Message to the West - You’ve Been Conned! The Great Palestinian Con
- Gary Cohen
- Jan 5, 2025
- 15 min read
Over the past fifteen months, the Palestinians have emerged as the Western world’s cause celebre, while Israel, the only democracy (albeit deeply flawed, and getting worse under the current government), is now the world’s number one villain.
This dramatic shift hasn’t just happened. It’s the result of a carefully orchestrated campaign of deception, propaganda, and manipulation, decades in the making.
Frankly speaking, the West has been conned!
In an interview with the Dutch Newspaper "Trouw," published on March 31st 1977, Zuheir Mohsen, a leader in the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and head of its as-Sa'iqa faction, said the following, "The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality, today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians, and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct 'Palestinian people' to oppose Zionism."
A fictional narrative has taken hold, portraying the Palestinians as perpetual victims and Israel as a colonial project, occupier, and genocidal oppressor. It’s a compelling, yet manufactured narrative built on lies, meticulously crafted to capture the imagination and engage its target audience (the West), on an emotional level.
Behind this masterful manipulation, however, lies a network of bad actors, including Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, the PA, The UN and others, each with their own agenda, and scant concern for the welfare of ordinary Palestinians.
A Manufactured History
Let’s start with a brief history… All the information is verifiable and out there in the public domain, for those doubters.
Before 1948 and the establishment of the modern state of Israel, there was no “Palestinian” national identity. Arabs in Mandated Palestine refused to be called Palestinians. It was regarded an insult, as for them, the term Palestinian referred to Jews in the region.
The West bank was part of Jordan. Gaza was part of Egypt. Gazans were Egyptians. Arabs on the West Bank were Jordanians. No one complained. No one suggested these territories were “occupied.” In 1922, roughly 77% of Mandated Palestine land was hived off and gifted to the Hashemites for services rendered to the British during WW1, creating what is now Jordan.
Walid Shoebat was a former PLO militant who converted to Christianity became a critic of Islam and Palestinian nationalism. He famously wondered, “Why was it, that “on June 4th, 1967, I was a Jordanian and overnight I became a Palestinian.”
Today, no one will, nor should they argue that there is no such thing as the Palestinian people. But their history is not ancient. It doesn’t extend hundreds of years. Palestinian national identity was created as recently as1964 with the establishment of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO).
External Actors
The PLO wasn’t a grass roots movement, or even an exclusively, Arab initiative. It was the brainchild of the Soviet Union, which saw a “Palestinian” cause as a valuable tool that could help destabilize the Middle East and counter Western influence.
The KGB recruited a charismatic Egyptian, Yasser Arafat as the future leader. Apparently, his mother was form Jerusalem. The current President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas was also a KGB operative. The KGB trained PLO operatives in propaganda, psychological and guerrilla warfare, understanding that a well-crafted narrative could be as powerful as bullets and bombs. And so, it began…
Billions of dollars, time and resources have been invested in creating the modern-day Palestinian narrative. Despite saying “no” to peace and a state of their own, time after time,
1937 Peel Commission - No
1939 White Paper - No
1947 UN Partition Plan - No
1967 Arab League Summit - No Peace, No Recognition, No Negotiations
1977 Egyptian Peace Deal - No
2000 Camp David Summit - No
2001 Taba Summit - No
2008 Olmert Offer - No
2009 Bar Ilan Initiative No
2016 John Kerry Plan No
2020 “Deal of the Century” No
and rejecting offers which gave them close to everything they claim they want, the Palestinians have manged to convince the world that they are the eternal victims. They are the indigenous people of the region. They have a rich and ancient history. Their country was stolen from them. They are the sole legitimate claimant to what is today the state of Israel, and that the Jews have no connection to their (the Jews) historical homeland.
It’s a con! And as things stand today, a phenomenally successful one.
Yes, there are people today who identify as Palestinians. Like anyone else, they deserve to live in peace and security, which could have happened long ago, if their leaders and so-called “benefactors,” along with outside actors and enablers, were not sabotaging Palestinian interests on an ongoing basis.
