Why Israel Matters to Americans

Summary

This video script delves into the complex relationship between the United States and Israel, exploring the cultural, political, and media narratives that have shaped American perceptions. It challenges the traditional portrayal of Israel as both a victim and victor, highlighting the shared history of settler colonialism and the erasure of the Palestinian narrative. The script calls for a reevaluation of this relationship, advocating for journalism that acknowledges the realities of Israeli occupation and the legitimate claims of Palestinians.

Takeaways

• 🇮🇱 Israel is portrayed as a victor and a pioneer, emphasizing its success and innovation despite historical challenges.
• 🌍 The script discusses the unique position of Israel in American consciousness and media, highlighting its cultural and political significance.
• 🤝 The bond between the U.S. and Israel is attributed to shared values and history, rather than just advocacy.
• 📚 The narrative of Israel in America has been influenced by an attempt to 'Americanize' the Israeli project, drawing parallels to American ideals.
• 🏹 The script suggests that the violence upholding Israel's existence is seen as necessary, mirroring the perception of American violence.
• 📰 U.S. news media coverage of Israel obscures the fact that both nations are settler colonial states built on displacement and ethnic cleansing.
• 📽️ The portrayal of Palestinians in U.S. media has been limited to roles as terrorists or victims, often erasing their history and claims to their homeland.
• 🎥 The cultural narrative about Israel has been shaped by media and political interests, often excluding the Palestinian perspective.
• 🗓️ The script reflects on the historical context of Israel's establishment and the subsequent erasure of Palestinians from the narrative.
• 🌐 The relationship between the U.S. and Israel is deeply rooted in cultural history, with Israel often being seen as a reflection of American values and ideals.
• 📖 The book 'Our American Israel' by Dr. Amy Kaplan is mentioned, which argues that Israel's image in America has been shaped by an Americanized narrative.

Q & A

What is the primary argument presented in the script about the relationship between the United States and Israel?

The script argues that the United States and Israel are tied together by their shared history and values as settler colonial states, both built on the displacement and ethnic cleansing of other peoples, and this shared narrative has been used to justify the violence necessary to protect their exceptional existence.

How does the script describe the portrayal of Israel in the American media?

The script describes the portrayal of Israel in the American media as one that obscures the realities of its settler colonial past and the displacement of Palestinians by emphasizing Israel's role as a beacon of democracy and a technological force, as well as a victim surrounded by enemies.

What is the term 'Nakba' as mentioned in the script?

The term 'Nakba' refers to the catastrophe that befell the Palestinian people during the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, which involved the displacement and loss of homes for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.

How does the script discuss the role of cultural narratives in shaping the American perception of Israel?

The script discusses that cultural narratives have played a significant role in shaping the American perception of Israel by presenting it as a reflection of American values and ideals, thus creating a sense of moral and political alignment between the two nations.

What does the script suggest about the necessity of violence in the existence of both the United States and Israel?

The script suggests that both the United States and Israel view violence as necessary to protect their exceptional existence from perceived threats, with the U.S. understanding and supporting the 'necessity' of Israel's violence.

How does the script address the issue of Palestinians being made invisible or portrayed in a particular way in the media?

The script addresses that Palestinians have been either made invisible or portrayed as terrorists or victims in the media, which serves to uphold the political status quo and the image of Israel, without acknowledging their legitimate claims to nationhood and self-determination.

What is the significance of the 1967 war mentioned in the script in terms of American views on Israel?

The 1967 war is significant as it marked a turning point in American views on Israel, with the U.S. beginning to see Israel as an invincible and admired military power, which influenced how the U.S. should align with and emulate Israel in terms of foreign policy.

What is the role of 'Exodus' as discussed in the script in shaping the American narrative about Israel?

The book and film 'Exodus' played a crucial role in shaping the American narrative about Israel by telling the story of Israel's founding and struggles in a way that resonated with American ideals of frontier settlement and resistance against oppression.

How does the script discuss the impact of 9/11 on the relationship between the United States and Israel?

The script discusses that post-9/11, there was an 'Israelization' of the United States, where the U.S. began to emulate Israel as a model for fighting its perceived worst nightmares, shifting from admiration to emulation in terms of security and military strategies.

What does the script suggest is necessary for good journalism about Israel?

The script suggests that good journalism about Israel should not separate the country from its position as an occupying state and its origins as a settler colonial project. It should also not ignore the realities of Palestinians' experiences and their claims to nationhood, resistance, and return.

