May 2019

The widespread images of Israel are often characterized by errors, rumors, half-truths and targeted disinformation to the disadvantage of the Jewish state. These often refer to the prehistory and the time of the founding of the Israeli state in 1948. In the turbulent period of the first Israeli-Arab war that immediately followed this, which was triggered by Israel's neighboring states, there was fierce fighting and also war crimes, from which both Jewish and Arab soldiers and civilians suffered. Palestinians still commemorate the expulsion and flight of several hundred thousand Arab residents of Palestine, and the so-called "Nakba" (catastrophe) is a core of Palestinian identity. Often, however, the reference to the "Nakba" serves to fundamentally delegitimize and demonize Israel; the historical events are distorted and instrumentalized for politically unacceptable goals. Jörg Rensmann, political scientist and program director of the MFFB, therefore already presented the brochure "Mythos Nakba" in 2013, which should help to clarify common disinformation about Israel and its founding of the state on the basis of historical facts and to counter anti-Israeli propaganda. The brochure has now been republished in a corrected and updated form.