Pro tip for reading an article that concerns Israel: compare and get context. Israel is often held up as a boogeyman even when it compares similarly to other co

Pro tip for reading an article that concerns Israel: compare and get context. Israel is often held up as a boogeyman even when it compares similarly to other countries. For example, I could say “Israel has a higher rate of incarceration than China!” and while (according to Wikipedia) that’s true, it’s also true for 90+ other states and territories. Israel sounds uniquely bad in the first telling, but when you contextualize you see that they are actual around the middle of the pack. No more boogeyman. Context is terrible for the boogeyman narrative, so it’s usually left out. In this case, the accusation is that Israel attempts to influence US opinion. Do other countries do this? In 2020 the US department of education said it uncovered ‘$6.6bn in previously unreported gifts from countries including Qatar, China, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. It said this figure could be "significantly underestimated".’[0] $6.6b in secret funding from mostly anti-democratic countries, just to a few universities. How does this story about Israel sound now, in the light of more context? Context tends to disrupt the “Israel the unique boogeyman” narrative. Does the guardian story include any context about how other countries try to influence US opinion, or what is typical? If not, why not? tl;dr: seek context, especially in stories about boogeyman Israel. 0: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51481396 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51481396