How does the script call for a reimagining of the narrative surrounding Israel and the United States?

The script calls for a reimagining that involves deconstructing the myths that tie together Israeli and American exceptionalisms, challenging the moral framework that justifies the sustainment of both nations through violence and injustice.

Outlines

00:00

🌏 The Shared Values and Narratives of Israel and America

This paragraph discusses the deep-rooted connection between Israel and the United States, highlighting their shared values and the narrative that has been constructed around both nations. It emphasizes Israel's portrayal as a moral, democratic haven and a technological force, as well as the role of the media in obscuring the realities of displacement and ethnic cleansing that underpin both countries' histories as settler colonial states. The paragraph also touches on the Americanization of the Israeli project and the necessity of violence to protect their exceptional existence, drawing parallels with the United States' own history.

05:03

🔍 The Invisible Palestinians: A Biased Media Representation

The second paragraph delves into the media's role in shaping the perception of Palestinians, often presenting them as either terrorists or victims, which serves to maintain the political status quo and Israel's moral authority. It contrasts the historical narratives of the United States and Israel as settler colonial states, examining how both have been built on the displacement of indigenous peoples. The paragraph also explores the cultural history that has led to the unquestioned deference to Israel's moral power in American media and the challenges of presenting an alternative narrative that acknowledges Palestinian claims and history.

10:04

🎭 The Americanization of Israel and the Erasure of Palestinians

This section examines the process of Americanizing Israel in the eyes of the American public, from the early support of liberal and progressive media to the role of tourism and Hollywood in shaping perceptions. It discusses the critical moments that solidified Israel's image as a necessary and good nation, such as the release of the film 'Exodus' and the 1967 war. The paragraph also addresses the invisibility of Palestinians in the narrative, their portrayal as terrorists or victims, and the impact of Islamophobia and anti-Arab sentiments on the American understanding of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

15:06

📚 The Emulation of Israel in Post-9/11 America and the Need for Reimagined Journalism

The final paragraph reflects on the shift post-9/11, where the United States began to emulate Israel as a model for combating terrorism, leading to an Israelization of American foreign policy. It critiques the lack of legitimacy given to Palestinian narratives and the erasure of their claims to nationhood and self-determination. The paragraph calls for a reimagined approach to journalism that challenges the myths of Israeli and American exceptionalism, advocating for honest and principled reporting that acknowledges the realities of Israeli occupation and Palestinian experiences.

Keywords

💡Israel

Israel is a central subject in the video, depicted as both a victor and a haven with shared values and history with the United States. It is portrayed as a moral democracy and a technological force, yet also as a state built on the displacement of other peoples, reflecting the complex and often controversial narrative surrounding its existence and actions.

💡Settler Colonial States

The term 'settler colonial states' refers to nations established by settlers who displaced indigenous populations. In the video, both the United States and Israel are described as such, built on the displacement and ethnic cleansing of other peoples, highlighting a parallel that is often obscured in mainstream narratives.

💡Exceptionalism

Exceptionalism is the idea that a country has a unique mission to transform the world and is therefore not bound by the same rules as other nations. The video discusses how both the U.S. and Israel are seen as exceptional, justifying actions such as violence and occupation that protect their perceived unique existence.

💡Ethnic Cleansing

Ethnic cleansing refers to the forced removal of an ethnic group from a region. The script mentions this in the context of the founding of both the United States and Israel, suggesting that the establishment of these nations involved the displacement and suffering of indigenous or native populations.

💡Palestinians

Palestinians are the indigenous Arab population of the region now known as Israel and the Palestinian territories. The video discusses their erasure from the narrative of Israel's founding and their portrayal in U.S. media, often as either terrorists or victims, rather than as a people with legitimate claims to their homeland.

💡Americanization

Americanization in the video refers to the process by which the story of Israel was tailored to resonate with American values and ideals, such as pioneering and democracy. This was done to gain support and sympathy for Israel in the U.S., drawing parallels between the two nations' founding stories.

💡Decolonization

Decolonization is the process by which a country regains control from a colonial power. The video notes that both Israel and the U.S. celebrate their anti-colonial origins, using this shared narrative to strengthen the bond between the two nations and to justify their actions against indigenous populations.

💡Nakba

The Nakba, or 'catastrophe' in Arabic, refers to the displacement of Palestinians during the 1948 war that led to the establishment of Israel. The video suggests that the Nakba and the narratives surrounding it, such as apartheid and land theft, have been largely ignored or suppressed in U.S. media.