Their agenda is far wider and more ambitious. They care little for the welfare of ordinary Palestinians. Destroying Israel is just the first step. As they demonize and delegitimize the Jewish State, so too they continue to undermine and weaken the West.
They may reject the West and its values, but they could certainly teach Western capitalists and entrepreneurs a thing or two about marketing, branding, and storytelling.
Their success is everyone’s, including ordinary Palestinians, downfall, and this is how it works.
Sympathise With the Perpetrators, Not the Victims
The events of October 7th, 2023 should have been a turning point. Hamas terrorists infiltrated Israeli communities, slaughtering over 1,200 people in the most brutal massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. Babies were butchered. Women were raped and mutilated. Families were tortured and burned alive. 251 hostages, including infants, children and Holocaust survivors were dragged into Gaza.
96 hostages still languish in Hamas terror tunnels and dungeons. Those fortunate enough to have been released after 55 terrible days in captivity, talk of torture, sexual assault, and starvation of hostages.
Initially, the world recoiled in horror. But within days, even hours, a toxic narrative began to emerge. The focus shifted from the victims to the “context,” the so-called “cycle of violence” and the plight of the Palestinians in Gaza.
The terrorists who perpetrated this massacre were swiftly recast as “freedom fighters” resisting "colonial oppression.” In this fabricated narrative, the “oppressed” Gazans were trapped in an “open air concentration camp.” They had the right to resist, “by any means necessary.”
Only Gaza was nothing like a concentration camp, far from it! Just watch one of the various Gaza tourism promotional videos pre-October 7th. Here is just one example, if you have any doubts.
The Hallowed Halls of Higher Education
University campuses throughout the West became epicentres of this moral inversion.
At Harvard, 34 student groups signed on to a statement that Israel was “entirely to blame” for the Hamas attack, nay massacre, penned by the Harvard, “Palestine Solidarity Committee” (PSC). The victims were to blame for their own slaughter.
In the UK anti-Semitic incidents recorded during the 2023-2024 school year increased by more than five times as the previous year. At the University of Leeds, the Jewish Chaplain, Rabbi Zacharia Deutsch, received death threats, including threats to rape and kill his wife and murder his children.
At Columbia University anti-Israel activists threatened Jewish and Israeli students, proudly declaring, “we are all Hamas.” One enthusiastic fellow with the now mandatory, Keffiyeh, screamed, "Remember the 7th of October! That will happen not 1 more time, not 5 five more times, not 10 more times, not 100 more times, not 1000 more times, but 10,000 times!" Not wanting to be outdone, another eager protester draped in a Palestinian flag, added, "Never forget the 7th of October. Are you ready? 7th of October is about to be every day. Every day, 7th of October is going to be every day for you."
As for the faculty and college authorities, well, rather than condemn the slaughter and the highly questionable student action, they joined their students, signing open letters in support, and even joining the protests. Joseph Massad, a tenured professor at Columbia, went one better, describing the actions of Hamas terrorists on October 7th, as "astonishing," "astounding," "awesome," and "incredible." Incredibly, Massad is now teaching a course on Zionism at the Ivy League school. No seriously, he is.
On the Streets
Street protests saw vituperative and blatantly anti-Semitic hate speech.
On October 9th, just two days after the greatest slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust, so called pro-Palestinian protesters gathered at the Sydney Opera House, then lit in blue and white in solidarity with the Israel victims of October 7th: chanting, “gas the Jews”
Chants like “globalise the intifada”, “there is only one solution, intifada revolution”, “we don’t want no two states, we want it all” and “by any means necessary”, echoed across the globe, as so called peace marches went into full anti-Israel and anti-Semitic mode, bought and paid for by the con artists and puppet masters pulling the strings of the useful idiots.
To add insult to injury, young women everywhere were refusing to condemn and even denied the torture, rape, and mutilation of young Israeli women (men were also raped), despite witness accounts and video evidence filmed by the terrorists themselves. To their shame, women’s rights groups also remained deafeningly silent.
