The global surge of antisemitism that followed the Hamas-led Palestinian Arab terror attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, was no spontaneous outburst of hate.
According to JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin, it’s clear that it was not only the product of years of preparation by ideologues recycling Soviet-era propaganda aimed at delegitimizing Israel and Jewish rights. It was also the direct result of funding and planning carried out by Islamists in Qatar and other Middle Eastern sources, as well as U.N. agencies, NGOs, non-profits and charities who were behind this effort.
He’s joined in this week’s episode of “Think Twice” by Canadian political consultant Warren Kinsella, author of the new book The Hidden Hand: The Information War and the Rise of Antisemitic Propaganda.
Kinsella asserts that the best way to understand the insidious effort to rationalize and/or defend Hamas—and demonize the Jewish state and its supporters—is to think of it as the moral equivalent of a political campaign. He argues that this is a story that the mainstream media has ignored as it became the willing stenographer for antisemitic terrorists.
The author points out that this plot to destroy Israel is a highly sophisticated plan that relies heavily on social-media algorithms aimed especially at influencing young people. Kinsella, who isn’t Jewish, believes it’s imperative to recognize the threat Islamist hate poses to the West, not just Israel.
He worries that even though the State of Israel has a great story to tell and has the truth on its side, its leaders are failing to get its message across to those being indoctrinated in the antisemitic narrative in the West. He believes that it is imperative for Jerusalem to start taking this threat seriously. Equally important, he thinks that all people of goodwill must push back against the blood libels being spread about Jews in the media.
Kinsella believes what’s at stake is not just Israel and the Jewish people, but democracy and civilization itself.
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