💡Apartheid

Apartheid is a policy or system of segregation and discrimination based on race. In the context of the video, it is used to describe the conditions and policies in Israel that affect Palestinians, suggesting a systemic inequality and injustice that is often overlooked in mainstream U.S. narratives.

💡Holocaust

The Holocaust is mentioned in the context of the historical trauma that informs the identity and policies of Israel, particularly in its defense and security strategies.

Highlights

Israel is portrayed as a victor, pioneer, and innovator, transforming a 'land without people' into a blossoming nation.

The narrative positions Israel as a moral democracy and a haven, drawing parallels with American values and history.

The U.S. and Israel are both settler colonial states built on displacement and ethnic cleansing, yet this is often obscured in media coverage.

The necessity of Israeli violence is understood and accepted by the U.S., mirroring its own justification for violence in protecting its exceptionalism.

The Americanization of the Israeli project has been a conscious effort to align it with American ideals and history.

U.S. media has played a role in the disappearance of Palestinians from the narrative, focusing instead on Israel's victimhood or victories.

The portrayal of Israel in U.S. media relies on the erasure of Palestinian history and their claims to land.

The cultural narrative about Israel in the U.S. has been shaped by a long history of representing it as tied to U.S. interests and values.

The presentation of Palestinians in U.S. media is often limited to stereotypes of terrorists or victims, ignoring their political claims and humanity.

The comparison between the U.S. and Israel as settler colonial states reveals a pattern in how indigenous populations are marginalized and erased from history.

The cultural history of Israel in the U.S. has been a mirror of American self-perception, influencing the public's view of Israel's necessity and goodness.

The aftermath of the Holocaust and the establishment of Israel were used to create a narrative of decolonization and nationalism that resonated with American liberals.

The media's role in shaping the American perception of Israel as a beacon of democracy and a technological force is examined.

The cultural myths and narratives that tie Israeli and American exceptionalisms need to be deconstructed for more accurate journalism.

The transcript calls for a reimagining of U.S. media's engagement with Israel, considering the humanity and rights of Palestinians.

The episode concludes with a call to action for viewers to help shape the future direction of the show, suggesting a commitment to addressing complex topics.

Transcripts

Israel is the victor.

It is a pioneer.

An innovator.

It took a land without a people

and made it blossom at the hands

of a people without a land.

Israel is necessary.

Israel is a haven.

It is moral.

It is a democracy.

Israel is...

Israel is...

America.

Israel occupies, no pun intended, a unique position

in the American news media landscape,

in its political landscape, and, more than

anywhere else, in the American consciousness

and imagination.

So let me be clear about what I believe.

I stand with Israel because of our shared values

which are so fundamental

to the founding of both our nations.

Advocacy itself is not the cause

of the bond between the United States and Israel.

Its cause is the shared history and common values

that draw America

and Israel

together.

There is an assumption of virtue, of a greater good, in America's official history

that has been consciously reproduced by Israel's advocates for a large part

of the last century in an attempt to

Americanize the Israeli project.

And so when the curtain is pulled away to reveal

the violence that upholds Israel's existence,

there is an understanding from the United States

of the "necessity" of this violence.

Because Israeli violence is necessary to protect Israel from threats to its exceptional existence.

Just as American violence is necessary to protect the United States

from threats to its exceptional existence.

How Israel is covered in the U.S. news and popular media serves to obscure the biggest thing

that ties the United States and Israel together.

They're both settler colonial states

which have been built on the displacement and ethnic cleansing

of other peoples.

And so to tell the story of Israel in U.S. news media

has required, for over seven decades,

the disappearance of Palestinians, their history

and their right to their homeland.

Because a cultural narrative about Israel

where Palestinians and their history

are front and center, would also then require that

we are honest about the violence

that belies every part of the myth

of American exceptionalism.

Welcome to “Backspace,” where we tell you how the story is told in the headlines, and then

we think about how we can tell it a little differently.

we think about how we can tell it a little differently.

In the seven decades since Israel was established

as a state in the British mandate of Palestine,

American engagement - ideological, political,

cultural - with the Jewish state has seen

different iterations.

But at its core, these iterations have relied on being a mirror of the American nation.

And in that mirroring, Israel has been assigned a duality,

as both the victim and victor.

