The Israeli Colonel Who Never Was

As we all know, propagandists cannot always count on the facts supporting their agenda. When this happens, it becomes necessary to invent facts that do. These manufactured facts, which in lay terms are called "lies" are then cunningly disseminated through a network of websites and blogs that cater to people sympathetic to the propagandist's cause. The rote repetition of these stories creates the impression that the falsehood is true, and being reported by multiple sources. Here is a case study:

This is the lie in its fully developed form:

November 26, 2015 "Information Clearing House" - "NEO" - This was definitely not supposed to happen. It seems that an Israeli military man with the rank of colonel was “caught with IS pants down.” By that I mean he was captured amid a gaggle of so-called IS–or Islamic State or ISIS or DAESH depending on your preference–terrorists, by soldiers of the Iraqi army. Under interrogation by the Iraqi intelligence he apparently said a lot regarding the role of Netanyahu’s IDF in supporting IS.

In late October an Iranian news agency, quoting a senior Iraqi intelligence officer, reported the capture of an Israeli army colonel, named Yusi Oulen Shahak, reportedly related to the ISIS Golani Battalion operating in Iraq in the Salahuddin front. In a statement to Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency a Commander of the Iraqi Army stated, “The security and popular forces have held captive an Israeli colonel.” He added that the IDF colonel “had participated in the Takfiri ISIL group’s terrorist operations.” He said the colonel was arrested together with a number of ISIL or IS terrorists, giving the details: “The Israeli colonel’s name is Yusi Oulen Shahak and is ranked colonel in Golani Brigade… with the security and military code of Re34356578765az231434.”

www.informationclearinghouse.info...

This certainly looks like a smoking gun. There is even a photograph! What you are not supposed to notice is that it is a stock photograph from the Getty Archive:



www.ronpaulforums.com...

At least the blogger credited the photo properly.

Just so we understand what the target market for this story is, here is one reader's comment:



The first rule of disinformation is to tell people what they want to believe. Continuing, Information Clearing House attributes the story to a group with the evocative name "NEO," a prominent Eurofascist organization supported by Putin. Here is how NEO presented it:



journal-neo.org...

The stories are identical, right down to the stock photographs. It's hard to say who is copying whom! But check this out:




There's awhole lot of copypasta out there and that's just the first two pages of hits! * But where did F. William Endahl get his information? From, surprise, the Iranian "news" agency FARS. The first time FARS reported the story was back in March of 2015:

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iraqi Special Forces said they have arrested several ISIL's foreign military advisors, including American, Israeli and Arab nationals in an operation in Mosul in the Northern parts of the country.
The Iraqi forces said they have retrieved four foreign passports, including those that belonged to American and Israeli nationals and one that belonged to the national of a Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (PGCC) member-state, from ISIL's military advisors.

The foreign advisors were arrested in a military operation in Tal Abta desert near Mosul city.

Last year, a senior aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Mossad of training ISIL terrorists operating in Iraq and Syria.

en.farsnews.com...

This story was not very satisfying. It contained no details, no names, no photographs of the alleged passport. Also, by quoting Vladimir Putin it put Russian fingerprints on it. Completely unacceptable, so they re-worked the story, releasing the polished version in October, 2015:

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iraqi security and popular forces have caught an Israeli colonel from Golani Brigade along with a number of ISIL terrorists, a commander disclosed on Thursday.
"The security and popular forces have held captive an Israeli colonel," a commander of Iraq's popular mobilization forces said on Thursday.

"The Zionist officer is ranked colonel and had participated in the Takfiri ISIL group's terrorist operations," he added.

Noting that he was arrested along with a number of ISIL terrorists, the commander said, "The Israeli colonel's name is Yusi Oulen Shahak and is ranked colonel in Golani Brigade of the Zionist regime's army with the security and military code of Re34356578765az231434."

en.farsnews.com...

