This post is long overdue and LONG. Candidly, I’ve started quite a few and then hit delete. It’s been a struggle getting my mind around the horrific chaos in Israel and Gaza, playing out as Trump’s fascism rumbles in the background. Tangible threats to democracy and free speech, unleashed savagery, opportunists exploiting events to advance agendas. The phone alerts don’t stop. Looking for equivalency brings to mind only JFK’s assassination (I was a 10-year-old) and 9/11. I absorb as much as my brain can take. In this uncontrolled moment, it’s been difficult finding an entry point for a post. I finally settled on writing about a role for local journalism in this Dark Age. I’ll offer a playbook specifically for your local journalists, those who spend their days on local beats.
Why? The trigger point was this post by Ben Smith in Semafor and a click through to a Variety article chronicling the ferocious intimidation underway in Hollywood where rival Palestinian and Israeli camps try to cancel each other. Phoenix, Tucson and Flagstaff aren’t Hollywood, but these emotions are front burner here too, witness recent cancel events at both Arizona State and the University of Arizona. In Tucson, a reporter was arrested while covering an anti-Israel rally. Count free speech among the casualties of October 7.
A version of this is playing out among my friends and family. Their outrage is blinding. It’s created such a strong aversion to listening, there’s no hope of respectfully accepting a different perspective. So much anger, so much outrage, so much “I’m not gonna take this anymore!” Our capability to analyze and assess is at full stop.
It’s Presumptuous to Lecture Journalists
They don’t like it. So before going there, I went looking for answers. I’ve been reading about this… a lot. Every article I can get my hands on. I’ve jumped back into three books. Karen Armstrong’s Holy War: The Crusades and Their Impact on Today's World covers the roots of religious-driven violence in pursuit of salvation. Kai Bird’s The Outlier: The Unfinished Presidency of Jimmy Carter details the quicksand of brokering peace. Robert Conot’s Justice at Nuremberg explains how Hitler’s genocidal hatred was formulated thru misinformation and propaganda, codified as the law of the land, and then directed at the Jewish people. David Sanger’s epic obituary of Henry Kissinger reminded me of the almost hopeless complexity of civil wars and the game of thrones of realpolitik. Tom Friedman’s column suggesting where this ends was helpful in sourcing the many forces in conflict here.
From this research, I’ll offer nine takeaways. From these, I’ll suggest a role for journalists to frame the rapid and intense events, to report stories that will (hopefully) help individuals find common understanding and empathy upon which we can build a way up and out. I apologize in advance to those who, after reading this, will flood me with outrage. I’m not anti-Semitic, anti-Palestine or anti-Muslim, not pro-Israel nor pro-Palestine. Yes, I may be naïve and ignorant. I want peace. Here goes:
The Hamas attack of October 7 was hideous and evil and must be condemned. If its motivation was to illicit support for the Palestinian people and expose Israel as an apartheid actor who must be destroyed, it failed. Instead, the murder of Israeli civilians and taking of innocent hostages, brought vengeance, hatred, and further destruction to the people Hamas claims to represent.
The Israeli response has been disproportionate, ignoring U.S. advice to be cautious, exceeding the right of a nation to defend itself. Not only will it fail to “destroy Hamas,” it will instead perpetuate anti-Israel extremism. The death of thousands of innocent Gazans caught between Hamas’ tunnels and Israel’s bombardment will recruit jihadist fighters worldwide intent upon annihilating Israel.
The war theater is a hellscape of human rights violations, stunning even when viewed through the lens of ISIS, the atrocities of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, and Putin’s rape of Ukraine. The rule is… there are no rules. The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) has its talking points and Hamas has some too. Neither is credible. Both are trampling human rights.
The leadership of Israel and the Palestinian people hasn’t been leadership at all. It’s been a criminal enterprise, and it’s not changing. Benjamin Netanyahu, Hamas, and the Palestinian Authority have “served” only to keep themselves wealthy and in power. Bettering the lives of those they’re supposed to represent hasn’t fit into their ambitions and graft.
President Biden’s response is imperfect at best and negligent at worst. It mirrors over 75 years of failures by 13 U.S. presidents and hundreds of members of Congress. Navigating so many un-winnable Forever Wars has left American leadership exhausted and the American public “done.” More than once I’ve heard “let God sort it out.” Not happening. Past leadership produced no sustainable options for peace. Now It’s President Biden’s turn, an election year third rail.
