Among the several unanswered questions about the ongoing terror onslaught against Israelis, one of the most pertinent is why this is happening now, entirely unprovoked and spurred on by the incendiary incitement of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his ilk.

Relying on brainwashed youths to perpetrate the terrorist attacks, Abbas instigated the onslaught now simply because he had to do something to take back the world stage.

Abbas and his flock are used to the spotlight on the international stage, but in recent months, the influx of migrants and refugees from the Middle East and North Africa into Europe has completely swallowed the headlines there, and Abbas saw himself being marginalized to the point of being entirely forgotten. Abbas had to do something, so he unleashed terror on Israel, and he knew from years of experience with the so-called international community, as represented by the U.N., the Obama administration and the international media that he would be able to do so with impunity. In fact, the choreography of his little dance with the international media is so well-rehearsed and so perfectly tuned to his interests that Abbas knows he can rely on it to achieve his goals.

And that is exactly what is happening now. Abbas knew he could count on the major news outlets not to question why the terrorism is occurring now. Instead, the ragged old cliches of the mysteriously self-igniting “cycle of violence” are being re-hashed, while Israel’s legitimate self-defense against the stabbings, shootings and rock throwings is being increasingly reported in negative terms.

True to form, Israel has been unable thus far to counter the media dynamic that has worked so well for Abbas in the past. It appeared to be too little and too late when Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely several days ago announced a media campaign, as well as the formation of an inter-ministerial team to prepare a series of informational videos on the subject of Palestinian incitement. We have had 20 years to prepare those videos. Do not wait for the international media to hold its breath.

In his next move, truly Orwellian in a way that only the old Soviet cadres could have trumped, Abbas is now asking the U.N. Human Rights Council to quickly dispatch a commission of inquiry to the region “to investigate all crimes perpetrated by Israel against our people.” While this may sound outlandish to right-minded people, Abbas is not entirely wrong in his calculations that the U.N. will respond to his exhortations. Abbas knows that the dance he performs for the benefit of the U.N. is usually met with applause, and is just as predictably choreographed as his dance with the international media. All is possible when it comes to the U.N., particularly the U.N. Human Rights Council, where Saudi Arabia is currently chairing the U.N. Human Rights Council panel in charge of appointing independent experts.

While Abbas is craving the attention, other Middle East players are stoking the fire to deflect attention from them. Iran’s puppet, Hamas, has not only been sending rockets into Israel, aiming to add tension to the situation, but has also been sending Gazans to riot on the border with Israel, knowing fully well that confrontations and the likelihood of Palestinian casualties will further stoke the headlines against Israel and deflect attention from Iran’s own murky business in the region. The brutal murder of the Henkin couple in front of their four children was committed by a Hamas terror cell.

The Soviet-style inversion of truth and lies and the incredible willingness of the mainstream media not only to play along with it, but to exacerbate it with uncritical and bigoted reporting, is of course maddening. The answer, however, is not bitter resignation or long deliberations over future strategies, but to present the truth, as it happens and when it happens. The truth needs to be put out there, because the media creates its own truth according to a pre-rehearsed template that we have seen ad nauseam, most damagingly during Operation Protective Edge in the summer of 2014. The time to speak out is now.

Judith Bergman is a writer and political analyst living in Israel. This article was originally published by Israel Hayom. 

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