It was most likely Mark Twain who said, “A lie can travel halfway around the world before the truth can get its boots on.” And Mark Twain did not own a Twitter account (although there is one such account, but it’s dedicated to his quotes).
A case in point: early Tuesday morning, an anarchist X user named Danny Gallant posted a tweet claiming:
“Orit Strook came today to greet the servicewomen of Hadassah. Before that, she made sure that the room was cleared of all Arabs. God forbid, the purity of the race must not be harmed.
“Prof. Eitan Galon put the racist Strook in her place and with inspiring determination told her the following: “There are also Arabs here, both Arab women and Jews, and you should leave because your racist speech has no place here, take your legs and leave… Hadassah has been established By Henrietta Szold based on equality and love and you are racist and hateful.”
“Struck left the place in shame. The racist Messianists are beginning to realize that they are dealing with the wrong people.”
אורית סטרוק באה לברך היום את בנות השירות של הדסה. לפני כן דאגה שהחדר ינוקה מערבים וערביות. חס וחלילה שלא ייפגע טוהר הגזע.
פרופ’ איתן גלון העמיד את סטרוק הגזענית על מקומה ובנחישות מעוררת השראה אמר לה את הדברים הבאים: “יש פה גם ערבים, גם ערביות וגם יהודים ואת צריכה ללכת כי לדיבור… pic.twitter.com/052U2S1AIt— Danny Gallant דני גלנט (@RedRevDanny) September 4, 2023
With our rich experience of reading online messages, we here at The Jewish Press were wondering, is it at all possible that not all of the above is true? So, we checked.
First, most of the video covers the negotiations between security personnel, one of them an Arab, politely requesting the professor and his two cohorts, one of whom was blowing her whistle throughout the event, to leave. But one thing is clear: Minister Strook did not leave the place in shame. It’s right there, in the video.
Minister Strook’s spokesman told The Jewish Press that after Galon’s outburst, the meeting proceeded calmly, and the minister had warm exchanges with the audience, Jews and Arabs alike. And, no, she did not order the Arabs out of the room.
“You can see from the photos how the Arab women participated and even clapped, smiled, and got up to talk to the minister in a very respectful way,” the spokesman continued.
“There wasn’t even one Arab man or woman who got up and left. The cute guy who was photographed with the minister is Muhammad. He talked to the minister in a respectful and excited tone and asked for a selfie with her.”
Anarchists in Israel employ various tactics, including:
1. Direct action: anarchists often engage in acts of civil disobedience, such as blocking roads, staging sit-ins, and participating in protests.
2. Nonviolent resistance: many anarchists emphasize nonviolence as a means to draw attention to their cause and maintain the moral high ground.
3. International solidarity: anarchist demonstrators frequently welcome international activists who come to Israel to show support and raise awareness about the issues they are protesting.
Now we can add another tactic to this list:
4. Lie, Lie, Lie: spreading blatant lies, fake news, and distorted reports.
