A number of writers for the Associated Press are Hamas sympathizers. Their articles for news agencies are routinely blaring hysterical anti-Israel pieces.

The articles which they write make claims concerning the number of Palestinians killed in Gaza, crediting “hospital officials and witnesses.” Rarely, if ever, are names given. The “reporters” quote a number of miscellaneous organizations, again without attribution to individuals.

Sometimes names are given of “local” people who apparently are either working with terrorist organizations such as Hamas or support those entities.

The heart-wrenching stories of individuals who are named do not appear to be checked with anyone or to be vetted in any legitimate way.

This is not surprising.

The terrorist movement in the Middle East has been successful by not giving specific information, by inflating the number of civilian casualties and by failing or refusing to disavow hostages as an instrument of war. Many reporters and organizations such as the Associated Press leave their scruples at the door. Their obvious intent is to portray Israel as illegitimate, brutal, and unreasonable. The reporters do not note that terrorist organizations embed their agents among the population, who are highly supportive of the terrorists. Even in Berlin during World War II, there were almost 1,000 Jews secreted away and saved from the Nazis. That has not happened in Gaza. No Gaza citizen has reported the whereabouts of any hostage or has made any attempt to contact the Red Cross or any other international agency.

Reporters for organizations such as the Associated Press never tell the public that there would not be a war were it not for the terrorist campaign to destroy the Nation of Israel, to invade the country, and to seize hostages. Whatever true pain the people of Gaza are enduring is entirely due to the government they have chosen and which they have failed to repudiate. The culture of the people in Gaza is to destroy by the sword all those who do not accept that path of terror.

Hamas, and its supporters, including the newspaper journalists, win if the terrorists are not destroyed. Winning for Hamas is surviving. It does matter to Hamas or other terrorist organizations what the toll may be in human life, whether that be the people of Gaza or Israelis. What matters is that Hamas is able to fight another day, replenish its cadre of terrorists, and win support throughout the western world.

The newspaper and television accounts of the Arab-affiliated reporters is directed to stirring up worldwide resentment for Israel. 10 million people, consisting of Jews, Christians, and Arabs, among others, struggle to survive in a country half the size of New Jersey while surrounded by 500 million people in a land mass as large as the continental United States.

It should be shocking to Americans and Europeans to read coverage by Arab correspondents for supposed mainstream organizations who do not look at the facts fairly and instead seek to propagandize. Reuters and the British Press have fallen into line. Israel is bad because it seeks to survive, and Hamas affiliates are good because the “reporters” tell us that they are suffering. The reporters do not tell us that the people in Gaza are suffering because of their own decisions and the terror perpetrated by their much admired leaders. The people of Gaza do not take to the streets demanding return of the hostages, an end to the war, or the departure of Hamas from food distribution points. For many of those working in Gaza, it is impossible to tell the difference between a Hamas terrorist and a needy, hungry resident of Gaza. Frequently there is no distinction between terrorists and the residents of Gaza, and often they are one and the same.

Hamas has turned down every opportunity to make peace in the Middle East because they will not accept anything less than the opportunity to rebuild so that they can rape, torture, maim, and kill again.

Americans and Europeans seem to be easily duped by the lies that our enemies spread upon the waters. Is it because we want to believe what is untrue or are we just so naïve and uninformed that we no longer know the difference between the truth and falsehood?

Next time you read a headline or hear a story on TV about death and destruction caused by Israel, ask who is reporting, who is giving the information, and whether any even semi-independent entity has checked out that information. More often than not, UN reports and information perpetrated by the Red Cross are later contradicted by the truth. However, weeks or months later listeners have forgotten about the lie and just remember what they heard earlier. “Primacy” is a major tool of propagandists. Primacy means that what people hear first they remember the longest and the best. Legitimate nations, democracies, and speakers usually fail to use the tool of primacy, waiting instead until investigations are completed and the truth is revealed. Honest reporters and societies cannot always tell a story right away and with immediacy because the facts are not always obvious.

Proof that Muslim Arabs can live peacefully is Israel itself. Almost one-fifth of the population of Israel are Muslim Arabs. Approximately the same percentage serve in Israel’s parliament, the Knesset. They work in hospitals, are judges, and are fully integrated into society. Very few Israeli Arabs become terrorists, although unfortunately some do, and organized crime is a problem in the Arab towns and villages. Christian Arabs in Israel would be dead meat were it not for the Jewish community. However, Christian Arabs work side-by-side with Jews and Muslim Arabs.

The stark difference between Israel and the rest of the Arab world, which surrounds the tiny Jewish state, is that freedom, peace, and the free press civilizes. Unfortunately, those are qualities which do not exist in places like Gaza, never have and probably never will.

News coverage directed to delegitimatize Israel is powerful, fast, and generally proven to be untrue upon further exploration. The Associated Press has hired Hamas spokespersons, not legitimate reporters, to tell us about the Middle East and Gaza in particular.

The message: be careful what you read, particularly if it is from the Associated Press and a host of European news organizations such as Reuters and The Guardian. The New York Times has made some effort to clean up its act, but its Board is still dominated by those willing to believe anything that the “terrorist news” tells them. In particular, be careful of social media which is rife with conspiracy theories, bigotry, and the enemies of Western Civilization.

Clifford A. Rieders is a board-certified trial advocate in Williamsport.