Israel is a victor,

emerging from one of the cruelest crimes of the 20th century

as a successful, unified people

who have built a formidable nation despite thousands of years in a persecuted diaspora.

Modern Israel was born in the aftermath of the tragedy of the Holocaust.

It was created to fulfill the long-standing dream of the Jewish people to return to the

home of their biblical origins.

Israel is a beacon of democracy

in a sea of violence and hostility.

Israel is the most important technology force

in the world next to the United States.

Israel is a victim

surrounded by enemies who want to drive it into the sea.

Israel has a right to defend itself.

Israel is surrounded by countries

and entities that want to drive them into the sea.

Tensions are rising after the deadliest wave of

Palestinian terror attacks inside Israel in years.

It has the right to eliminate the cancer

that is threatening its very existence.

There are many reasons why the U.S. has this

distinctive relationship with Israel, but

I think the one that is most important

is actually cultural.

That is, we have a long history of representing Israel as being tied

to U.S. interests, but also to U.S. values, to religious values and democratic values.

Those representations have shaped most of us in one way or another

to think of Israel as more than just a strategic ally

or a good military partner.

For a cultural history that extolls shared values,

it must build those shared values in opposition to other ideas, other values,

and in the case of state and nationalist identities,

other people.

U.S. news and popular media have built a case for Israel

reliant on the disappearance of Palestinians and any claim they have to their land.

On the disappearance of their history of ethnic cleansing, the theft of their lands,

and their ever-expanding diaspora.

- It's a time of border trouble for Israel.

And another incident on the Jordanian frontier results in a roundup of Arab infiltrators,

action that follows an attempt by these illegal entrants into the country

to terrorize the Israeli populace living near this troubled line.

- The militant Arabs claimed a territorial right to Jerusalem and Palestine

that was a thousand years old.

But the determined leaders of Zionism pleaded a right that was even older.

- Four Israeli settlers gunned down yesterday in the West Bank

by Hamas, the Palestinian faction which opposes peace talks.

- To return to Palestine would be to displace Israel.

We want to think about how Palestinians are not just entirely invisible,

but made visible in a particular way, which is either as terrorist or as victims.

If we think about the comparison between the United States as a settler colonial state

and Israel as one, we can think about how people in the U.S. presented Native Americans.

They were presented as disappearing,

as not having political claims.

You know, often people were very sad about what had happened to them, but what to do?

Palestinians are not seen for a long time, but when they are seen,

starting in the 1980s more,

they begin to be seen as people who might have political claims,

but the story of them is

a story of people who are victims,

who have a sad story,

but Israel had to be Israel.

A counter-narrative to the American story about Israel that would be told from the

Palestinian vantage point would also indict the sustained American histories

and realities of violence against its Indigenous and Black populations.

Thus, Palestinians must be made into, at best,

pitiful victims caught as collateral

in Israel's attempt to defend itself,

and at worst,

as generation after generation of

“terrorist” threats.

- It doesn't really matter what the Palestinians do.

They can they can blow up

whomever they want to blow up,

they can elect Hamas

when given an opportunity to move forward,

they can take one chance after another

to recognize the state of Israel and their

right to exist, and they will not do it.

The last few times that

negotiations have taken place,

the emphasis has been on asserting that Israel

has been victimized by terrorist activities,

by Hamas,

by the failure of the Palestinians

to govern themselves.

In both representations of Palestinians,

the purpose of the state of Israel, the political status quo and its carefully curated image

remain intact.

Even when Israeli crimes and transgressions

beyond the expanding occupation, land theft

and apartheid are clear,

Israel's moral authority isn't questioned.

Questioning that moral authority is akin to

questioning the necessity of Israel.

So how did we get to this point,

where deference to Israel's moral power is reflexive and unquestioned,

a privilege not enjoyed by other countries

and nations?

It's too reductive to think that a pro-Israel lobby is alone

in building Israel in the American landscape, that they alone have had this power.

It's also not enough to look at U.S. foreign policy interests

in the region as the sole determinant of Israel's narrative power

in U.S. news and popular media.

Both those things are central, of course,

but what brings it all together

is the cultural history of Israel in the United States,

how Israel was understood

by Americans in the aftermath of the

Second World War,

and how much of that has been a mirroring of

how the United States sees itself.

There's a tendency to believe that the horrors of

the Holocaust are what led to American support

and sympathy for the establishment

of a Jewish state in Palestine.

But the late Dr. Amy Kaplan, in her 2018 book,

“Our American Israel,”

makes the argument that for Israel to be

embraced by Americans,

the idea of Israel had to be Americanized.

