What’s behind Washington Post hit piece on EI?

Ali Abunimah Media Watch 28 January 2024

Last Sunday, The Washington Post published its hit piece targeting The Electronic Intifada and other independent media that have consistently challenged and exposed Israel’s lies about the events of 7 October.

Written by Elizabeth Dwoskin, a Nakba denier who has expressed far-right Zionist views, the Post article falsely characterizes and misquotes The Electronic Intifada’s reporting, and attempts to smear us by association with Holocaust deniers and conspiracy theorists.

On The Electronic Intifada livestream on 24 January, I discussed some of the most egregious lies in Dwoskin’s piece and showed how she relied on the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI), which she describes benignly as “a nonprofit tracking disinformation.”

You can watch the segment in the video above.

In fact, NCRI is led by individuals closely tied to various Israel lobby groups with a long history of defaming Palestinians and advocates for their rights as “anti-Semites,” including the Anti-Defamation League.

NCRI co-founder Joel Finkelstein was a research fellow for the Anti-Defamation League and NCRI and the ADL have established a formal “partnership.”

A senior executive of NCRI is the former chief executive of the Community Security Trust, an Israel lobby group which plays a similar role in the UK to that of the ADL in North America.

During the segment, I explain how the Community Security Trust supplied the British government with fabricated quotes from Sheikh Raed Salah, a Palestinian leader with Israeli citizenship.

The group pressured the government to stop Salah entering the UK.

Following this pressure, the British government did detain and try to deport Salah in 2011 when he came to Britain for a speaking tour, a decision that a UK court overturned after agreeing that the quotes attributed to Salah were false.

Richard Benson, who headed the Community Security Trust at the time, is now the Europe director for NCRI, and remains on CST’s advisory board.

The founders of NCRI, Joel Finkelstein and Adam Sohn, regularly promote the idea that opposing Israel’s racist state ideology Zionism is the same as anti-Semitism.

In her scurrilous piece, Dwoskin failed to disclose any of these pro-Israel connections, and failed to point to any errors in The Electronic Intifada’s reporting, instead misquoting and distorting our work.

Hit piece

Dwoskin contacted The Electronic Intifada seeking comment for her article in early January. I replied at the time and posted the exchange on Twitter and it quickly went viral.

Max Blumenthal and Aaron Maté, editors of the The Grayzone, which is also smeared by the Post for its reporting on 7 October, responded to an email from Dwoskin by calling her up during a live broadcast and challenging her on her pro-Israel views.
The Grayzone has published its own response to Dwoskin’s article.

Censorship by stealth

What could be the motivation for Dwoskin’s hit piece?

In the segment, I suggest that it is an effort to police and deter reporting about 7 October, by smearing anyone who questions Israel’s official narrative as a Jew hater.

It is also a specific attempt to discredit independent publications including The Electronic Intifada that have reached vast audiences since 7 October with accurate, groundbreaking reporting that mainstream US media refuse to do.

This includes reporting on how Israeli commanders ordered their forces to fire on their own people on 7 October, and debunking Israel’s claims of systematic mass rape by Palestinian fighters.

The Washington Post’s attack on The Electronic Intifada indicates the frustration Israel and its cheerleaders in the US media feel because they have been unsuccessful in imposing Israel’s version of events.

With First Amendment protections for free speech still strong in the United States, direct censorship of publications is not an option.

So there has emerged a nexus among governments, think tanks funded by governments and arms manufacturers, and big tech companies aiming to control what we can all say online.

The Washington Post article is therefore likely to be used by Israel lobby groups to pressure big tech firms to suppress the reach of journalists who challenge Israel’s lies, under the banner of fighting supposed “disinformation.”

This, however, will not stop us from doing our work and pursuing the truth.

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Richard Melosh replied on

I appreciate the accurate reporting being done by electronic intifada throughout the years. It’s really bothersome though that Israel keeps up the myth that criticizing the Israeli govt is antisemitism. There is more criticism of the govt within Israel than is allowed outside. Their propaganda ministry led by mark regev and eyeliner levy have been working overtime along with the various lobbying groups. All we want is justice and peace in this area. Thank you

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Adrienne Weller replied on

Thank you for this article. My local paper, The Seattle Times, reprinted the WP article. Sunday, 1/28, the ST printed an OpEd by Jason Willick that begins with the lie that Hamas "seized power" in 2006 and I wrote a letter to the editor, but I doubt they'll print it. The ST campaigns for a free press but has no compunction about printing lies. FYI here is the letter I wrote -
Today's OpEd (1/28/24) by Jason Willick begins with a lie that Hamas "seized power" in the 2006 election. Hamas won a fair election. The National Democratic Institute (NDI) in partnership with The Carter Center reported "a professional and impartial performance of election officials". Willick is blatantly hostile to Palestinians, and as an anti-Zionist Jew it is disturbing to see his opinions presented as reasonable. I agree that the two-state solution is not the answer, but not for Willick's reasons. A one state solution is needed, a secular, socialist multi-ethnic state in Palestine/Israel with equal rights for all, including women, LGBTQ+ people, and all religions.
Sincerely,
Adrienne Weller

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Kate replied on

To be sure I've read some "trutherism" regarding Netanyahu deliberately allowing Oct. 7 to happen to bolster his political career or something. Here is one that comes pretty close anyway - https://www.nytimes.com/2023/1... (headline "‘Buying Quiet’: Inside the Israeli Plan That Propped Up Hamas"). I don't think I read these on EI

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David replied on

Dwoskin I worked very hard and very carefully on Oct 7 “trutherism” but does she explain the Hannibal Directive "kidnapping must be stopped by all means, even at the price of striking and harming our own forces"

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Ali Abunimah

Co-founder of The Electronic Intifada and author of The Battle for Justice in Palestine, now out from Haymarket Books.

Also wrote One Country: A Bold-Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse. Opinions are mine alone.