Leaked Cable Calls Fears of U.S. Military Presence In Gaza “Disinformation” — But Is It Really?

The Biden administration is concerned about claims circulating on Palestinian social media that its Gaza aid pier will lead to U.S. military involvement in the area, which officials called a “growing narrative of disinformation,” according to a diplomatic cable I obtained. But the same cable refers to American air defense and counter-drone weapons “positioned on land”, raising two questions: Is it the land in Gaza? And if so, why isn’t this “boots on the ground”?

The diplomatic cable sent from the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem to the Secretary of State on Monday discusses suspicions expressed by Palestinian social media users about U.S. military involvement in Gaza and U.S. messaging that might counter it. What is perhaps most striking about the document is its tone deafness on why a project financed and built by the Pentagon (a process during which three U.S. troops were injured!) might engender fear of further U.S. military involvement. The U.S. Embassy chalks it all up to “conspiratorial narratives,” thereby ignoring their own hair splitting: that boots on the ground are only boots on the ground when those boots are marching and part of some infantry unit, rather than the reality of American soldiers who might be working on the ground in Gaza and the legitimate fear of what it might mean.

“Palestinian social and traditional media has been critical and mistrustful concerning the U.S. military-constructed Joint Logistics Over-The-Shore (JLOTS) humanitarian aid pier in Gaza since its announcement,” the cable, produced by the U.S. Embassy’s Office of Palestinian Affairs, reads. “In recent weeks, certain discrete conspiratorial narratives have coalesced, asserting that the United States is planning to use the pier as a launching point for U.S. control of natural gas reserves near Gaza, or as a way to distract from land border closures elsewhere in Gaza.”

In a later section on disinformation circulating in Palestinian social media about the U.S. military’s “hidden agenda” with the pier, the cable cites as an example photos circulating of an “American anti-drone-system positioned on land near the pier.” But what it doesn’t mention is that the Pentagon has confirmed the presence of just such a weapon, called a C-RAM [counter rocket, artillery, and mortar]. The air defense unit has been photographed on the pier itself and the State Department seems to imply that it is positioned on land. (The pier, which is located next to the largest Israeli military cantonment in all of Gaza, was previously attacked with mortar fire while Israeli forces prepared for the arrival of the pier in April.)

Despite the cable’s apparent acknowledgement of an example of a military presence on the ground in Gaza, it makes no mention of how the U.S. government’s own conduct — or its messaging — might be responsible for the mistrust.

“A popular disinformation narrative among Palestinian social media is the assertion that the temporary pier is a means to deploy U.S. troops into Gaza. Theories about the ‘true’ military purpose of the pier have proven durable on Palestinian social media. Palestinians interpret photos of the operation circulating on social media as evidence of U.S. boots on the ground and a hidden agenda,” the cable states.

Instead of introspection about how the military’s actions might understandably arouse suspicion, the Embassy seems satisfied that the administration’s messaging has stressed its humanitarian motives. What is even worse is that the State Department authors don’t even seem to notice the contradiction, that while Washington says that there are no boots on the ground, the soldiers (or Marines) operating the air defense and counter-drone equipment are “on land.”

“U.S. messaging has been consistent on the humanitarian nature of the pier,” the cable tersely notes.

How persuasive!

The U.S. government’s broader obsession with disinformation has generated ample criticism on free speech grounds. But what many of these media critiques overlook is the way in which conceptualizing problems as “disinformation” — falsehoods that merely need to be fact-checked — can blind the government to its own role in spawning them in the first place.

Help me make it harder for them to ignore their role by becoming a paid subscriber. Below is a copy of the diplomatic cable on which this article is based.

— Edited by William M. Arkin