She writes, Israel's "proponents attributed

New World meanings, symbols, and mythologies

to a European movement to establish

a Jewish polity in the Arab Middle East.

They drew parallels between 'Mayflower' Pilgrims

and Jewish pioneers

in the familiar landscape of the

biblical Promised Land,

and they presented Zionist settlement as

enacting American ideas of modern development."

- In 1948, David Ben-Gurion,

the George Washington of Israel,

led his people and his country to independence.

And this mirroring, according to Kaplan, wasn't hard to do, especially when both shared a

belief in their exceptionalism as signified by how they celebrated their anti-colonial origins,

struggling against the British Empire, and distancing themselves from the

violent conquest at the center of their founding.

Just as Indigenous peoples are erased from the founding of an America free from

British colonizers,

Palestinians are mostly disappeared

in Israel's founding.

- At the founding of the Israeli state,

there was almost no recognition

of Palestinians at all.

Even the word Palestinian was often used

to refer to Palestinian Jews,

people who had moved there.

Palestinian Arabs were all but invisible.

They were talked about only as refugees.

The idea that they even represented a national

consciousness was nowhere to be seen.

So it was the Israelis who had the narrative of

decolonization and nationalism behind them.

While some major news media like "The New York Times"

were vehemently anti-Zionist,

the narrative of decolonization and nationalism was embraced by many non-Jewish American

liberals and progressives.

They saw a Jewish state as the perfect rebuke

to Nazi fascism, paralleling the official narrative of the

U.S.’ defeat of Nazi Germany.

They also saw Israel as an actualization of socialist ideals,

especially with the establishment of

kibbutzim and the Soviet Union’s

initial support for Israel.

“The Nation,” a left-leaning magazine,

was home to some of the biggest and most active support of Israel

and helped create the blueprint

for how the narrative of Israel would come to be embraced in the United States news media

for the coming decades, even if “The Nation” evolved its own position on Israel over time.

The Jewish Agency, founded by socialist Zionists

who helped organize and fund Jewish immigration

to Palestine,

gave “The Nation” a grant of $50,000 in 1947,

for the purposes of, “conducting research and publishing articles and reports and promoting

the Zionist cause among American liberals and foreign delegates to the United Nations.”

Emboldened by this, its longtime editor,

Freda Kirchwey, dedicated the pages of

“The Nation” and its entire publishing institution

to lobbying for the Zionist cause.

Between 1947 and 1954, the Nation Associates,

which was responsible for publishing the magazine, produced 12 widely distributed reports

campaigning for the Zionist cause.

Kirchwey even wrote a 133-page memorandum

for the UN on behalf of “The Nation,”

making the case for Israel

and tying the Arab Palestinians to the Nazis,

which became a mainstay of liberal arguments

against Palestinian self-determination,

thanks to her efforts.

She ultimately even took credit for

pushing the Truman administration into

recognizing the state of Israel.

The Jews organized a government over there,

and it's been a successful one ever since.

Now, Kirchwey is just one of several examples of American media liberals and progressives

who worked diligently and successfully alongside Zionist groups and leaders

to make Israel into a liberal project and ideal that looked like the United States.

And for every sentence dedicated to

what a beacon and necessity Israel was

as a pioneering nation of the so-called “new Jew,”

there were many more dedicated to trumpeting

the barbarity, jealousy and backwardness

of Arabs and Muslims.

This early period of creating myths around Israel isn't the only critical era in the cultural history

of Israel in the United States, but it is the bedrock of how Israel comes to be essentially

Americanized in the eyes of the public.

This is the time where there is buy-in from Americans from all different backgrounds

that yeah, maybe Israel is necessary.

Maybe Israel is good.

And following this period, we see tourism to the

"land of the Bible," which had existed

well before Israel's establishment,

flourish throughout the '50s and '60s,

as do epic biblical films and the

relationship between Hollywood and Israel itself.

The '60s, in particular, are bookended by

two critical moments that guaranteed

Israel's positioning in both an American consensus

about its necessity and goodness,

and in the U.S.' foreign policy future:

the release of the 1960 film "Exodus,"

which was supported by the Israeli government

and based on the novel by Leon Uris,

and Israel’s quick victory over its neighbors

in the war of June 1967.

I think the book "Exodus" resonated differently for different audiences.

I think for non-Jewish people, the book, but especially the movie,

tells the story of Israel in an American register.

