HR Book Review: The Anti-Israel Agenda by Alex Ryvchin

In his first full length book, Director of Public Affairs at the Council of Australian Jewry, and member of the Jewish Diplomatic Corps, Alex Ryvchin, provides a valuable insight into the international diplomatic and social campaign against Israel.

Full disclosure: Alex Ryvchin is an old personal friend, having made aliya to Israel about the same time as I did. Alex and his wife eventually returned to Australia to start their family, but each of us remained engaged with advocacy and communication on the topic of Israel.

Overview

Each chapter in Ryvchin’s seminal work is written by a different contributor, and those readers already involved with Israel advocacy will recognize many names: like Gerald Steinberg of NGO Monitor, Hillel Neuer of UN Watch, Alan Dershowitz and others. For those not already engaged, Ryvchin gives the reader a window into the (small but passionate) world of people and organizations working tirelessly to communicate on Israel’s behalf.

From our perspective at HonestReporting, the topics covered are especially relevant: Ryvchin and his contributing authors expose the sources of ammunition and background “information” that form the basis of much of the biased media that we at HR police every day.

Origins of anti-Israel advocacy

While advocacy against Israel (and for that matter against Jews) is nothing new, the book traces the modern incarnation of anti-Israel advocacy to the, “NGO Forum” at the “United Nations World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance” held in Durban, South Africa in 2001: an event touched on by several of the book’s contributors. The name of the conference is ironic in retrospect, as it contained not only much anti-Israel rhetoric, but a plethora of unashamed anti-Jewish imagery, speech and even occasional thuggery.

More importantly, the “Durban Conference” (as it is commonly referred to) set out a strategy for attacking Israel on social, diplomatic and economic fronts, as by that time it had become generally understood that conventional military action, and even the less formal violence of terrorism, were not likely to succeed in ending Israel’s existence.

The topics

The fodder for anti-Israel advocacy comes from a variety of sources, a phenomenon that naturally lends itself to the structure of Ryvchin’s book. The various chapters include discussion of NGOs, advocacy on campus, activities in the United Nations, social media, and the complex relationship between Israel and the world’s churches. Ryvchin contributes a chapter of his own: on the role of local governments via a case study of an Australian town. In an increasingly common phenomenon, the town went beyond its mandate to care for local issues and instead inserted itself into the moray of international affairs.

Framing the debate

Native peoples have been routinely dispossessed and dispersed into slavery or exile…never has such a people retained a distinct nationhood…and ultimately returned to rebuilt its national home.

From this simple statement, Ryvchin sets the the anchor for the entire modern Jewish story: who and what Jews truly are, and what Israel truly is.

So why is this not the common understanding of Israel as a nation?

Biased and unscientific reports that take on a “halo” effect of undeserved credibility simply from their association with specific organizations, emotionally seductive (but factually lacking) speeches on campus, and even monumental efforts involving millions of accounts on social media all help to comprise the “Anti-Israel Agenda” that Ryvchin describes.

The idea of Jews and Israelis as occupiers, colonists, oppressors or even modern day “Nazis,” has required monumental input and resources from every discipline, skill-set, and organization described in Ryvchin’s various chapters, as well as others. This massive effort alone should be seen as a testament to just how absurd those anti-Israel ideas truly are.

How it’s done

To their credit, Ryvchin’s contributing authors do not merely point out issues, but explore them with skill and specificity. Why is a particular report unreliable? What is the specific shortcoming of a particular message? Who are the the players involved and exactly in what ways are they non-credible? A careful reader will come away not merely with a set of frustrations and complaints, but a depth of understanding about how the post-Durban world actually functions.

One typical example is the highly biased Goldstone Report on the 2008-9 war in and around Gaza. Another example was the UN Human Rights Council report after the conflict in 2014.  Ryvchin includes the complete testimony to the United Nations by military expert Colonel (ret.) Richard Kemp, after the following conflict in 2014, in which Kemp carefully breaks down both the associated UN report itself, and his own firsthand observations of the conflict.

For example, in contradiction to the UN’s report, Kemp pointed out:

In addition to the IDF’s policy of minimizing civilian casualties during this conflict, other Israeli actions significantly contributed to saving the lives of Gaza civilians…I witnessed what I believe to be a series of war crimes and planned war crimes by Hamas and other Gaza groups…if you genuinely want to contribute to peace and to improve human rights for the people of Gaza and of Israel then you must have the courage to reject the UN Human Rights Council’s persistent and discriminatory anti-Israel program.

Kemp’s testimony ties in with statements by Richard Goldstone, the lead author of the post-2009 report, who later rejected its conclusions and cynical uses by the UN. A separate chapter on the United Nations fills in context on how such a report could possibly be produced and used in the first place: by a body supposedly as credible and impartial as the United Nations.

In this manner, the reader comes to understand not only what the anti-Israel agenda is but how it actually works.

The Media

Of particular interest to HonestReporting is the media. Jerusalem Post reporter Seth J. Frantzman describes a journalistic “obsession” with Israel: a disproportionate focus on this one topic beyond most other topics in the world. Certainly there are some journalists who truly hate Israelis, or in some cases even Jews altogether: for example, Frantzman discusses CNN’s Diana Magnay, who referred to the Israeli victims of Hamas rockets in Sderot as “scum.” Yet there is a more insidious and subtle problem we face in the media: prevailing literature, biased reports, agenda driven narratives and even prior journalism form a basis for future journalism. Even the most well meaning journalists must learn about a topic somehow: skewed basic understandings inform not only news articles, but the basic comprehension and opinions of the journalists themselves.

The HonestReporting challenge

At HonestReporting we sometimes face off against reporters with a hateful or angry agenda. Yet we also find ourselves up against well meaning journalists who simply understand the Middle East incorrectly, due to all the reasons Ryvchin explores. Biased, misleading and sometimes outright untrue information provides the factual basis for news reports and the emotional mindset of news reporters. Of course the final step in this chain of information is the newsreader: for most people, the news is their window to the world.

All is not lost

While a reading of Ryvchin’s book might leave a reader with a reasonable sense of urgency and frustration, it should also inspire a feeling of hope. The methods of the anti-Israel agenda are well understood, and organizations like HonestReporting use this knowledge every day to counter it. We see frequent corrections and improvements in the news, just as the various contributors to Ryvchin’s book see constant progress in their own respective fields.

The Anti-Israel Agenda by Alex Ryvchin is an excellent read: whether you work in the field of professional Israel advocacy or merely wish to know more about it, it is an insightful tool, a meaningful body of knowledge, and an enjoyable learning experience. I very much recommend it.

The Anti-Israel Agenda is published by Gefen Publishing and can be obtained in bookstores, or on Amazon.com.