Demonization of Israel by left-wing Israelis

I have blogged many times about how extreme leftist Israelis play a major role in the international demonization of Israel (see, e.g. here and here as examples). Often, (as in this example) they do so with the unwitting support of local diaspora communities who assume that "an Israeli speaker" is somebody who will be putting forward a positive, objective view of Israel. Often it is cultural forums (plays, films and even music events) where leftist Israelis are given a platform - again often by unwitting Jewish organisations - to promote their anti-Zionist propaganda.  So, for example, the annual UK Jewish Film Festival is currently taking place with, as in previous years, films by Israeli directors dominated by those with an anti-Zionist narrative.

Particularly depressing is when friends who are pro-Israel, but not particularly well-informed, go to one of these events not even realising that they have been subjected to two hours of anti-Israel propaganda. For example, friends were chuffed to tell us recently they had been to see an Israeli production "Ballard for the Burning Star" at the Edinburgh Festival in August. It turns out that this play is based on the writer's work with the extreme leftist NGO "Breaking the Silence", which was set up to exploit the 'experiences' of anti-Zionist Israelis who had been in the IDF and use it for propaganda to accuse Israel of war crimes. Most of the 'personal stories' have turned out to be either completely made up or grossly exaggerated (see here, here and here).

Sometimes, when confronted with the extremes of anti-Israel bigotry in the West even extreme leftist Israelis finally take a reality check. A very important example of this is the story being told by Hen Mazzig. Daniel Greenfield has a brilliant overview of his story here. This is a must read, not only for its exposure of the depths of anti-Semitism among the supposed Western intelligentsia, but also for Greenfield's exposure of the extent to which some anti-Zionist Israelis (in this case the unhinged Tal Nitzan) have contributed to this anti-Semitism.

18 Oct update: Caroline Glick has posted an especially relevant story about an anti-Israel play by an Israeli here.