Israel suffered a P.R. disaster in the last Gaza attack: western media for once openly questioned the reasoning and morality behind yet another murderous onslaught on an imprisoned population, the fifth in the last 12 years. Even the NYT runs an op-ed saying that “legitimate resistance” to violence is a Palestinian right. Pro-Israel voices in the media are pushing back by saying sharp criticism of Israel is antisemitism.

Slate reports on top-editor media bias during Israel’s 2014 attack on Gaza: “when a statement came from the Israel Defense Forces, senior editors at the paper treated it as fact. When [reporter] Omar recorded a statement from an eyewitness on the ground that contradicted the Israeli military’s account, he said the top editors called it unreliable.”

The “apartheid” accusation against Israel from leading human rights groups had a very serious intention: to change the western understanding of what is taking place in Israel. There is only one state between the river and the sea, the occupation is 54 years old and Israeli leaders have no intention of reversing it, so Israel must grant equal rights to all under its governance. But western media and liberal Zionists are determined to make the charge disappear, as they cling to the fantasy that there can still be a Palestinian state in the land east of the green line, and a “Jewish democracy” to the west.

Emily Wilder’s firing from the Associated Press exemplifies the system that enables continued US support for Israeli settler-colonial occupation.

Amira Hass’s charge in Haaretz that Israeli military, as part of its air assault on Gaza, “is wiping out entire Palestinian families on purpose,” cries out for followup by American journalists. So far, no mainstream U.S. media outlet has followed up on her report. Their failure is journalistic malpractice.

Israel’s onslaught on Gaza is a p.r. disaster, with broadcast hosts accusing the country of war crimes. Reform Jewish leader Rabbi Rick Jacobs says it’s time for American Jews to stand up for their Israeli siblings and counter the bad press and “raise the voice of solidarity and love.”

Park Avenue Synagogue’s Rabbi Neil Zuckerman expressed worshipful feelings about his Israeli soldier son’s M16 because it represents the “miracle” of Jewish power.

The media routinely state that Hamas wants to eradicate Israel. Some of the mystery about Hamas’s goals is surely because the organization is treated as a pariah. U.S. diplomats are prohibited from talking to it openly, the U.S. government calls it a terrorist organization, and the New York Times and other mainstream U.S. media outlets rarely if ever try to interview its leaders or listen to its supporters.

Over the course of a decade Rachel Maddow has had over 2,000 shows and has mentioned Gaza just five times. While others at her network have been speaking out, the MSNBC star remains silent.

Enabled by Human Rights Watch’s April finding, mainstream media figures are coming out and saying that Israel practices apartheid– lately Ali Velshi, John Oliver explain the Gaza onslaught by saying the a-word. And Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also said “Apartheid states are not democracies” over the weekend.