Financial Times dishonestly tries to tie the IDF to US far-right extremists

A Financial Times report (“How extremist settlers in the West Bank became the law“, Sept. 18), written by James Shotter, Alison Killing, Chris Campbell and Peter Andringa, uses 5,000 words to reach their desired conclusion: that Israel ‘used’ the Oct. 7th Hamas massacre to justify increased oppression of West Bank Palestinians.

In doing so, the authors describe “repeated raids in cities such as Jenin and Nablus“, and the impact of settler violence, while completely erasing the context of dramatically increased Palestinian terrorist activity in those areas. In fact, the FT’s long-read completely omits the presence of, and increased attacks by, Hamas, PIJ and other Iranian-backed terror groups in the West Bank.

A good illustration of how the article sets out to dishonestly demonise IDF soldiers who protect Israeli communities across the green line is found in these passages:

Many [soldiers] have far-right symbols on their uniform

Photographs reviewed by the FT confirm that some settler soldiers wear patches combining the Israeli flag with a punisher skull, including Talia himself. The symbol has been adopted by the US far right.

Here’s the relevant part of the photo published by the FT, showing the helmet of an Israeli soldier with the Punisher skull.

However, the logo in question has a long history, originating in a character called The Punisher in a 1974 edition of Marvel’s The Amazing Spider-Man. The character, named Frank Castle, who was the focus of a 2004 film and a 2017 Netflix series, is described as Vietnam War Veteran who uses his talents to “lethally take down wrongdoers in the wake of the murder of his wife and children“, but also as someone who protects you if you’re innocent.

Over the years, the Punisher logo has been co-opted by varied groups, movements, police forces and militaries. While it has indeed been used by far-right extremists, it was also adopted by members of US Special Forces during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, including by the highly decorated Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, who placed the logo on his gear and was the main character of a film based upon his book.

Police officers in some US states, wrote a journalist at the culture site Vulture, have appropriated the Punisher, and Google searches “turn up a bevy of Punisher-themed apparel, stickers, and accessories aimed at stoking pride for the military and [police]“.

It’s so varied in its use that uniforms adorning the logo have been worn by Kurdish fighters battling ISIS, and at least one ISIS-affiliated terrorist who shot Israelis.

Finally, the FT’s attempt to tie the IDF to right-wing extremists is belied by the fact that the US extreme-right is decidedly antisemitic, and is known for peddling anti-Zionist conspiracy theories.

The decision by the FT journalists to impute the most sinister explanation for the Israeli soldiers’ use of the Punisher logo, while omitting its complex and varied background, is another example of how, on Israel and the Palestinians, editors allow their desired narrative to dictate the reporting, rather than the other way around.