Particularly egregious were the “sickos” tearing down posters of Israeli hostages, brutally kidnaped, including children and infants. Who does that? Clearly it has nothing to do with the welfare of ordinary Palestinians and everything to do with dehumanisation Israelis and Jews.
The Odd Couple - Radical Islam and the Progressive Left
While their ideologies are diametrically opposed in every way, this bizarre union has been decades in the making.
Progressives support, diversity and inclusivity. They champion LGBTQ+ rights, gender equality, women’s rights (maybe these days, not so much) free speech, and more. Radical Islam on the other hand, seeks theocratic dictatorship, enforces gender apartheid, openly persecutes LGBTQ+ individuals, and wants to destroy everything progressives advocate for.
Yet they find common ground on one key issue, their hatred for Israel, and let’s be honest, the Jews.
The Muslim Brotherhood, a key architect of this alliance, has spent decades embedding itself within Western institutions. Organizations like the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in the U.S. and the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB) have positioned themselves as civil rights organizations while quietly advancing anti-Israel and Islamist agendas.
Qatar, the primary financial backer of Hamas, has poured billions into Western universities and think tanks, funding programs that promote pro-Palestinian narratives while suppressing criticism of Islamist extremism.
Al Jazeera, Qatar’s state-funded media outlet, plays a pivotal role in shaping global opinion, presenting Hamas and Hezbollah as “resistance fighters” while demonizing Israel as a “white European colonial project”, despite more than half the Jewish population of Israel being of north African and Middle Eastern decent, many, refugees from Arab countries who ethnically cleansed their countries of Jews.
Words Matter
The narrative is clear and consistent, as it has been for decades. It’s packaged to appeal to progressives’ binary approach to the world. In this context, Palestinians are oppressed. Israel are the oppressors.
And keep it simple for your target audience. Provide a limited selection of buzzwords. Oh, and chants that rhyme. They love when they rhyme. Keep pushing them. Eventually they will become “common speak” accepted "wisdom", part of everyday language.
Next, exploit the concept of intersectionality. Huge effort has gone into adding the Palestinians to the extensive list of the globally “oppressed,” vying for the title of greatest victim. But really, it’s not about winning, it’s much more being in the game.
Palestinians were now an integral part of the global struggle against oppression.
When asked about Hamas and Hezbollah, influential philosopher and leading progressive Judith Butler, stated that “understanding Hamas/Hezbollah as social movements that are progressive, that are on the left, that are part of a global left, is extremely important.” I wonder if she/they views ISIS and Al Qaeda in the same vein. She also referred to the wholesale slaughter on October 7th as "an act of resistance".
Intersectionality has an added bonus. It has enabled our conmen and women to tap into latent anti-Semitism in the West, where now, the Jewish State and the Zionists (Jews) are guilty of so much more than just the Palestinians. Zionists are responsible for police brutality against people of colour in the US, for Islamophobia, for whitewashing, or rather “pinkwashing” its crimes, by being the only LGBTQ+ friendly country in the Middle East.
Not only should all oppressed communities vilify the Jewish State. They must also pander to terrorists and Islamic extremist, now rebranded as, “part of the left” and the global resistance against oppression. “Queers for Palestine” perhaps, best exemplify the irony.
The Mechanics of the Con - Propaganda, Academia, and Activism
It begins with language. Terms like "genocide," "apartheid," “white colonialists,” "ethnic cleansing" are deployed with little regard for their actual meaning, designed to evoke visceral reactions.
Gulf states and other bad actors have seeded anti-Israel rhetoric in Middle Eastern studies departments across the West. Professors teach students a revisionist history that erases Jewish indigeneity in the region and frames Israel as a “white colonialist” project. Impressionable students are encouraged to embrace the “gospel” without question, and equally discouraged from independent thought.
Activists pick up where academia leaves off, using social media to spread simplistic, emotionally charged narratives that reduce a complex conflict to the binary of oppressor and oppressed. Bots by the truckload are engaged to create a tsunami of viral posts carrying the message.
