Amira Hass,
Haaretz, October 22, 2026
In
Israel, an “Arab” remains an “Arab”: the case of the ‘meshtaf pe’ula’ “Yoseph”
Haddad
En
Israël, un « Arabe » reste un « Arabe » : le cas du ‘meshtaf pe’ula’ « Yoseph »
Haddad
En
Israel, un “árabe” sigue siendo un “árabe”: el caso del ‘meshtaf pe’ula’
“Yoseph” Haddad
Em
Israel, um “árabe” continua sendo um “árabe”: o caso do ‘meshtaf pe’ula’
“Yoseph” Haddad
In
Israele, un “arabo” resta un “arabo”: il caso del ‘meshtaf pe’ula’ “Yoseph”
Haddad
In
Israel bleibt ein „Araber“ ein „Araber“: der Fall des ‚meshtaf pe’ula‘ „Yoseph“
Haddad
في إسرائيل، يظل «العربي»
«عربياً»: حالة يوسف “Yoseph” حداد، المتعاون مع السلطات
Gideon Levy, Haaretz, 15/2/2026
The recent outrage over an
Israeli minister’s rejection of the word ‘massacre’ in reference to October 7
revealed that in Israel, the word is reserved for one side. Those fighting for
its preservation must apply it to what happened in Gaza
In the first months
following October 7, I constantly used the term massacre to describe what had
happened. What I saw with my own eyes as I wandered through the southern border
area with photographer Alex Levac could only be defined as one.
In Sderot, Ofakim, in the
Re’im parking lot, on death-strewn Highway 232, in Be’eri and Nir Oz, we saw
endless silent testimony to a massacre. The trails of congealed blood in the
rooms of kibbutz members, the lives cut short in an instant, the weekend copies
of Haaretz, with readers massacred as they were perusing them, the bodies of
their dogs lying in their yards, the crushed and shattered cars with their
silent remnants of the Nova music festival, ID cards and personal effects in
the ruins of the police station in Sderot, and of course, the surviving
witnesses – all told a story of a horrific massacre. A massacre – what else
could you call it?
A year later, I could no
longer use that term. This was after the word massacre came to be used in
Israel’s discourse only for describing what was done to us. The only massacre
was the massacre of Israelis in the south, and no other. Hardly anyone used the
word massacre to describe what was happening across the border, in Gaza, at our hands.
When an Israeli said
"massacre," he meant the massacre of Israelis, as if he were stating
that there was no other. The word massacre became a fraught one, a tendentious
one serving propaganda and thus disqualified for use, as far as I was concerned,
due to its one-sided meaning.
Meanwhile, the second
massacre proceeded at full force, and no one called it by its name. It did not
cancel out the first massacre, but its scope, in numbers and devastation, far
exceeded it. The fact that it was perpetrated mainly by air did not diminish
its nature by one whit.
The furious argument that
has erupted in the last few days over the government’s foolish attempt to erase
from people’s minds the massacre we suffered can only evoke a bitter smile.
Nothing could be more
ironic: After more than two years in which the public discourse refrained from
using the word "massacre" or its synonyms for describing what the IDF
was doing to Gazans; after more than two years in which Israel tried to tell
itself, and the world, that the only massacre that took place was that of
Israelis; over two years of playing the victim, in which Israel put on display,
for itself and the world, only its own war wounds; over two years in which it
forbade any expression of compassion, humaneness and solidarity with the
victims of the other massacre; after over two years in which the Israeli media
concealed, ignored or blurred the other massacre, along comes the government
trying to erase from Israeli minds the first massacre as well, as if it never
happened.

Culture and Sports
Minister Miki Zohar speaking at the first government-funded film award ceremony
in Jerusalem last month. Credit: Naama Grynbaum
Culture Minister Miki
Zohar actually objected to adopting a stance of victimhood, in which Israel had
wallowed, as long as this served its purposes.
Nevertheless, there was a
massacre in Israel, as well as a genocide in Gaza. One should recognize this.
The power of words is great. The fact that so few Israelis are bothered by what
their country has done in the Gaza Strip proves the immense power of words. The
fact that every time the word "massacre" was or is still used in
Israel, people mean only the killing of 1,200 Israelis, never the killing of 70,000 Gazans, proves how easy it is to brainwash people and shape
their mindset.
Therefore, the current
battle over this term is important. People who are justifiably fighting to keep
this term intact regarding the events of October 7 should at least also adopt
it for describing what Israel did in its reckless retaliation in Gaza. One
cannot say "the October 7 massacre" and not say a word about the
punitive and vengeful massacre that followed it.
The blood of Israelis
massacred along the Gaza border cries out, but no less so than the blood of the
thousand babies that were massacred in the Gaza Strip. Both groups were victims
of barbaric and criminal behavior. Both groups deserve the correct definition,
not mendacious propaganda. There was a massacre in Israel. In Gaza, there was a
genocide.
Luis E. Sabini Fernández, Revista Futuros, 28/11/2021
Translated by Fausto Giudice, Tlaxcala
In a recent paper, “Antisemitic Conspiracies About 9/11 Endure 20 Years Later,” the ADL (Anti-Defamation League, USA) comes out to confront what they advertise in the title.
Alleged anti-Semitic cartoons created by the ADL to illustrate its “report”
What does the reader expect when faced with such a title? The presentation of evidence or at least arguments showing the inconsistency of such attempts to explain what happened at the World Trade Center with the two towers.
It is an extensive work, more than 40 thousand spaces structured in four chapters, so there is no excuse for lack of means, space or similar.
However, except for the initial observation that such "anti-Semitic and conspiracy theories*" reject "the widely accepted version of the facts", what we have is a long list of characters thus qualified (anti-Semitic and conspiracy theorists) with their respective points in denunciation of the events of September 11, 2001, the collapse in Manhattan and so on and so forth.
First of all, it is worth making a demarcation: 'the widely quoted version of the facts' is no guarantee of truth or solvency; on the contrary, we would say that in the face of complex and intricate issues, the most widely quoted version does not necessarily have to be the most truthful; in particular, such an appeal does not guarantee anything, on the contrary.
The ADL refutes little or nothing of what it exposes of the respective "anti-Semitic and conspiratorial" referents. As if an ADL statement were self-evident.
For example, it qualifies Gilad Atzmon, who does not even support the aforementioned theses "because he lacks knowledge in construction and aviation", according to his own statements; likewise this author declares to adhere to the explanation of the attack so criticized by ADL; to see what happened as a conspiracy, because of, Atzmon clarifies: “1) the assiduity with which the Israeli Mossad engages in false flag operations; 2) by the principle of cui bono, which clearly shows us that Israel has been the main beneficiary of what happened and 3) that the Anglo-American empire has been in charge of armed conflicts generated by Zionism for at least the last two decades.”
ADL does not even attempt to comment on such juicy and truthful considerations. Moreover, we do not visualize Atzmon's approach as either anti-Semitic or conspiratorial, but very much in line with reality.
Let us take another example, not of someone accused of being “anti-Semitic and conspiratorial” (which they all are), but of an element, presumably proof of the strong Israeli involvement in the events in New York.
'The 5 dancing or partying Israelis'. ADL typifies as conspiratorial and anti-Semitic every time one of its challenged mentions the episode of five young people who were photographing and partying in an open garage, with the collapse of one of the towers as a backdrop. Seen, with bewilderment and indignation, from a neighboring house, they were reported to the police who promptly located and arrested them.