It tells the story of Israel as the settling of a frontier.

1967 is an incredible turning point in Americans’ views of Israel.

Almost every newspaper or magazine has some

joke or comment about how maybe we need

to bring Moshe Dayan over

to end the Vietnam War.

Israel takes on this new vision or new version of a

myth in the U.S. as an invincible

and admired military power.

So that image that emerges after 1967,

that the U.S. should be both

with Israel and like Israel

in terms of foreign policy, I think is one of the structuring realities to this day

in how many people think about Israel.

Palestinians during these years more or less disappear from having any claim,

only significantly reappearing as so-called

“terrorists,” with high-profile acts of violence

like the 1972 Munich massacre

of 11 Israeli coaches and athletes,

and then as victims in 1982,

with the Israeli-backed massacre of Palestinian refugees

in the Sabra and Shatila camps of Lebanon.

And in "Our American Israel,”

Dr. Amy Kaplan also and most emphatically

notes that while we saw decades of Israel being Americanized for an American audience,

following 9/11, we see an Israelization of the United States.

We see a shift from the long-held, “admiration of Israel as a mirror of America's idealized self-image,

to emulation of Israel as a model for fighting America's worst nightmares.”

It may take a century,

two centuries,

three centuries,

but we will exterminate you.

Now, while there have been moments of sympathetic visibility of Palestinians

in U.S. news media,

there hasn't been a staking of the legitimacy of Palestinian claims.

Israel, as it exists, always requires that

its legitimacy, existence and moral authority be upheld.

So a Palestinian narrative about the Nakba, about

apartheid, about the refugees and land theft,

hasn't even been allowed to be written

in American cultural history.

And that's been for many reasons,

like Israel as an arm of American empire,

anti-Muslim and Arab sentiments as fundamental to Israel's case for legitimacy,

evangelical eschatology that's anti-Semitic

and, of course, the fact that the majority of American Jews fall into the category of whiteness.

So how can journalists in U.S. news media engage with Israel and its role in U.S. history

in a way that is honest and adheres to the

basic principles of journalism,

like punching up and never down?

like punching up and never down?

Well, it involves a lot of reimagining of how we've embraced Israel

and disappeared Palestinians for seven decades

based on whose humanity we've determined is worth more because of how it looks like ours.

I think there is a question of why it has been so hard for Americans to imagine

that Palestinians have an absolute right to self-determination.

That Palestinians, as much as anybody else, have

the right to represent themselves,

to have some kind of sovereign control

over their lives.

It is a bit shocking to me that it's been so hard

for Americans to understand that.

But I think it's a combination of Islamophobia - even though many Palestinians are Christian,

many are Muslim

and that Islamophobia gets in the way.

In the pilot episode of “Backspace,” back in May 2021,

we broke down the sort of language

that contemporary news media uses in coverage

of Israeli occupation and apartheid,

language that obfuscates not only the daily crimes

committed by the Israeli state, but also the

realities that Palestinians have experienced

since 1948.

But language is easier to revisit and rectify than an entire moral framework built on

not only shared values,

but ideations about a shared so-called Judeo-Christian heritage,

about shared myths of revolution,

about shared pioneering and

shared exceptionalism.

Good journalism about Israel

that does what it's supposed to do

doesn't separate Israel from its position

as an occupying state and from its

origins as a European settler colonial project

born out of a European movement

led by European Jews.

Good journalism about Israel

doesn't ignore what sustains Israel's existence

as it is:

the apartheid,

Gaza as an open-air prison,

the ever-expanding settlements,

the checkpoints,

the land theft,

the incarcerations and

killings of Palestinian youth,

in addition to so much else

that is meant to ensure that Palestinians

never can have self-determination.

Good journalism doesn't ignore Palestinians and doesn't question or belittle their claims to

nationhood, resistance and return when it does offer them

some semblance of humanity and coverage.

But for that kind of good journalism to happen, it needs to untangle and deconstruct

the myths that tie together Israeli and American exceptionalisms.

Otherwise, our journalism guarantees

that those myths, which are used to justify the cruelties that sustain

both Israel and the United States, are strengthened.

both Israel and the United States, are strengthened.

And thus concludes another episode

of “Backspace.”

You guys are really the real ones for watching.

So, listen, we could really use your input.

We're getting ready for another season

of “Backspace.”

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that are covered in U.S. news media

that need that "Backspace" treatment?

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