You’re probably pretty upset about the $10 million allocated for “gender programs” in Pakistan, and you’ve got every right to be.
But did you know that there’s something in the COVID relief/omnibus spending bill that’s way, way worse?
Journalist and Jacobin magazine contributor Walker Bragman has the scoop:
The new COVID relief bill contains $500,000,000 for Israel. pic.twitter.com/oWJlLm1MzC
— Walker Bragman (@WalkerBragman) December 21, 2020
$500 million for Israel? Those shifty Jews are at it again!
Nice to see Chuck Schumer's district represented, I guess.
— Fuffy *Social Distancing Specialist* ☭ (@Fuffy___) December 21, 2020
Israelis also have universal healthcare. Wonder what their survival checks look like? Did US write them?
— Susan (@sscharf12) December 21, 2020
So, Israel has universal healthcare, but US doesn’t, and yet US is giving Israel money hand over fist! Nice work if you can get it!
— GrouchyMarxist (@Evilgenius222) December 21, 2020
on top of the apartheid support this is, of course, a massive stimulus for the american arms industry from whom the israelis are buying the weapons. such a nice system the US has worked out for subsidizing war, profit and terror
— yung?walken (@as_a_worker) December 21, 2020
How else will Netanyahu & the IDF continue waging their genocidal occupation & warcrimines against the Palestinians, or fund their unrelenting efforts to instigate war with Iran & subjugate its people?
— The Red-Hooded Socialist? (@Bad_Writer0111) December 21, 2020
Who cares that Bragman’s tweet is wildly intellectually dishonest?
So, Israel was trending on twitter, and a lot of that messaging was centered on the idea that the stimulus bill was providing $600 for Americans but $500M from Israel. Sounds bad, not not accurate. pic.twitter.com/cdzqaBkx07
— Don Moynihan (@donmoyn) December 22, 2020
Recommended
A good chunk of that traffic was driven by Bragman's original tweet, which, between the combination of the blue check and screenshots of appropriations language looks pretty persuasive. It's at about 15K RTs and another 8K quote tweets right now. So, why is this wrong? pic.twitter.com/qWKdXAxeHt
— Don Moynihan (@donmoyn) December 22, 2020
Tablet senior writer Yair Rosenberg explains:
NARRATOR: The Covid relief bill did not, in fact, contain $500 million for Israel. Congress passed a suite of bills, including Covid relief *and* the bill funding the Defense Department for 2021, which includes foreign aid. This isn't hard unless you know nothing about Congress. https://t.co/Y558nnKcf2
— Yair Rosenberg (@Yair_Rosenberg) December 21, 2020
For those interested in facts about the bills Congress just passed, rather than people fishing for retweets with misinformation, this is a good place to start: https://t.co/R7Dki1OFge https://t.co/R0ABOAEsA6
— Yair Rosenberg (@Yair_Rosenberg) December 21, 2020
The bill contains money for everyone from Egypt to Pakistan, as it does every year. Worth noting that under the current agreement struck by Obama, most military aid to Israel (and soon all of it) must be spent in America, so it's ultimately just a subsidy to our own industries. https://t.co/R0ABOAEsA6
— Yair Rosenberg (@Yair_Rosenberg) December 21, 2020
What they told you: Congress gave $500 million in its covid relief bill to Israel instead of Americans
What actually happened: Congress passed its foreign aid budget for all countries, including military aid to Israel, nearly all of which must be spent on American companies https://t.co/bdheANeBxF
— Yair Rosenberg (@Yair_Rosenberg) December 21, 2020
It’s OK, Yair. Walker eventually got around to some kind of clarification:
It should be noted this is all part of a consolidated appropriations package–COVID relief was tied into the continuing resolution.
But these figures are still useful to see what our government's priorities are.
— Walker Bragman (@WalkerBragman) December 21, 2020
Love the low key accusations that I'm self-loathing.
The first tweet should have read "the spending package that COVID relief is part of" and not "the COVID relief bill."
It was imprecise language, but the point is the same: We have $ for everything but struggling people.
— Walker Bragman (@WalkerBragman) December 21, 2020
It was “imprecise language” designed to stir up anti-Israel outrage. And it appears to have worked.
It's both technically wrong and substantively misleading to create the impression that Israel was getting $500M at the expense of other items in the stimulus bill.
— Don Moynihan (@donmoyn) December 22, 2020
Translation: My factually incorrect statement went viral so I’m not taking it down. pic.twitter.com/4oGQzkIvBK
— Don Moynihan (@donmoyn) December 22, 2020
Go figure.
I’m all for calling out problematic gov spending but this is wildly misleading (at best) & saying as much in your subsequent posts isn’t adequate. Not sure why you’re leaving it up. Just reword it and retype it. I do it all the time when I make a typo in a fart joke. Easy breezy!
— Morgan Murphy (@morgan_murphy) December 22, 2020
Since this tweet is getting far wider dissemination than later corrections, seems like the intellectually honest thing to do would be to delete it https://t.co/7VvyasJNOP https://t.co/bcXCgDkrP8
— Don Moynihan (@donmoyn) December 22, 2020
Yeah, but where’s the fun in that?
This tweet is completely erroneous and dishonest (read the replies to see it debunked) and @WalkerBragman would delete it if he had any sense of honesty, but he is a red rose emoji guy, so nope. https://t.co/7893nOubBB
— Noah Pollak (@NoahPollak) December 22, 2020
This is, of course, a lie.
But it won't stop thousands of people from furiously sharing it, or outright Nazis from accusing (((Israel))) of stealing Covid relief from struggling Americans.
Textbook example of social media fueling misinformation. https://t.co/UkvVRgVgHn
— Shiri Moshe (@shirimoshe) December 21, 2020
You're spreading misinformation with this tweet, and based on your subsequent response (which few will read), you know it.
Journalists must prioritize truth, even and especially when lies get more attention. Keeping this up is a flagrant abdication of that responsibility.
— Shiri Moshe (@shirimoshe) December 21, 2020
It’s almost as if journalists like Walker Bragman are OK with that.
Now ask yourself: Why would people so egregiously misrepresent what happened here, and who does such misinformation demonize? You have now learned a valuable lesson about consuming viral tweets about the Jewish state. https://t.co/Kr7MoHSQCA
— Yair Rosenberg (@Yair_Rosenberg) December 21, 2020
In conclusion: Follow people who know enough to tell you what the truth is, and respect you enough to tell it to you, and unfollow those who lie to you out of ignorance, ideology, or a desire to go viral.
— Yair Rosenberg (@Yair_Rosenberg) December 21, 2020