Now that's more like it! Still a bit fuzzy about the circumstances that led to the capture, but now there was a not particularly Jewish sounding name and serial number. Oh, and a picture. From Ghetty:



The rest, as they say, is history. The story flashed all around the world, picked up by right wing, Anti-Semitic and Anti-"Atlanticist" websites and bloggers. All that was needed was to put a face to the name of Colonel Shahak. An Italian blogger named Giovanni Fraschetti was able to oblige:



informare.over-blog.it...

The only problem? The photograph was actually that of Oron Shaul, who was wounded and captued by Hamas, dying in July, 2014:



observers.france24.com...

The "mountain of evidence" that Israel and the US are behind ISIS collapses like a house of cards. Questions? Rebuttals?


* ETA: These are actually clones of the earlier FARS article, sorry. --DJW001

Careful, you might upset some of the Russian cheerleaders around here. Obviously when Russia releases propaganda its for a good cause... or... erm...something /s

originally posted by: boncho
Careful, you might upset some of the Russian cheerleaders around here. Obviously when Russia releases propaganda its for a good cause... or... erm...something /s

This is just page one. I also intend to expose the sleight of hand that turns Israeli border guards protecting Syrian refugees into arming terrorists.

Okay, I really enjoyed this post S&F Kuifje.
But, lets not kid ourselves. Indirectly the USA is responsible for the clusterF.. we know today as ISIS.
S&F

originally posted by: Belgianbloke
Okay, I really enjoyed this post S&F Kuifje.

Would you still enjoy it if you would know the true reasoning behind it ?

If it was nothing more as exposing something for the sake of exposing something, it would not be such a bad thread, however seeing the more sinister reason behind it is trying to confuse people about all Russian media reports...I personally find it not so much enjoyable because lots of those reports are still way more factual as that of Western MSM today and will be discarded by people too soon because of it...

...just use this thread as an example on how propaganda works (and no, I'm not talking about the subject of this thread, but about what's the goal of the thread and the way it's done).

originally posted by: Belgianbloke
Okay, I really enjoyed this post S&F Kuifje.
But, lets not kid ourselves. Indirectly the USA is responsible for the clusterF.. we know today as ISIS.
S&F

The key word is "indirectly." I make no secret of the fact that I think that the meddling in the region, first by the Europeans at the end of the First World war, and then by the Americans more recently, has contributed to the problems there. On the other hand, that is not the sole cause. Ultimately, the point to this thread is to demonstrate how a well organized right wing conspiracy creates false beliefs and woos converts to its cause. I could (and very well might) do the same thing about a UFO story. The agenda is slightly different, but it is surprising how UFO cults tend to propagate right wing ideas.

originally posted by: BornAgainAlien

originally posted by: Belgianbloke
Okay, I really enjoyed this post S&F Kuifje.

Would you still enjoy it if you would know the true reasoning behind it ?

If it was nothing more as exposing something for the sake of exposing something, it would not be such a bad thread, however seeing the more sinister reason behind...

The reason behind it shouldn't matter. There's enough propaganda and bull# already. Now we get to scrap some of our list.
I understand what you're saying. but its up to you if you wanna be lead by the " agenda " or just stick to the story and facts and just that.

a reply to: BornAgainAlien

Would you still enjoy it if you would know the true reasoning behind it ?

What do you think the true reasoning behind it is?

If it was nothing more as exposing something for the sake of exposing something, it would not be such a bad thread, however seeing the more sinister reason behind it is trying to confuse people about all Russian media reports...I personally find it not so much enjoyable because lots of those reports are still way more factual as that of Western MSM today and will be discarded by people too soon because of it...

Where do I quote a Russian media report? All of the web pages and blogs I cite claim to be independent. Are you accepting my premise that they are being run, or at least played, by the Russian propaganda mill?

...just use this thread as an example on how propaganda works (and no, I'm not talking about the subject of this thread, but about what's the goal of the thread and the way it's done).

Are you actually arguing against looking for the truth? Ah well, they say the truth hrts.

originally posted by: Belgianbloke

originally posted by: BornAgainAlien

originally posted by: Belgianbloke
Okay, I really enjoyed this post S&F Kuifje.