Further along the funnel (yes, this is digital marketing 101), now we activate the useful idiots. Ordinary people on the streets, are provided with a “worthy” providing them “purpose”, so they are ready to act, “by any means necessary.” Celebrities and influencers eagerly climb on board, keen to appease their followers, spread the word, and signal their virtue.
Job done!
Financing the Con - Sabotaging the West
The con involves a staggering amount of money.
According to a report by University World News, in December 2023, Harvard’s Centre for Middle Eastern Studies (CMES) department had received US$1.5 billion from foreign entities and governments over the previous three years.
In 2022, a report by the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI), an NGO based at Rutgers University, identified Qatar as the most significant foreign donor to American universities. From 2001 to 2021, US colleges received US$13 billion in funding from foreign sources, out of which Qatar donated $4.7 billion, including to institutions like Georgetown and Northwestern, where its funding has shaped curricula and research agendas.
Generous indeed. You can make your own conclusions.
NGOs
Meanwhile, so-called human rights organizations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, jumped on the bandwagon, eagerly promoting the scam in every which way. Today, they are central in amplifying false narratives and propaganda, lending key credibility, under the guise of “impartial” reporting, by “respected” human rights organisations.
Both have issued deeply flawed and questionable reports accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza. This, despite highly credible military experts declaring that Israel has set a new standard in efforts to minimise civilian casualties in urban warfare, achieving the lowest non-combatant to combatant casualty ratio in history.
Ignored by these bastions of truth and justice, a recent report revealed, Hamas inflated civilian casualty figures, reclassified combatants as civilians, lowered ages to increase, child casualties and included deaths from natural causes in its tally. Frankly, I could write an entire article on the hypocrisy, double standards, disingenuity, and bias of these hallowed institutions. Maybe I will. I have already written several on the UN, another key accomplice in this scam.
Watchdog to Lapdog - The Role of the Media
Western media outlets have been complicit. You can read more about the abject failure of the international media here.
In short, The BBC, once a paragon of journalistic integrity, has faced criticism for its refusal to label Hamas a terrorist organization. BBC Arabic has been caught misreporting events, and spreading anti-Israel propaganda, with 1,500 errors in the first four months alone, of the war in Gaza. There have multiple and serious breaches of BBC guidelines by BBC Arabic staff, with little or no consequences. Senior and high-profile BBC reporters are guilty of misreporting, false narratives, and blatant bias.
CNN, The New York Times and others, have come under fire for their reliance on unverified reports from Hamas-controlled sources. Al Jazeera and others have employed terrorists, both Hamas and PIJ operatives as “journalists,” presenting their reporting as factual, when it is anything but.
Most recently the reports on the fighting around Kamal Adwan hospital have been littered with false narratives and propaganda. Reports falsely claimed that the IDF was targeting patients and medical staff and that it set fire to the hospital. The evidence suggests otherwise.
Named after a terrorist from the Black September organisation, if you’re not familiar with “Black September,” it is the name given to a period when the Jordanians killed between 20,000 and 40,000 Palestinians in 1970/71; Kamal Adwan Hospital is a façade.
It was set up as a Hamas military/terror base, masquerading as a hospital. Many of the "staff" were in fact, Hamas and PIJ operatives. Patients were there to mask the terror operations and to use as cover when necessary. Ambulances were used to transport "fighters" and weapons, maybe even hostages. After fierce fighting in and around the hospital, over 240 terrorists surrendered or were apprehended, some hiding among medical staff and patients. The Director of the hospital Dr. Hussam Abu Safiyeh was also apprehended and is thought to be a senior Hamas officer who oversaw the façade.
Facts be damned, the international media has done its job, the false reporting and propaganda has been highly effective, so much so, that you now have a viral campaign of, well meaning, but somewhat gullible medical professionals all over the world, demanding the release of the fabled Director.
The Psychology of the Con & Why the West Has Fallen for It
The success of this decades-long campaign lies in its emotional appeal. By framing Palestinians as perpetual victims and Israelis as colonial oppressors, the narrative taps into Western guilt over historical injustices like slavery and colonialism, and of course, intersectionality.
