In the past few weeks, we have witnessed horrific acts of violence against American Jews, from the cold-blooded murder of Israeli Embassy staffers in Washington, D.C., to the firebombing of peaceful marchers in Boulder, Colorado.

These weren’t random acts. They were deliberate, targeted attacks fueled by hatred and antisemitism, which mainstream media have stoked for far too long. 

Ever before Hamas’s horrific attack against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, many mainstream media outlets and pundits throughout the world propagated the lies spread by the terrorist entity Hamas, without fact-checking and without verification. This has only gotten worse since the war began.

Stories such as Israel bombing the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City, which turned out to be false, Israel shooting at ambulances, the idea that a genocide took place in Gaza, or a famine, or that 14,000 babies would die in a day in the Gaza Strip. The list of lies spread by the media about Israel’s culpability goes on and on.

We’ve seen the results. The anti-Israel and anti-Jewish protests that have swept across U.S. campuses by students who hear these lies repeated over and over again have led to campus cultures where antisemitism is the norm in what used to be the most prestigious schools in America. Now the words have become fatal actions. Americans are perpetrating murder against other Americans because these lies have been repeated by the media so often.

The media seem to be taking a page out of the Nazi playbook. After all, it was Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi head of propaganda who is credited with the phrase, “If you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it.”

Hamas knows this lesson as well, and their supporters, Qatar and Iran, also know this lesson well. They have become masters at blurring the truth. So much so that even after members of this vile terror organization filmed themselves committing some of the worst atrocities imaginable on camera, people still deny it ever happened. 

Hamas has claimed there are food shortages even after aid convoys are discovered in their storehouses. It has declared astronomical and fabricated civilian casualties while using women and children as human shields and stashing missile launchers and command centers in and under hospitals and schools.

Hamas spokesmen have fabricated atrocities, claiming that Israel committed these against their people after they were the ones who committed these same atrocities against Israeli and Gazan civilians. Yet still, many media outlets often report these claims as facts without making any attempt at verification.

In Washington, D.C., this hatred manifested when Elias Rodriguez allegedly fired 21 times at Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, staff members of the Israeli Embassy who were attending an event at the Capital Jewish Museum. Witnesses reported that after Rodriguez murdered them, he declared, “I did this for Gaza, free Palestine.”

In Boulder, the consequences were seen once again, as Mohamed Sabry Soliman, an Egyptian national, targeted a peaceful march supporting the return of Israeli hostages. Using makeshift flamethrowers and Molotov cocktails, he burned multiple victims while reportedly shouting “Free Palestine.” Among the 12 injured was an 88-year-old Holocaust refugee, a woman who survived Europe’s darkness only to be attacked on American soil.

These attacks didn’t emerge from nowhere. They are the direct result of irresponsible media narratives that have fueled antisemitic sentiment across America.

Recently, White House Spokesperson Karoline Leavitt flat-out stated a truth that we all know: that the BBC simply takes whatever Hamas says and prints it in the news, claiming it as factual. Sadly, many other outlets and agencies have done similar things. 

What we’re witnessing is a modern blood libel. Historically, blood libels were false accusations that Jews used Christian blood in religious rituals, lies that led to pogroms and massacres throughout history. Today’s version comes through headlines that uncritically, or worse, consciously amplify terrorist propaganda, creating a distorted narrative that demonizes Israel and, by extension, Jewish communities worldwide.

When our media fail to scrutinize sources and journalists prioritize sensational headlines over verified facts, they contribute to the spread of dangerous falsehoods. Mark Twain once observed that “a lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.” In today’s digital landscape, lies spread even faster, with deadlier consequences.

The pattern is clear: unverified claims are published, antisemitic sentiment rises, and violence follows. From college campuses to city streets, Jews are facing levels of hatred not seen in generations. And with each attack, the media cycle continues, minimizing the antisemitic nature of these crimes or quickly moving on to other stories.

As Glenn Beck and Nikki Haley both pointed out on their X accounts, if other minority groups were targets instead of Jews, our national conversation would look dramatically different. We would see round-the-clock coverage, special task forces, and widespread condemnation. But when Jewish Americans are targeted, the response is often muted.

This double standard isn’t just hypocritical, it’s dangerous. It signals to extremists that violence against Jewish Americans won’t receive the same outrage or consequences as attacks against other communities, effectively rubber-stamping the violence itself. These aren’t just abstract ethical considerations; they have become matters of life and death for Americans.

Media outlets must recognize their responsibility and share the blame for the murders that have come along with their perpetuated false narratives. 

I encourage anyone who has a voice, large or small, whether they are social media influencers or have just a handful of followers, to speak up and demand that media outlets and journalists be held accountable and stop perpetuating blood libels based on unverified facts.

We must shout it on any medium we can, because these false and biased reports are costing American lives on the home front and seeding incitement among the American people, dividing us from one another. 

Truth matters. Accuracy matters. Jewish lives matter. American lives matter. It’s time our media acted accordingly.

Source: JNS