The fingerprints of the broader Western and Arab worlds are all over this conflagration. Since Israel’s birth in 1948, both have failed to accommodate an independent Palestinian state while ensuring Israel’s right to exist in peace and safety. Many, many opportunities to find solutions were missed by intelligent, serious, and well-meaning individuals who just can’t square the politics.
U.S. demography and opinion reflects a growing population with Muslim roots and Middle East ties. Polls show their sympathies lie with the Palestinians. Their beliefs, many formed through personal experiences, have found favor among younger Americans schooled in our nation’s true history of colonialism, slavery, and genocide. U.S. political, business, religious, and academic elites (R’s and D’s) cynically blame this turnabout on a “woke” higher education system. Please. These “told you so” takes are shameful and exploitive. This is not the 1950’s, unless you live in Ron DeSantis’ Florida where the BS of American exceptionalism hides the truth.
Eighty-plus years have passed since the Holocaust. Its survivors are few, as are the American military veterans who liberated the concentration camps. Gone is a priceless direct connection and witness to genocide. They brought their voices to classrooms, news reports, and remembrance days. Reading about the Final Solution can’t match hearing first person stories from camp survivors and those who freed them. October 7 is yet another outcome of what happened in Europe from the 1920’s to 1948.
Keeping score by trying to quantify who suffered most is a painful and fruitless exercise. Who is to say which side has suffered more? Authentic recognition by Israel of the suffering and tremendous loss of life in Gaza, coupled with authentic recognition by supporters of Palestine of the suffering and tremendous loss of life in Israel must be communicated as a crucial first step toward a cease fire.
Thank You. Now What?
So, journalists, I know you’re looking at me and thinking, “Great. Thank you. But where the heck do I go with this, and why go anywhere? Arizonans worry about expensive living costs, our leaky border, bad schools, gun violence, water shortages and dysfunctional political leadership. Should anyone here care about this? Why not just leave it to network and international media coverage?”
Those are fair questions. The answer is straightforward. The intensity and unpredictability of this conflict, with no clear ending, is radioactive. We could suddenly find ourselves drawn into a shooting war throughout the Middle East, battling Iranians, Yemenis, and Russian-sponsored Syrians. When combined with the stalemate in Ukraine and the daily provocations from China… it feels like World War III. The immensity of these dangers do not allow them to be walled off in favor of a hyper-local focus on Arizona. So, let’s get to work.
As a journalist, cracking this story’s code puts you in a very unusual place. Instead of chasing new information – the scoops and fact-based reporting rewarded by your boss and by engaged readers/viewers – you go backward. You report with a focus on exposing and explaining the past as a way to empower readers and viewers to clearly navigate the present and find a way forward.
History, Context, Clarity
To form opinions based in fact, your readers and viewers need a deeper understanding of this very complex and ancient topic. They need History, Context, Clarity.
History
The 2023 Gazan War has roots in 1800 BCE, the Old Testament, and the creation of the three world faiths descending from Abraham: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Over many centuries, they’ve competed for, land, treasure, and dominance as the “true” or “chosen” way. Their conflicts are the most forever of forever wars with flashpoints across the centuries.
Fast forward from biblical times to the late 19th century and throughout 20th century, and you should explain the persecution of Jews by pogroms in Eastern Europe and the rise of Hitler, culminating in the Final Solution. Millions of Jews were killed simply for being Jews.
To make up for failing to stop the Holocaust, the U.S. and Britain helped create the state of Israel in 1948. The event was romanticized in the 1950’s and 1960’s in popular culture. The crimes committed against the Jewish people made them the underdogs. Arab initiated wars against Israel in 1967 and 1973 affirmed the West’s respect and sympathy for “Israel’s right to exist,” penance for allowing Hitler to murder millions.
In fact, Israel’s birth was flawed – some would say it was both clumsy and racist. Because, to make way for this new nation, new victims were created. Non-Jewish Arabs, Palestinians and Bedouins, were pushed out of ancestral homes. Both had claims to the land. But past atrocities gave favor to Israel. In response, some Palestinians became freedom fighters intent on annihilating Israel.
Many keystone events throughout the 1960’s, 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s led to the awfulness of now. They include those aforementioned wars between Israel and Egypt in 1967 and 1973; the murder of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics by the Palestinian’s Black September terror arm; failed attempts at treaties by Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton that resulted in more chaos including assassinations of an Egyptian President and an Israeli Prime Minister.
So much happened, this list is hopelessly incomplete. Each event demonstrates for your audiences that there are no White Hats. Arab and Israeli leadership practice a triage of dangerous choices. Therefore, reaching a peaceful settlement to this conflict is the most complex problem in history.
