Media's False Portrayal of Arab Muslims Living in Israel

John Anderson, Deputy Prime Minister of Australia from 1999 to 2005, recently interviewed Victor Davis Hanson, an American classicist, military historian, farmer, and political commentator. Hanson shared valuable insights into the treatment of Arabs in Israel, focusing on their political participation, freedom of speech, and overall prosperity. This interview sheds light on the unique freedoms enjoyed by Arab citizens in Israel, a perspective often overshadowed by disinformation.

When you go to Israel, 21% of the population is Arab. And out of that Arab, I think 12% are Muslim. They have political parties, they vote, they have freedom of speech. They’re prosperous.

I’ve been to many of their villages in northern Israel and compare it to anywhere else in Jordan, Egypt, Syria, or Iraq – there’s nothing like it. No Arab citizen anywhere in the Middle East has the freedom to express himself and to vote and to worship as he feels as they do in Israel.

This perspective becomes crucial when considering the spread of false information about the treatment of Muslim Arabs in Israel. Media personalities like Candace Owens have recently contributed to a false narrative. Owens, on her podcast, incorrectly claimed that Muslims in Jerusalem are restricted to living only in the city’s Muslim Quarter neighborhood. As she tried to criticize Israel for this non-existent policy, Owens likened the “Muslim quarters (sic)” to that of the segregated south, where her grandfather grew up. “When I’m walking through Jerusalem, and you see, and they say ‘these are the Muslim quarters, this is where the Muslims are allowed to live,’ that doesn’t feel like a bastion of freedom to me,” Owens said.

The guest on her podcast, Jewish comedian Ami Kozak, appeared confused and surprised by her statement. He cut Owens off and explained that Jerusalem’s 300,000-plus Muslim population is not legally required to live in its Muslim Quarter neighborhood, which has a population of about 22,000. “There are communities just like there’s a Jewish community in Jersey here,” he said, adding that Jerusalem also has an “Armenian Quarter.”

If you’re interested in the recorded conversation between Victor Davis Hanson and John Anderson on Wednesday, October 18th, you can watch the full video below. Hanson asserts that Israel, benefiting from bipartisan support in the U.S., has a distinctive ability to retaliate without encountering opposition from America. However, he speculates that conflicts like the one discussed and others, such as the war in Ukraine, might not have occurred had President Trump still been in office.