
I’m Australian and perhaps hold a slightly mythologized view of the ABC, our national government information and entertainment organization. Having confirmed that the “Iran wins” article was narrative propaganda rather than analysis my disappointment and annoyance was primarily directed at their editor. Since March 2022 this has been (then) 37 year old Justin Stevens. Being the news editor for a national government organisation which must comply with a collection of laws and guidelines is not an easy task, so like Aaron, I’ll both cut Justin some slack. However, it is an extremely important role too, so I’ll keep my eye out for insidious propaganda published as analysis in the ABC’s news section.
Divest me of this rubbish!
The Palestinian resistance movements came up with a devastating strategy recently. More correctly, they borrowed it from South African's who were suffering under their version of apartheid. It was so threatening to the Zionist narrative managers that they influenced states in the US to pass laws to make it illegal to support this method of political struggle. States essentially passed laws which flat out denied the US' first amendment. A case in point was Abby Martin being unable to present at a University seminar because she would be speaking about the Palestinian struggle and this re-used tactic of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions.
I encourage Palestinian resistance to return to this strategy. The ADL and other Zionist organisations have informed you of how dangerous they view it. Take them at their word.
And, to my readership, thank you for divesting yourself of some of the rubbish published in mainstream media, for boycotting their bullshit. They have sanctioned themselves against your interest, your time, the one thing they crave.
Fly away free minds and enjoy the points of the open skies.
Sources
Aaron Pilkington’s Sources
For ‘fingerprints’, anonymous Israel mil intel people
Iran’s fingerprints seen behind Hamas’s murderous rampage, Yaakov Lappin, Jewish News Syndicate, 2023-10-07
For “encouragement and support:” : [https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/iran-a-longtime-backer-of-hamas-cheers-attacks-on-israel/] which is a reprint of. It describes Iran as being pleased but there is no 'support’.
Iran, a longtime backer of Hamas, cheers the attacks, Farnaz Fassihi and Leily Nikounazar, NY Times, 2023-10-07
For ‘corrupt Iranian monarchy’, the Britannica article provides far more interesting detail.
Iranian Revolution [1978–1979], Janet Afary, Encyclopedia Britannica, late updated 2023-09-16
For ‘chief among them, Israel’ Pilkerton uses an exposition on Khamenei’s statements, which are very intersting and are not a poor reference for the point being made:
Imam Khomeini and the Palestinian cause, no author, KHAMENEI.IR, 2022-06-22
This Article’s Sources
The Israel-Hamas war: No matter who loses, Iran wins, Aaron Pilkington, The Conversation, 2023-10-08
Nakha, Wikipedia
Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, UN, adopted by General Assembly resolution 260 A (III) on 1948-12-09
United Nations Resolution 181, Israeli-Palestinian history, no author, Britannica, last updated 2023-09-29
Atoms for Peace 2.0? On Negotiations Between Israel and Saudi Arabia, Lior Sternfeld, Foreign Policy Research Institute, 2023-10-10
U.S. talks for a landmark deal with Saudi Arabia and Israel are gaining steam, Andrea Mitchell and Yuliya Talmazan, NBC News, 2023-09-22
The United States is making progress toward a landmark agreement that would see Saudi Arabia normalize relations with Israel in exchange for a U.S. defense pact and help developing its own civilian nuclear program, two diplomatic sources told NBC News.
Biden Aides and Saudis Explore Defense Treaty Modeled After Asian Pacts, Edward Wong and Mark Mazzetti, NY Times, 2023-09-19
Prince Mohammed is also asking the Biden administration to help his country develop a civilian nuclear program, which some U.S. officials fear could be cover for a nuclear weapons program to counter Iran.
Saudi Uranium Enrichment Floated Under Possible Israel Deal, Dion Nissenbaum and Dov Lieber, Wall Street Journal, 2023-09-21
The Real Story of Stuxnet, David Kushner, IEEE Spectrum, 2013-02-26
Journalist Abby Martin Had Free Speech Rights Violated By Georgia’s Anti-BDS Law, Court Rules, Kevin Gosztola, Shadowproof, 2021-05-24
Palestine 101 with Abby Martin, BreakThrough News, 2021-05-16
Craig Murray: Condemnation, Craig Murray, Consortium News, 2023-10-11
Justin Stevens appointed director of ABC News, Analysis and Investigations, Backstory, ABC, 2022-03-22
Republication sites for the “Iran wins” Article (none of these editors do their job)
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-10-10/the-israel-hamas-war-no-matter-who-loses-iran-wins/102955236
https://www.msn.com/en-za/news/other/the-israel-hamas-war-no-matter-who-loses-iran-wins/ar-AA1hYgdg
https://nenow.in/politics/the-israel-hamas-war-no-matter-who-loses-iran-wins.html
https://fortune.com/2023/10/08/why-iran-is-big-winner-from-hamas-attack-on-israel-middle-east-analyst/
https://indaily.com.au/news/2023/10/10/the-israel-hamas-war-no-matter-who-loses-iran-wins/
https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/the-israel-hamas-war-no-matter-who-loses-iran-18413853.php
https://currently.att.yahoo.com/att/israel-hamas-war-no-matter-154829942.html
https://rhodeislandcurrent.com/2023/10/08/the-israel-hamas-war-no-matter-who-loses-iran-wins/
https://themoderatevoice.com/the-israel-hamas-war-no-matter-who-loses-iran-wins/
https://article.wn.com/view-lemonde/2023/10/08/The_IsraelHamas_war_No_matter_who_loses_Iran_wins_p/
https://www.ctinsider.com/news/article/the-israel-hamas-war-no-matter-who-loses-iran-18413853.php
https://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/ap_news/conversation/the-israel-hamas-war-no-matter-who-loses-iran-wins/article_5662a051-876f-556a-a381-b85f20596f3c.html
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/thequint_the-israel-hamas-war-no-matter-who-loses-activity-7117031319183736833-OjpE
# Tor block: https://www.elpasoinc.com/the-israel-hamas-war-no-matter-who-loses-iran-wins/article_ccbf5780-05ce-59f0-8656-b8fe8ed9a6b2.html
# Tor block: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/the-israel-hamas-war-no-matter-who-loses-iran-wins/articleshow/104278176.cms
# Tor block: https://www.readysetshop.sfgate.com/news/article/the-israel-hamas-war-no-matter-who-loses-iran-18413853.php
Culture
LOWKEY - TERRORIST? (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO), Lowkey, GlobalFaction, 2010-09-11
Yeah, youtube:
$ yt-dlp https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmBnvajSfWU