Liar, liar pants on fire

“A liar begins with making falsehood appear like truth and ends with making truth itself appear like falsehood.”

It’s not only the quantity of lies which seem to be increasing on an almost daily basis but also the number of those who are prepared to swallow them that makes one wonder what sort of a perverted society is being created.This quote succinctly sums up the situation we find ourselves in these days.

The question that then needs to be asked is whether we go with the flow or make a stand against the falsehoods being manufactured, disseminated and recycled.

Untruths come packaged in a variety of disguises. Some are so blatant that it does not take a genius to discern their meaning. Others are dressed up as ostensibly reasonable arguments while a third category mix myths, conspiracies and fiction to produce a litany of lies.

At the end of the day all it takes for these lies to go viral and acquire legitimacy is a desire to do nothing and in many cases to actively promote them.

All of these traits and scenarios have been on display this week and it is therefore vitally important to name and shame those involved.

Remaining silent is a default option which is no longer viable. That has been tried in the past and has resulted in disastrous consequences for humanity in general and Jews in particular. Ignoring Nazi lies was a failure and those who counselled keeping a low profile over the situation of Soviet-era Jews were thankfully ignored.

Likewise today, groups and individuals excusing or exalting those who manufacture and circulate mistruths are willing partners in the age-old technique of delegitimizing Jews and the Jewish State.

One of the most successful actors in this area is our fake “peace partners” whose repertoire of deceiving and fooling all and sundry has reached world-class proportions.

In their latest attempt to sell a tainted bill of goods Abbas wrote to the Biden Administration announcing that Hamas has committed to “peaceful resistance” and accepted the mythical concept of a “two-State solution.” Despite Hamas subsequently contradicting this snake oil charm offensive there were plenty of politicians in the USA, Europe and elsewhere who swallowed the lies hook, line and sinker.

With knee jerk speed the usual suspects fell over themselves to laud the purveyors of untruths and for good measure joined with “progressives” in demanding that the USA resume boycotting goods from Judea, Samaria, the Golan and half of Jerusalem. Americans for Peace Now and J.Street joined by several groups funded by the NIF  demonstrated yet again that they can always be relied upon to join hands with groups which seek to demonize Israel.

In order to be a successful liar, one has to remember previous lies so that gullible people can continue to be fooled. Thankfully the Palestinian Authority finds it very difficult to do so because the irresistible urge to target Israel overwhelms any semblance of logical advocacy. Thus, thanks to PMW, the real agenda is revealed as can be seen here:  https://palwatch.org/page/18636

Two State solution? Living in peace and democracy with Israel? Terror rejected? The answers should be clear yet there are still those who promote Abbas and his gang as doves of peace.

Take the Corona vaccine fiasco as another example of how lies are used to fuel incitement and hate. Having successfully conned the media and politicians into believing that Israel was denying Palestinian Arabs vaccines lo and behold when they did receive supplies what happened? Instead of the jabs being first given to front line health workers the PA arranged for certain officials, soccer players and the Jordanian Royal Court to jump the line. While the corona vaccine libel went viral this example of corrupt practices raised nary a ripple in the blogosphere.

Ramallah routinely lies about paying incarcerated terrorists and their families, pensions for slaying Israelis. Unfortunately for the liars, the PLO revealed that in fact US$15 million per month is being paid in terror stipends. Have you heard any howls of outrage from the foreign ministries of those countries which continue to donate towards the “cash strapped” PA and its associated entities?

This brings us to the latest “whoppers” perpetrated in the name of justice, human rights and international accountability.

Demonstrating its commitment to demonizing Israel at every available opportunity and confident that once again it will get a nod and a wink from the UN, the PA lodged war crimes accusations at the Hague with the International Criminal Court. True to form and in line with current international hypocrisy the ICC has now determined that Israel must be put in the dock. One does not need to be a genius to predict that this pending kangaroo court will have no trouble in finding Israel guilty. There is no need to wait with bated breath for a verdict because the terror-supporting PA and its friends in Tehran and Gaza are already anticipating and celebrating the outcome.

Shamefully the New Zealand Superannuation Fund has also predetermined that Israel is guilty of illegal activity and has withdrawn investments in five Israeli Banks. Citing UN Resolution 2334 (kindly co-sponsored by NZ) NZSF pontificated that funding construction of “illegal” settlements in the “occupied Palestinian territories” among other specious excuses obliged the Fund to disinvest and boycott.

Interestingly the NZSF has not found it expeditious to disinvest from other countries whose records of human rights abuses and flouting of international law are far more heinous and proven. Highlighting glaring double standards and a futile attempt at avoiding initial publicity the NZSF proceeded to appoint itself as moral guardians by stating “we will be paying close attention to any future reports from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights about the culpability of other Israeli companies in illegal settlement construction. This decision is made in the spirit of the New Zealand Government’s policy towards the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.”

What arrogance, hypocrisy and blatant double standards.

Deafening silence from the corridors of power merely confirms this.

If anyone’s pants should be on fire it is these liars.

Michael Kuttner is a Jewish New Zealander who for many years was actively involved with various communal organisations connected to Judaism and Israel. He now lives in Israel and is J-Wire’s correspondent in the region.