Would you still enjoy it if you would know the true reasoning behind it ?

If it was nothing more as exposing something for the sake of exposing something, it would not be such a bad thread, however seeing the more sinister reason behind...

The reason behind it shouldn't matter. There's enough propaganda and bull# already. Now we get to scrap some of our list.
I understand what you're saying. but its up to you if you wanna be lead by the " agenda " or just stick to the story and facts and just that.

Exactly. Have a star.

originally posted by: Belgianbloke

originally posted by: BornAgainAlien

originally posted by: Belgianbloke
Okay, I really enjoyed this post S&F Kuifje.

Would you still enjoy it if you would know the true reasoning behind it ?

If it was nothing more as exposing something for the sake of exposing something, it would not be such a bad thread, however seeing the more sinister reason behind...

The reason behind it shouldn't matter. There's enough propaganda and bull# already. Now we get to scrap some of our list.
I understand what you're saying. but its up to you if you wanna be lead by the " agenda " or just stick to the story and facts and just that.

Of course it matters why things are being done the way they are being done, it makes you understand how things work...in such matters the most important thing isn't always the most obvious one...and in this case the reasoning behind is much more important as the subject itself...just ask the OP, if he's honest he will tell you he doesn't give a rat's ass about this story, all he cares about trying to make people doubting everything which comes from Russian media.

a reply to: [post=20081004]DJW001[/post

how you do know this isn't a actual plan to discredit anyone who disagrees with Israel policies and tactics. The idea is to give them false information then point to the flaws in the information and to link the people who give factual information with the false information they provided.

And if you say they don't do that or that's crazy i suggest you just look at the way they use the word Antisemite. LOL they actually claim boycotting their products because of their treatment against Palestinians is Antisemitic

a reply to: BornAgainAlien

...just use this thread as an example on how propaganda works (and no, I'm not talking about the subject of this thread, but about what's the goal of the thread and the way it's done).

It's hurts when one talks about propaganda doesn't it...especially if it has to do with anything that doesn't fit your views.

a reply to: BornAgainAlien

.just ask the OP, if he's honest he will tell you he doesn't give a rat's ass about this story, all he cares about trying to make people doubting everything which comes from Russian media

And they should, as they have been shown to make up stories to benefit themselves and keep the Russian populace in the dark as to what their government is actually doing.

Ukraine showed us that.

originally posted by: tsurfer2000h
a reply to: BornAgainAlien

...just use this thread as an example on how propaganda works (and no, I'm not talking about the subject of this thread, but about what's the goal of the thread and the way it's done).

It's hurts when one talks about propaganda doesn't it...especially if it has to do with anything that doesn't fit your views.

My brain doesn't hurt of some of you guys, you need to do a whole lot more as that to make it hurt.

a reply to: BornAgainAlien

Of course it matters why things are being done the way they are being done, it makes you understand how things work...in such matters the most important thing isn't always the most obvious one...and in this case the reasoning behind is much more important as the subject itself...just ask the OP, if he's honest he will tell you he doesn't give a rat's ass about this story, all he cares about trying to make people doubting everything which comes from Russian media.

Why don't you ask me? In fact, I do care about the story: it's a contemporary version of the classic Anti-Semitic Blood Libel. Did you notice the link to the story headed: "Jews Teach Muslim Terrorist To Rape?" Yes, it really said that. Are you defending this lie?

I believe that freedom of expression is a double edged sword: when we express ourselves, other have the right to evaluate what we say. If we tell malicious lies, our intent to harm, our hatred, shows through. Every single "news source" and blog that repeated this calumny is guilty of justifying hate speech. It is up to you to ask yourself why you were willing to believe it.

No, it's not a coincidence that so many of these "news" organizations and bloggers seem to love and admire Putin. Would you care to venture a guess as to why?

Finally, facts are facts and lies are lies. Most of the people who shared this story probably believed it; they simply didn't investigate it because they wanted it to be true. They all failed the first test of journalism: check to see if your source is reliable.

a reply to: jobless1

how you do know this isn't a actual plan to discredit anyone who disagrees with Israel policies and tactics. The idea is to give them false information then point to the flaws in the information and to link the people who give factual information with the false information they provided.