The progressive left, eager to align itself with the “oppressed,” conveniently ignores the complexities of the conflict, while discounting the genocidal rhetoric and actions of terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah. Regrettably, none too few, ordinary well-meaning (or not) folks in the West, are easily seduced, as the con appeals to a desperate longing for meaning and purpose, which seems so absent for so many in Western society today.
The Palestinian con provides them with a cause, something to latch onto, something bigger than themselves. Not surprisingly, most of those marching on the streets, parroting the falsehood and chanting the chants, know little of the conflict, and understand even less. They are the perfect stooges.
Psychological manipulation is reinforced by a phenomenon known as the "halo effect," where the perceived moral high ground instils a sanctimonious blindness to the flaws of the argument. Immense peer pressure is exerted to accept absolutely. There is no room for doubt. One must not question.
Here, I am remined of the famous photograph of August Landmesser, refusing to give the Nazi salute like the rest of his colleagues in 1930s Germany. Despite immense peer pressure, and an atmosphere of fear and intimidation, he was strong enough to reject the poisonous trend and sheep mentality.
Once again, as far as the grifters are concerned, Job Done!
Dire Consequences
The consequences of this con are both immediate and far-reaching. Jew hatred and anti-Semitic incidents have skyrocketed.
In the UK, the Community Security Trust (CST) recorded 1,978 anti-Semitic cases in the first half of 2024, double from the previous year.
In France, there have been over 1,500 anti-Semitic acts in 2023, a threefold increase.
In the US, The ADL reported over 10,000 anti-Semitic incidents, from Oct 7, 2023, to Sept. 24, also a threefold increase on the previous year.
There are similar increases across the Western world.
If, as they say, Jews are the “canary in the coalmine,” Western society is in serious trouble!
The con artists exploiting the Palestinian cause, are long term planners. They have been at this for decades. Israel and the Jews are just the first step.
Frankly, all they had to do was to tap into the latent anti-Semitism which lurks throughout Europe and Western society. They say anti-Semitism is a light sleeper. Well now it’s very much awake, fed by a highly toxic yet addictive cocktail of traditional European/Christian anti-Semitism and a virulent Islamic Jew hatred.
A Crisis of Confidence
Fractured and unsure of itself, the West is facing an identity crisis, loss of direction, and in danger of losing its hard-won freedoms, either to the alliance of progressives and radical Islam, or to right wing populists, who also benefit.
This crisis of confidence has presented a relatively easy target and fertile host to the . The West is being conned, not just into romanticizing terrorists, but also demonizing their victims. This betrayal of truth and inversion of morality emboldens genocidal actors and has jeopardized Jews worldwide. But as we know, it never stops at the Jews!
It undermines the values and principles of Western society, which despite its numerous flaws, is far preferable to the alternatives. Democracy, human rights, and the incredible freedoms we enjoy in the West are at risk. If we are not diligent and prepared to fight for those freedoms, they are all too easily lost.
What to Do?
Nobody likes to admit they have been conned. It makes us question ourselves. But questioning ourselves is exactly what we need to do!
Reversing this tide will require a concerted effort in the West, to find our backbone, reconnect with our core values and way of life, recalibrate our moral compass, and reclaim the narrative.
Education is key. Universities must root out foreign influence and be far more selective on the funding they are prepared or allowed to accept, and for what purpose. Faculty must be held accountable for their behaviour on campus and in lecture halls. Our educational institutions must return to freedom of expression, to critical and independent thinking, along with frank and open debate.
Governments must regulate the flow of money from bad actors and states like Qatar. NGOs must account for their complicity in perpetuating falsehoods. Journalists must return to the principles of impartiality and rigor.
Importantly, individuals must arm themselves with facts, be wary of emotional manipulation, and recognise when they are being conned, admittedly not always an easy thing to do. The truth is not always convenient or easy to get to, especially these days, but it is essential for a healthy society.
It is time to expose and acknowledge the Palestinian con for what it is, and to hold those responsible, both the perpetrators and their enablers, to account. This is as much in the interests of ordinary Palestinians, as it is for Israel and the world at large.
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