Deception on Israel from the Wall Street Journal

American Thinker ^ | July 18, 2025 | Michael Berenhaus

[E. Pluribus Unum]

In “A Hebron ‘Emirate’ or a Colonial Deception?” (7/9/25), the Wall Street Journal and its editorial author Mahmood Jabari complete the amazing feat of distorting facts through an entire editorial, from the first words to the very last. It would seem that such an achievement would be impossible, but this op-ed accomplished it.

Let’s start from the title. Israel cannot possibly be considered “colonial” by any stretch of the imagination. The 3,000-year Jewish presence in Israel is documented in history books, substantiated by numerous archaeological findings, and described in the Bible. Jews are from Judea (as the word “Judea” implies), a land currently called the West Bank.

There was no significant dispute about Jewish indigeneity in Israel until about 80 years ago, coinciding (to no one’s surprise) with the rebirth of the Jewish state — Israel. Ironically, Arabs who accused Israelis of colonialism were themselves colonists. In the seventh century, Arabs migrated westward from the Arabian Peninsula (as the word “Arab” implies) and forcibly colonized a vast region, including the Eastern Mediterranean and all of North Africa. At one point, the Arab Conquest even conquered much of Europe but was eventually repelled.

Due to the Arab colonization, the Middle East became majority-Arab. The Jews, along with Persians, Kurds, Turks, and other ethnicities, were the groups who were colonized. In the twentieth century, after the demise of the Ottoman Empire, Israel and four neighboring Arab states emerged as sovereign products of decolonization. The Middle East is currently 99% Arab/Muslim and 1% Jewish.

In light of the above, there is no reason to characterize Arab colonizers as the victims of colonialism. Journalists who accuse Israel of colonialism are spreading lies to delegitimize and ultimately to destroy Israel. Propagandists like Jabari aim to rally world opinion to take down the one Jewish state...

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TOPICS: Editorial; Foreign Affairs; Hamas; Hezbollah; Iran; Israel; War on Terror; Yemen
KEYWORDS: bloggers; hamas; hezbollah; iran; lox; mahmoodjabari; media; msm; murdochantisemitism; murdochjournal; wsj; yemen

[Olog-hai]

WSJ goes even more USSR than when they published their “open borders amendment” screed. The USSR was the first to claim to be against “colonialism”, a trope that Obama endlessly repeated without being called on it for its Soviet origins.

[Wuli]

“Colonization” is a term used in attempts to describe it within a narrow period of time, ignoring the periods of colonization that shaped an area before the period for which someone its trying to describe matters - only then - as resulting from “colonization”. In reality prior to Islam few Arabs were in “Palestine”; they are among the most recent peoples there; behind Jews, and others.

[Bruce Campbells Chin]

Due to the Arab colonization, the Middle East became majority-Arab. The Jews, along with Persians, Kurds, Turks, and other ethnicities, were the groups who were colonized.

The part about the Turks certainly isn't accurate. The Turks were the other big "colonizers" of that region, migrating into the Middle Eastern, Caucasus, and Anatolian areas beginning in the 11th century -- well after the spread of Islam and the Arabs. The Turk-created and dominated Ottoman Empire was the one that dominated Arabs and others in the region, not the other way around.

[faithhopecharity]

The WSJ has traditionally published some reliable info but in the last few years there have been some real flaky pieces published in WSJ too...(diversity?)

we still look to WSJ for a good amount of correct information but we now have our wits on alert status to filter out the new BS content

[T-Bird45]

“In the twentieth century, after the demise of the Ottoman Empire, Israel and four neighboring Arab states emerged as sovereign products of decolonization.”

The writer really broad-brushed a complicated bit of history, IMO. I understand he’s not presenting the article as a deep, scholarly piece for peer review but doing it in just one sentence doesn’t seem appropriate, either.

[StAnDeliver]

Squeal like a pig.

[zeestephen]

The WSJ current deception about President Trump has also reached a new all time high.

WSJ - and their first female executive editor - have been alleging that Trump and Jeffrey Epstein were good friends for decades and still party together.

Fact - Trump evicted Epstein from his Mar-A-Lago apartment in the 1990s, after several complaints from female employees.