A psychological phenomenon known as the “illusory truth effect” dictates that statements are more readily believed when they are repeated many times, regardless of their credibility. Remarkably, this applies even if the subjects know the statements to be false. Such repetition, which has long been the mainstay of the propaganda techniques beloved by demagogues, has become common among our supposedly credible broadcasters, leaders and diplomats, who repeat lies invented by Hamas and even base policy upon them.
Such repetition has made the falsehoods deeply familiar to the public. Number of Palestinians dead? 30,000. Proportion of women and children among the casualties? 70 per cent. Adjective to describe Israel’s campaign in Gaza? Disproportionate. Crime of which Israel is guilty? Genocide. But none of this is true.
Rather than swallowing such easily disprovable claims, it would be better to rely upon the verifiable evidence of experts like John Spencer, the world’s foremost authority on urban warfare. Chair of urban warfare studies at the United State Military Academy at West Point, he served as an infantryman for 25 years, including two combat tours in Iraq. Israel, he says, protects civilians more effectively than anyone else in the history of warfare.
Spencer recently visited Israel and Gaza – including the IDF’s civilian harm mitigation unit – to observe the facts on the ground. “All available evidence shows that Israel has followed the laws of war, legal obligations, best practices in civilian harm mitigation and still found a way to reduce civilian casualties to historically low levels,” he concluded.
https://news.yahoo.com/israel-fighting-humane-ground-war-173133199.html
