Anti-Semitism, Misinformation, And The
Whitewashing Of The Palestinian Leadership By
Francisco J. Gil-White Introduction Until last
spring I held what people call a pro-Palestinian
position. Like many intellectuals I had adopted
Arafat´s cause, taking what I believed was a
principled stand that blamed Israel for the
conflict in the Middle East, and especially for
the suffering of Palestinians. Because I come from
a Catholic background, and because there is a long
and violent history of Catholic anti-Semitism
(though not in my family), I always made clear
that I supported the right of the State of Israel
to exist, and that my position had nothing to do
with animosity against Jews. In April 2002, I
noticed that media coverage of the fighting in
Jenin was manifestly one-sided (against Israel). I
began to look into this and also into the history
of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This work
made me realize that my sympathy for Mr. Arafat
was based on false information. Here is what I
used to believe about the Middle East (all of
these beliefs are quite popular): 1) That the
media (at least the American media) has a
uniformly pro-Israel bias. 2) That Arafat´s Fatah
is a secular nationalist organization trying to
combat the fundamentalist influences of Hamas,
Islamic Jihad and other Islamist terrorists. 3)
That Palestinian terrorism is not anti-Semitic but
aims at national liberation. 4) That the
Palestinian leadership has attempted to implement
the Oslo accords in good faith but the Israelis
have sabotaged the process. 5) That Israel is a
state overwhelmingly made up of European and
American Jews who moved into Palestine and
displaced Middle Eastern natives. 6) That
historically Jews were well-treated in the Arab
world, and that current Arab hostility therefore
stems from the current conflict. Now, having spent
time studying the historical record, I believe I
was wrong about all six points. In this essay I
will explain why I changed my mind and provide
some of the source material I have studied. I will
also look at examples of media misinformation that
earlier led me to mistaken conclusions..."""

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