Context
As we watch the war on video screens, are saturated with very strategic propaganda by both Israel and Hamas, hear the protests from supporters of the combatants and those who only want peace, the immensity can overwhelm. Context sorts it out.
You get context by shrinking the big stuff into smaller packages through stories told from a first person point of view. As a bonus, context discredits monolithic labels like “Israel supporter” and “Palestinian supporter,” replacing them with real people who have much more nuanced beliefs. Three examples:
There are certainly members of local Jewish communities who love Israel, hate how it has handled the Palestinians, and whose hearts ache for the October 7 victims and those killed in the operations to eliminate Hamas. The same for Arab and Muslim communities who don’t support Hamas’ massacre but believe the Israeli response is extreme and criminal. They likely have traveled the region, have relatives and friends there, and want desperately for this to conclude with some sort of peace plan. How do they imagine that would happen?
There are many veterans of our War on Terror who, like the IDF troops in Gaza, experienced horrific street combat. Video of rocket attacks and smoke plumes does not capture the sacrificial grit of kicking down doors, stepping over booby traps, and having less than a second to determine if you’re shooting an enemy combatant or an unfortunate civilian. This isn’t a Call of Duty video game. Since Vietnam, I’ve listened to these brave veterans tell these stories, riveting real life that compels asking how it can all be stopped.
Aid workers don’t choose sides. They put on their Kevlar and risk everything to save lives. I’ve found these healthcare providers to be highly intelligent and very serious people who would prefer to be doing anything else. Yet, they step into these hellscapes because they are compelled to render assistance. You want to see heroes? Here they are. Hit the record button and just let them talk.
Clarity
Reporting this story requires filtering talking points, recognizing exploitive actors who use this horror to advance longstanding grievances, and separating “I believe” from “I know for a fact.” This is the heavy lift of journalism, because to get clarity you must challenge. When you challenge, you are often demonized, your access blocked, and your integrity swarmed by trolls. It’s not fun. It is vitally necessary.
As you interview, as you write, beware of amplifying talking points, simplified narratives, and outright lies. Verify what sources say and challenge them to stick to truth and facts. Lean on experts and be transparent about the organizations supporting them. Explain your reporting process to demonstrate your objective is reporting fact and truth. You will talk to almost anyone who offers insight.
A Through Line From October 7 to Trump
Looming over this darkness is an even darker figure, Donald Trump. Anxious to begin his White House revenge tour, the treasonous architect of January 6th is assembling his storm troopers and designing the methods by which, if elected, he’ll finish off our very weak democracy. Extreme hate for any person and any institution believed not to be MAGA enough drives Trump and his supporters. Nikki Haley and Chris Christie enabled MAGA from 2015 to 2020 and like the rest of traditional Republicans who tolerated Trump, realize they can’t stop his evil designs. The MAGA movement is very much like the rise of National Socialism in 1930’s Germany, built on racial and ethnic hatred, a belief that the country is under attack by the left, a demand for order through violence, a willingness to undermine democratic institutions to hold power.
Until October 7, Joe Biden had a chance to stop Trump. Now, his support of Israel has rocked an already Biden-skeptic Democratic party, who were unconvinced his age and energy could stop Trump. The divisions between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian factions now are metastasizing into youth and minority voters. Democrats not focused onthe Middle East tragedies, blame Biden for ridiculous grocery prices, stubbornly high gas prices, and border security. The administration’s touting of “Bidenomics” is tone deaf. All these issues together are an absolute Biden killer.
Biden is on the Jimmy Carter fast track to oblivion. Jimmy Carter gave inordinate attention to the Israel-Egypt peace process, missing the struggles of people at home caused by his domestic policies. He too had a frustrated voter base, hungover from the Vietnam and Nixon disasters, facing gasoline shortages, and not at all supportive of his human rights agenda. Reagan Republicans seized on the Iran Hostage Crisis and discouraged Democrats to paint Carter as ineffective and out-of-touch. He lost in a landslide.
So, Democrats are again faced with a problem from hell. To accept the deaths of innocents in Gaza is to be morally vacant. In response, blocking Biden’s re-election allows a morally vacant Trump to win the White House. Pro-Palestinian Democrats, do you really think Trump henchmen like Stephen Miller, and MAGA’s anti-Muslim base will fix this? Does your anger with Biden merit turning the country over to them?
I’ll close with this quote from former Joint Chief of Staff Chairman Mark Milley on Trump’s conduct if he returns: “He’ll start throwing people in jail, and I’d be on the top of the list.”
The list is growing longer by the day. You and I may be on it too.