Palestine has a Long History of Propaganda
How An Orange Became A Weapon Of Mass Destruction
The market
Jacob managed to pull away from his mom. He spied some delicious oranges at the end of the stall and couldn’t wait to sink his teeth into one. The fruit glistened in the morning sun. Jacob plucked one from the stall and inhaled deeply the fresh aroma of the orange. His mouth watered at the anticipation of biting into its succulent flesh.
He turned back to his mom who was chatting with another woman. He tugged at her dress and pleaded his case.
“Mom. Mom,” he nagged, tugging harder and harder. “Can I have an orange? Please? Can I please?”
His mom continued to chat, ignoring him by placing a hand on his shoulder signaling him to stop. Jacob shrugged and dug a nail into the skin of the orange. Underneath, the gleaming fruit slowly revealed itself. Jacob smiled.
Suddenly a hand slapped the orange out of his palm. He watched in horror as the plumb fruit skidded across the road settling in a gutter. Tears welling in his eyes, he looked up at his mom in search of answers. She was yelling at him.
“What are you DOING Jacob!?” she demanded. “Have I not told you to stay away from the oranges?! Don’t you understand? They’re POISONED! ROTTEN! DANGEROUS!”
Jacob burst into tears as he tried to explain his lust for an orange. Mom pulled him in close and gave Jacob the biggest hug.
The attack
In 1978, a dozen Europeans in at least three countries became ill after eating Israeli oranges, lemons, and grapefruit that had been tainted with mercury. A group of Palestinian extremists took responsibility for the poisoning, saying its goal was to “sabotage the Israeli economy.”
Fear spread into the European markets.
It all began in Rotterdam, Holland. Five Dutch children were rushed to the hospital to have their stomachs pumped — a parent’s worst nightmare. Nobody wants to see their children fall prey to terrorism. The innocent fruit of choice, an orange, was the mechanism the terrorists chose to deliver their message. “No one is safe” they declared, “not even your fruit.”
Israel’s largest export was halted.
Supermarkets from several European countries pulled the fruit from shelves. Nothing was allowed past Customs. The terrorists sent letters to 18 European and Arab Governments. West Germany and the Netherlands confirmed they had received such a letter from the Arab Revolutionary Army Palestinian Command. The letter explained their actions:
“It is not our aim to kill the population, but to sabotage the Israel economy which is based on suppression, racial discrimination and colonial occupation” stated the terrorists.
The fear spread far and wide.
In an age where the only information a person received was from the daily newspapers, radio, or TV, it wasn’t hard to fear the worst. Israeli officials tried their best to remove imagery of oppressed Palestinians sinking hypodermic needles into oranges.
The letter claimed that Palestinian workers in Israel’s orchards had poisoned thousands of oranges. Not bad for a small group of radicals.
Officials weren’t convinced of the terrorists’ claims. A small group couldn’t possibly coordinate a widespread conspiracy among agricultural workers. Secondly, the poisoned oranges spoiled rapidly, with large rotten spots appearing where the mercury injection had punctured the fruit’s protective rind. There would be nothing but rotten fruit if they had been poisoned from the source.
But the damage had been done.
A police officer was the second victim and four more people were treated for mercury poisoning in West Germany. Shopkeepers soon discovered tainted produce in Sweden, Denmark, and then Britain. In the end, 31 oranges across six countries were found.
Once the public had been convinced, there was no arguing with them. The original forbidden fruit had clear signs of tampering. Israeli officials said that the poisoned fruit had a “visible external sign on the peel” and that had they been poisoned in Israel they would have deteriorated considerably by the time they reached Europe.
Lies and propaganda spread by terror. Fear seeping into the markets. The terrorists wanted to create widespread public apprehension about Israeli citrus products in Europe and disrupt trade patterns. They succeeded. It mattered little to the terrorists how many children they hurt — the end justified the means.
The Arab Revolutionary Army had already killed before. The previous October a United Arab Emirates government minister was caught in the crossfire as they attempted to assassinate Syrian Foreign Minister Abdel Halim Khaddam. They were to have more press coverage with fruit tampering. Ultimately, the poisoning was an attempt to discredit the Palestinian Liberation Organization which had disavowed attacks against civilians.
The result
Investigators were subsequently unable to identify a suspect or bring charges related to the attack. Their profile was of a Dutch citizen motivated by Marxist or anti-zionist philosophies who could have been behind the poisoning.
The orange industry never fully recovered. Citrus exports from Israel have plummeted by almost 75% since the 1980s when the country exported about 1.8 million tons of oranges a year.
Perhaps the terrorists won after all.
Further reading:
Palestinian Terrorists Inject Mercury into Israeli Oranges; 5 Dutch Children Poisoned After Eating…
Terrorists Poison Israeli Oranges
From the very beginning, terms like "Palestine," "colonialism," "refugee," "return," "justice," "Semites," "occupation," "apartheid," and "genocide" are carefully chosen to evoke deep-rooted emotions of anger and hatred.
These words are then twisted and warped, stripped of their true meanings, and used as weapons to demonize the Jewish people and portray them as aggressors. In this twisted narrative, historical context is erased and replaced with a false reality designed to vilify the Jews and justify any means necessary to destroy them. This calculated manipulation ultimately serves to paint all Jews as inherently evil, particularly those who fight for their right to exist in their homeland or support others who do so.
Oh! This is delicious!