Israel and "Pallywood"
Landes is a strong supporter of the state of Israel, and a vigorous critic of what he considers anti-Israel propaganda in professedly objective news reports, and from supposedly impartial neutral bodies.
In particular, he denounces the "mainstream" press for uncritically repeating stories from Palestinian sources about civilian casualties from Israeli actions, even when these stories may be exaggerated, distorted, or false. Though he has never denied that Palestinian civilians have been killed and injured in Israeli operations, he has cited evidence that these casualties have been overstated for propaganda purposes.
He has coined the term "Pallywood" for the practice of filming staged funerals, casualties, and other evidence against Israel for the benefit of European and American news organizations.
He maintains two personal Web sites: "The Augean Stables" and "The Second Draft". "The Augean Stables" is a blog on anti-Israel media problems and related issues. (The title refers to the Fifth Labor of Hercules: clearing the immense manure piles in the stables of King Augeas.)
"The Second Draft" is exclusively devoted to anti-Israel propaganda in the news, with essays, articles, and archived video. Landes has been particularly concerned with the alleged shooting of Muhammad al-Durrah by Israeli troops, and the inflammatory reporting of the incident by French television.
Landes has also helped establish Understanding the Goldstone report, a multi-authored Website devoted to exposing and refuting alleged inaccuracies in the Goldstone report on Israel's operations in the Gaza Strip.
Landes now blogs at the Daily Telegraph, where his main theme is that the same people - journalists, academics, and politicians - who have misinformed the West on the dangers of Islam have also misinformed them on the nature of the Arab-Israeli conflict, and that mistaking these conflicts puts modern democratic culture at risk.
Read more about this topic: Richard Landes
Famous quotes containing the words israel and and/or israel:
“Do you not see that so long as society says woman has not brains enough to be a doctor, lawyer or minister, but has plenty to be a teacher, every man of you who condescends to teach, tacitly admits before all Israel and the sun that he has no more brains than a woman?”
—Susan B. Anthony (1820–1906)
“Let Israel hope in the Lord, for with the Lord there is mercy,
And with him is plenteous redemption. And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.”
—Bible: Hebrew Psalm CXXX (l. CXXX, 7–8)