28 Comments
User's avatar
Lee Fang's avatar

If you're there, it is a very good idea to listen and ask questions with your hosts, and also to spend as much time as possible far away from your host org and seek dissenting viewpoints and other perspectives. I spent a week in Israel with a Israeli gov-aligned group, several days with independent journalists, and another 4 days traveling the West Bank with an organization that documents human rights abuses. The differences I saw were night and day. I highly recommend that if you're there, seek as many alternative viewpoints as possible and do not just stay with a single agenda-driven journalist junket.

Expand full comment
Rav Arora's avatar

I was part of an official journalistic delegation in Israel, but then went to the West Bank after to get the other side. You’re right, very different perspectives.

Expand full comment
PabloRG's avatar

Go to Gaza not to the West Bank. And please, don't play the "impartial" guy role. There is no need for that when genocide happens (70 to 180.000 deaths, to the very least, is genocide. An objective truth, no matter where you go or what you say.

Expand full comment
The Radical Individualist's avatar

That's a wide range of possible deaths. That indicates it's based on very little solid information. As near as I can tell, the death counts are supplied by Hamas. How much should we trust them? They precipitated this war in the first place. Hamas is a terrorist group. Period.

I notice that the death counts are always a count of Gazans, but there is no breakout of Gazan Hamas fighters who were killed. Given that killing Hamas soldiers is Israel's objective, I'd have to believe a lot of the soldiers have been killed. Apparently those soldiers are included in the death count of Gazans. I have yet to see a death count, even a phony one, that breaks out the death toll of the terroist soldiers.

Expand full comment
Neural Foundry's avatar

Admirable restraint in an age that rewards performative certainty. The bit about seekign dissenting voices instead of staying with one delegaton really matters becuase most journalists return with whichever narrative their hosts fed them. I did similar groundwork before writing about supply chain issues during covid and realized most takes were just recycled talking points. The Israel-Palestine issue magnifies this a hundredfold since both sides have institutional machinery designed to capture narratives.

Expand full comment
Alamo Dude's avatar

If only more journalists had your independent critical thinking! Looking forwards to your evaluation of a 3,000 year old conllict.

Expand full comment
I. P.'s avatar

I will wait. I have learned to trust you.

Expand full comment
Ximena Duval's avatar

What do you need to find out to determine if it’s ok to kill large numbers of children and other noncombatants? It’s not a complex issue.

Expand full comment
Tarun's avatar

The pros and cons of using kids for target practice!

Expand full comment
Unapologetically Me's avatar

Simple. Right?

Expand full comment
Money Mike's avatar

Good work, not rushing out pulling a Greta T. blabbering nonsense. People have been "stealing the land" ever since there was land to steal. The entire Middle east was stolen in the past from Christians and Jews. In the modern day, Jews got a TINY LITTLE SLICE of it back, and the Fake Media and IDS (Israel Derangement Syndrome) on the left AND right can't stop running their mouths about how horrible Israel is for trying to protect themselves. Speaking of which, the Native Americans also STOLE THE LAND from the animals and wiped them out and cooked everything big and tasty into extinction. They did 100x the damage to the ecology of North/South America than did the Europeans. Think twice before you talk about people who stole the land

Expand full comment
Tarun's avatar

I know eh.. Genocide is fine! Just don't genocide us!!

Expand full comment
Inter-Dimensional Dissentery's avatar

They didn’t get it back. It was never theirs. Ashkenazis converted in the 8th century you tit

Expand full comment
Money Mike's avatar

8th Century? Is that when certain people were rampaging and stealing the land from Spain to the entire Middle East, They even tried to steal all of Europe? You ever gonna cry about that, or is it just tiny little Israel that makes you cry??

Expand full comment
Inter-Dimensional Dissentery's avatar

Yup! Thats the same time

Expand full comment
Roger's avatar

Watch this. It will clarify alot about the Israeli war for you

https://rumble.com/v55cnrt-oct-7-was-an-inside-job-the-documentary.html

Expand full comment
sharonbrink7@gmail.com's avatar

read history, it is very clear

Expand full comment
Jason's avatar

You spelled “journalistic indoctrination” wrong.

Expand full comment
Dana Ullman, MPH, CCH's avatar

Why do you (or why does anyone) feel the need to comment upon every single political or health or whatever issue that is asked by others? If you're not an expert on this or that subject, who cares what you think about it. It is that simple.

That said, I wanted to ask you if you think that Pluto is a planet (and yes, I expect you to go there to make a proper determination).

Ah see, you CAN say NO. THIS ISN'T MY CIRCUS AND THIS ISN'T MY MONKEE!

Expand full comment
Unapologetically Me's avatar

😂

Good one eh? 😉

Expand full comment
tifa's avatar

*you during world war 2* "Let's go to Germany and learn from the N*azis doing the h*locaust cus i'm not sufficiently educated on the issue yayyyy I'm unbiased and smart!"

Expand full comment
Abdul Majid's avatar

Rav its not rocket science if you don't know the difference between right and wrong already it says a lot - 1 question for you - who is paying for this trip? - that answer will say it all especially if you accepted it as well - they've been buying influencers to subvert reality from the start. Its bigger than you, buying tic toc, using the puppet of a president to get it was just a part of this strategy - you can't displace a people steal their land and commit a genocide over DECADES (and amazingly you still don't have a view!) without subverting reality through censorship and the use of easily bought influencers - my advice to you is don't be one of them - your credibility like Petersons (who allegedly read the The Gulag Archipelago!!) won't recover infact its already tarnished by the fact that you don't already know or the fact that you even accepted this offer from them to go to Israel. If you've got any moral integrity go to see the devastation in Gaza, the daily killings in the West Bank, the stealing/bulldozing of homes (at gunpoint) to form the illegal settlements, the broken bones of the children in the child prisons and the sites of the known mass graves. If they don't let you go... wake up, its never too late just don't be another sell-out OR if you are afraid of being cancelled just stick to pointing out the atrocities of big pharma.

Expand full comment
Daniela's avatar

Love your work Rav! Wish more people would be like these parents, instead of inciting hate against each other. https://www.theparentscircle.org/en/homepage-en/

Expand full comment
BMeowDawg's avatar

Read Max Blumenthal’s stunning book Goliath. No Israeli tour will present that picture, told through 100 vignettes, real Israelis and Palestinians. Unforgettable.

Expand full comment
PabloRG's avatar

If you want to learn better go to Gaza instead of Israel.

Expand full comment