If any of the organizations or bloggers who propagated this story had any credibility, they would have investigated it and exposed the Israeli lies. I will bet you that people will continue to use the story as an argument on threads here on ATS.

a reply to: BornAgainAlien

My brain doesn't hurt of some of you guys, you need to do a whole lot more as that to make it hurt.

Never said anything about it hurting your brain, but the replies to those bringing the blatant propaganda to light shows it hurts you somewhere.

Always fun seeing you defend propaganda.

a reply to: tsurfer2000h

Always fun seeing you defend propaganda.

And not just propaganda: false propaganda. It's one thing to boast about how many gold medals your country has won, or how many doctors it has... but to tell a malicious lie designed to spread hatred? That's indefensible.

It's interesting to see how stories told in the media vary .Even how retractions of false information within the story can be handled is a art I guess .Hillary's line of what difference does it make now is a example of a pro in action on their feet . OP's attempt to show the anti Semite nature really misses the point and for a good reason . If any piece can be shown to be antisemitic in any way shape or form it will need to be dropped like a hot potato . The western MSM knows this the best and it's kind of a unwritten and emphasized no-no's . Want to end your political career,.. then just say something even close to the truth that Israel might be doing wrong. It is one of those things that even if true and you are not antisemitic that you will be labeled as such . In Canada we can boycott any other country in the world for any reason and even if it can be shown we are wrong there is no big problem . not so with Israel ....

Inside the piece the op posted is not a story that a jew was fighting with ISIS . Would anyone be really surprised to find out that someone from your country had joined that group ? Would it surprise you if someone from your country was actually working with a enemy to defeat your bigger enemy ? What if there was a very large deposit of oil under that other countries soil ? What if the people running that country were not susceptible to your way of doing business .

Even the ISIS export of oil seemed to be acceptable to tptb . Heck we could say they were making money hand over fist and getting supplied with lots of really neat weapons and a licence to kill . Well ,it seemed to be going as planned until one Mr.Putin didn't want to go along with their plan . We have witnessed what any leader or any country will suffer if they don't tow the line . Russia just recently opened a big mosque . en.wikipedia.org...

New thread on ATS condemning Putin for persecuting a poor Moslem man and making him go join ISIS .... gee I wonder if that is true ? ..lol ... News flash .Israel destroys Palestinian homes and builds new settlements . I wonder how many times that has happened over the years ? You would think that by now Israel would have a border . nope not yet ...I wonder when they will ? I wonder where they will be ? ....If Syria become a none country then who gets the land ? How about you give the North to Turkey and you make a Gaza type place for the remainder .

I didn't mention that Israel would get the rest because they are the obvious default country in the region . Heck they can fly into Iraq or Syria ,drop a few bombs on those evil terrorists who are antisemitic and get a free pass .They get a free pass out of either a fear or as a kind of marching orders from the higher ups . Everything can be taken care of with words and laws and just plain sympathy for the poor jew .

Smedley Butler said war was a racket . True in his day and true today more so . Norman Finkelstein says that the Holocaust is a racket as well .

a reply to: BornAgainAlien

however seeing the more sinister reason behind it is trying to confuse people about all Russian media reports...I personally find it not so much enjoyable because lots of those reports are still way more factual as that of Western MSM today and will be discarded by people too soon because of it...

This is kind of hilarious, given the track record Russia has with killing, i.e. murdering dissenters, (in cold blood) and journalists, 165 Murdered Journalist in Russia since 1993 and the fact that the bulk of News coming out of Russia is from RT News, a state owned News organization.

One that purposely hires hot young women to manipulate the veiwership, ones who feel like they are 'activists' in school, who are just prime for using and abusing, so they can do the same to their audience. Mind you, so long as they dont quit on air and admit its a propaganda mill.

Yes though, tell us how reliable Russian media is /s

...In Soviet Russia, Media does not lie to people, people lie for media.