Nearly two centuries ago, James Justinian Morier wrote The Adventures of Hajji Baba of Ispahan, a biting satire about a man who lies, cheats, and manipulates his way through 19th-century Persian society.
The book was not just a novel—it was a window into a culture where deception wasn’t an exception, but the rule.
Hajji Baba survives not by virtue or honesty, but by mastering the art of the lie. Morier, a British diplomat born and raised in Persia, was struck by how dishonesty was not only tolerated but admired as cleverness. Today, his observations remain disturbingly relevant—especially when applied to how many Arab regimes and media outlets portray Israel.
In much of the Arab world, truth is less important than narrative, and that narrative is often built on the vilification of Israel. It doesn’t matter if a claim is demonstrably false—if it paints Israel as the villain, it is repeated without hesitation. Whether it’s false reports of Israeli attacks on hospitals that were actually struck by Hamas rockets, or the constant fabrication of Israeli “genocide” while ignoring Hamas’s use of civilians as human shields, the pattern is clear: Lies are not just tools of war—they are a way of life.