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JM 📎🟦🪬🥯🥡🥠🦀
JM 📎🟦🪬🥯🥡🥠🦀

⌨️ Yehuda Meitav 🧵

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Yehuda Meitav On the weekend, while walking my dog with a dear neighbor, she began asking me about the war in the Middle East. Her words echoed what so many hear every day: "genocide, starvation, bombing." I asked her gently, "What are you basing this on?" She answered, "The news, of course. I don't understand why Israel is doing this." That was the moment I smiled-not because of her confusion, but because confusion is the first step toward seeking truth. If the story doesn't make sense, maybe it's because you're only being shown half of it. So I asked her: What exactly do you see on the news? She said, "The photos of starving children, of families wasting away."
And here was the problem: she didn't know those images had already been debunked. She didn't know that the "starving child" had been photographed years ago in Yemen. She didn't know that some of the footage showed children who were sick, not starved, their images twisted into propaganda. She didn't know that behind- the-scenes shots had caught cameramen staging photos, instructing people where to sit, when to look hungry, when to cry. And she certainly didn't know that, after those images went viral, the very same outlets later admitted their mistake-in small print, buried under the headlines, where no one would ever see the correction. I showed her these exposures. At first she was shocked, then she asked the right question: "If there really is mass starvation in Gaza, why do they need fake photos?"
That was the turning point. Because once you start asking why lies are needed, you begin to see the whole machinery of manipulation. And yet the battle is harder still. Because when we show the opposite-the endless convoys of food trucks entering Gaza, the warehouses stocked with supplies-people refuse to believe it. They say, "Those are fake." So the truth itself is dismissed as propaganda, while lies are consumed as fact. We are fighting not only a war of rockets, but a war of narratives-and it is almost impossible to show truth when the world prefers a fake story. Then we spoke of what the news no longer shows: October 7. She had never even heard of it. She asked, "But what did the Palestinians ever do to the Jews?" And when I told her, she doubted: "But they say that was fake too." I had no choice but to show her my own photos from that day in Israel. Only then did she believe.
Her shock grew deeper when she learned the hostages are still not home. She had no idea- they had disappeared from the headlines, buried like October 7 itself. She also knew nothing of the history: that Gaza was once part of Egypt, Judea and Samaria once part of Jordan, Jordan once called Palestine. She didn't know that Arab nations closed their doors to Gazans, refusing them citizenship because they know the violence they export. She didn't know that Israel had already given up land-the entire Sinai-for peace. And she certainly didn't know that the slogan "From the river to the sea" means not peace, but a land with no Jews at all. To widen the frame, I asked her: why do you never hear about these? - In Sudan, over a million displaced, tens of thousands killed in a war nobody protests. - In Yemen, starvation and bombings that dwarf Gaza.
- In Syria, half a million lives lost, minorities like the Druze crushed. - In the Congo, millions dead in silence. - Across Africa and Asia, Christians slaughtered and churches burned. Her eyes widened. "So why are they only talking about Gaza? Why are they lying? Why is Israel singled out?" And finally, the question that pierced her heart: "Is it because you're Jewish?" She was horrified to learn there are only 15 million Jews in the world, and just 100,000 in Australia. Horrified, because the media made her believe Jews were an all-powerful empire. Horrified, because she suddenly saw the disproportionate hatred for what it is: anti-Semitism dressed up as "concern for humanity." As our walk ended, she said softly, "Thank you.
I've been meaning to ask you for a long time, but I was afraid to offend you because you're my neighbor, and you're Jewish. But I really needed to know." I told her: This is exactly what we need-more honest conversations. Not anger, not shouting, not slogans. Grassroots conversations. Talk to each other. Ask. Learn. Do your own research. And when you meet someone who shows hatred toward Jews or Israel, don't scream back. Ask them why. Challenge them with the same questions you asked me today. This gave me hope. Because when ordinary people begin asking why instead of swallowing headlines, lies begin to crumble. So I leave you with this: Don't stop at the surface. Don't stop at the slogans. Ask the questions the news doesn't want you to ask. Seek the whole picture. Only then will truth reveal itself.

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