One of the mental health steps I’ve taken this year is trying my very best to limit myself to checking (not posting) social media once a day and only checking the news two or three times a day. I don’t always succeed, but when I do, I feel much better. There are times, though, that even when I only check the news or social media infrequently, I still feel like giving up.
The lies, slander, and completely inverted world make me think there’s no hope of teaching the truth. Today’s world is a ship with a gaping hole, and we are only given a small paper cup to dish out the water. No matter how many books the pro-Israel side writes, columns they publish, and social media videos Zionists post, their voices get drowned out by the lies.
It seems we are living in an inverted world (it’s a Hebrew phrase that sounds better in the original) where true is false, and false is true, and no one can tell the difference anymore. The search for facts doesn’t seem to interest many people, and when presented with facts that contradict one’s viewpoint, it is easily dismissed as “fake news.” Narrative has overtaken reality and has become the top priority for too many people.
The rejection of truth in favor of a conformed viewpoint has spread to all events, current and past. Whether the discussion centers around the Russian-Ukrainian war, gun control, or the debate over pro-life and pro-choice positions, people tend to lean toward their narrative, irrespective of which way the truth points.
Nowhere is this truer than in regard to the Israeli-Arab conflict and the current war against Hamas in Gaza.
At the recent Toronto International Film Festival, organizers faced a backlash over perceived antisemitism in its handling of the documentary The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue. Initially invited as part of the festival, the film details a father’s heroic rescue during the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre of Jews.
Yet it was pulled in August due to “copyright concerns” over Hamas footage and fears of protests, sparking accusations of censoring Jewish voices. Only a world that has turned over backward could people claim to be concerned for a terrorist organization’s copyright. After public outcry, including an open letter from over 1,000 industry leaders, the film festival reinstated the move.
Just when it seemed normality had returned, the September 10 premiere drew protests outside the festival, with pro-Palestinian demonstrators clashing with supporters amid heightened security. Film festival CEO Cameron Bailey apologized to the Jewish community for the “hurt” caused in this environment of rising antisemitism.
The Toronto film festival episode came against the backdrop of accusations of Israel creating a famine in Gaza. On August 22, 2025, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) officially confirmed famine for the first time in Gaza’s history, classifying the Gaza Governorate as IPC Phase 5 (Catastrophe).
They claimed the famine was a man-made crisis, triggered by 22 months of conflict, aid blockades, and infrastructure collapse. They said the famine affects over 500,000 people with extreme food deprivation and acute malnutrition.
It didn’t take long for claims of Gaza being categorized as a famine zone to be debunked. Independent analyses found no evidence supporting IPC’s Phase 5 classification. Food supply data shows sufficient aid deliveries, with malnutrition rates below famine thresholds.
Local reports indicate stable markets, contradicting claims of widespread starvation. The famine lie was able to spread and be swallowed by so many people because it fit into an anti-Israel narrative that people had already accepted as true.
Famine claims debunked to no avail
The examples of the Toronto Film Festival and false claims of famine were nothing in comparison to Palestinians and their supporters labeling the October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel as legitimate resistance against occupation. They argued that Israel caused decades of displacement, blockades, and systemic oppression, therefore justifying the murder, rape, and kidnappings of innocent Israelis and foreign nationals.
The truth is that the attacks were terrorism and pure evil. The idea that this is even a debate reflects the deep-rooted tensions between narrative and truth, with each side framing the conflict through contrasting and biased lenses. Only a backward world could tolerate large groups of people justifying the rape and murder of children and innocent people.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a realm where the language of human rights abuses loses all significance. Well-established phrases undergo such drastic shifts in meaning that they end up devoid of any real substance.
The same phrases and terminology used in other conflicts and events that all share common meaning, metrics, and qualifications become skewed to fit preconceived narratives when used in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
As far back as 1975, we find a significant misuse of terminology changed just to fit the anti-Israel narrative. The United Nations General Assembly passed Resolution 3379, declaring Zionism a form of racism and racial discrimination. This controversial resolution, adopted by a vote of 72 to 35, equated the Jewish nationalist movement, which advocates for a Jewish homeland in Israel, with racial supremacy.
This resolution unfairly targeted Israel, ignoring its historical context as a refuge for Jews in the post-Holocaust era. Even with critics claiming Israel’s practices against Palestinians were discriminatory, it was absurd to call the Zionist movement racist. Realigning with truth, the resolution was revoked in 1991 by General Assembly Resolution 46/86.
In apartheid South Africa, it would have been ludicrous to imagine giving blacks the right to vote, or to imagine that there would be black judges, parliamentarians, top doctors, teachers, and academics. The term “apartheid” doesn’t describe some practices critics find discriminatory; it’s an all-or-nothing system of racial discrimination. That definition is used throughout the world and in all conflicts. However, when it comes to Israel, a different definition is used and Israel is deemed an “apartheid state.”
Two other terms whose meanings are inverted when applied to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are “ethnic cleansing” and “genocide.” These are both accusations levied against Israel that have no basis in reality.
Palestinian population numbers have increased more than sixfold since Israel began governing Palestinian-controlled areas. Israel takes more steps than any previous army to avoid non-combatant deaths in war.
Until the world begins to prioritize truth over narrative, and apply the same fact-based analysis to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that is applied to all other conflicts, Israel will be forced to live in a backward world of lies and slander. Zionists must do what they can to point out the truth, but they should have no illusions of the challenges they face.
The writer is a Zionist educator at institutions around the world. His book, Zionism Today, was published recently.