Public relations of Israel: Difference between revisions

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== Rhetoric ==
== Rhetoric ==
=== Use of racist language ===
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| quote = "In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man. Support Israel. Defeat jihad."
| source = – 2012 advertisement in major US cities paid for by the American Freedom Defense Initiative<ref>{{cite web | last=Dabashi | first=Hamid | title=The war between the civilised man and the savage | website=Al Jazeera | date=24 Sep 2012 | url=https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2012/9/24/the-war-between-the-civilised-man-and-the-savage/ | access-date=19 Nov 2023}}</ref>
| width = 20em
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{{empty section}}
=== Anti-Semitism ===
=== Anti-Semitism ===
Since at least the 1990s, pro-Zionist organizations have exploited an increasing sensitivity towards [[anti-Semitism]] and [[political correctness]] in [[Western]] countries in order to defend Israel's policies and delegitimize most or all critiques of Zionism as expressions of latent anti-Semitic beliefs.<ref>{{cite web | title=What Is… Antisemitism, Anti-Zionism, Anti-Israel Bias? | website=ADL | date=3 Oct 2022 | url=https://www.adl.org/resources/tools-and-strategies/what-antisemitism-anti-zionism-anti-israel-bias | ref={{sfnref | ADL | 2022}} | access-date=19 Nov 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Defining antisemitism: Why anti-Zionism is a form of antisemitism | publisher=World Jewish Congress | url=https://www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/anti-zionism | access-date=19 Nov 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last=Chotiner | first=Isaac| title=Is Anti-Zionism Anti-Semitism? | website=The New Yorker | date=11 May 2022 | url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/is-anti-zionism-anti-semitism | access-date=19 Nov 2023}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{cite web | last=Sales | first=Ben | title=The IHRA definition of anti-Semitism and why people are fighting over it, explained | website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency | date=15 Jan 2021 | url=https://www.jta.org/2021/01/15/global/the-ihra-definition-of-anti-semitism-and-why-people-are-fighting-over-it-explained | access-date=19 Nov 2023}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{cite web | last=Stephens | first=Bret | title= Anti-Zionism Isn’t Anti-Semitism? Someone Didn’t Get the Memo. | website=The New York Times | date=24 May 2021 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/24/opinion/anti-zionism-anti-semitism.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210525000010/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/24/opinion/anti-zionism-anti-semitism.html | archive-date=25 May 2021 | url-status=live | access-date=19 Nov 2023}}</ref> Israel's supporters highlight individual anti-Semitic hate crimes and statements in order to claim that a '''"new anti-Semitism"''' has begun to spread globally, associating Israel's critics with mass shooters and murderers<ref name=":1" /> as well as buttressing the key Zionist point that Israel's militarism and violent expansion are vital to the survival of all Jews in an increasingly anti-Semitic world. In the West, organizations such as the [[Anti-Defamation League]] (ADL), the Simon Wiesenthal Center, the World Jewish Congress, and the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) lead this propaganda effort in national statements on anti-Semitism which are widely repeated in mainstream media. The Simon Wiesenthal Center has leveled charges of extreme anti-Semitism at, among others, the anti-Zionist Jewish group [[Jewish Voice for Peace]];<ref name=":2">{{cite web | last=Liphshiz | first=Cnaan | title=EU official says the Simon Wiesenthal Center's annual antisemitism list has gone too far | website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency | date=10 Jan 2022 | url=https://www.jta.org/2022/01/10/global/eu-official-says-the-simon-wiesenthal-centers-annual-antisemitism-list-has-gone-too-far | access-date=19 Nov 2023}}</ref> President [[Barack Obama]];<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{cite web | last=Richardson | first=Valerie | title=Obama’s refusal to veto anti-Israel U.N. vote ranked most anti-Semitic incident of 2016 | website=The Washington Times | date=27 Dec 2016 | url=https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/dec/27/obama-refusal-israel-vote-most-anti-semitic-2016/ | access-date=19 Nov 2023}}</ref>{{Efn|When the US voted to abstain rather than veto a routine UN resolution condemning Israel's construction of settlements, a mainly symbolic move on the part of the US, the Wiesenthal Center ranked it as the absolute worst anti-Semitic incident of 2016, ranking it higher than a remark from white nationalist Richard Spencer which implied that Jews were not people but merely "soulless golem".<ref>{{cite web | last=Haines | first=Avery | title=The Canadian roots of white supremacist Richard Spencer | website=Macleans.ca | date=25 Nov 2016 | url=https://macleans.ca/news/world/the-canadian-roots-of-white-supremacist-richard-spencer/ | access-date=19 Nov 2023}}</ref>}} a Berlin mayor who was deemed insufficiently critical of the [[Boycott, Divest, and Sanctions]] (BDS) movement;<ref name=":2" /> and the entire state of [[Germany]].<ref name=":2" />
Since at least the 1990s, pro-Zionist organizations have exploited an increasing sensitivity towards [[anti-Semitism]] and [[political correctness]] in [[Western]] countries in order to defend Israel's policies and delegitimize most or all critiques of Zionism as expressions of latent anti-Semitic beliefs.<ref>{{cite web | title=What Is… Antisemitism, Anti-Zionism, Anti-Israel Bias? | website=ADL | date=3 Oct 2022 | url=https://www.adl.org/resources/tools-and-strategies/what-antisemitism-anti-zionism-anti-israel-bias | ref={{sfnref | ADL | 2022}} | access-date=19 Nov 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Defining antisemitism: Why anti-Zionism is a form of antisemitism | publisher=World Jewish Congress | url=https://www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/anti-zionism | access-date=19 Nov 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last=Chotiner | first=Isaac| title=Is Anti-Zionism Anti-Semitism? | website=The New Yorker | date=11 May 2022 | url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/is-anti-zionism-anti-semitism | access-date=19 Nov 2023}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{cite web | last=Sales | first=Ben | title=The IHRA definition of anti-Semitism and why people are fighting over it, explained | website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency | date=15 Jan 2021 | url=https://www.jta.org/2021/01/15/global/the-ihra-definition-of-anti-semitism-and-why-people-are-fighting-over-it-explained | access-date=19 Nov 2023}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{cite web | last=Stephens | first=Bret | title= Anti-Zionism Isn’t Anti-Semitism? Someone Didn’t Get the Memo. | website=The New York Times | date=24 May 2021 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/24/opinion/anti-zionism-anti-semitism.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210525000010/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/24/opinion/anti-zionism-anti-semitism.html | archive-date=25 May 2021 | url-status=live | access-date=19 Nov 2023}}</ref> Israel's supporters highlight individual anti-Semitic hate crimes and statements in order to claim that a '''"new anti-Semitism"''' has begun to spread globally, associating Israel's critics with mass shooters and murderers<ref name=":1" /> as well as buttressing the key Zionist point that Israel's militarism and violent expansion are vital to the survival of all Jews in an increasingly anti-Semitic world. In the West, organizations such as the [[Anti-Defamation League]] (ADL), the Simon Wiesenthal Center, the World Jewish Congress, and the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) lead this propaganda effort in national statements on anti-Semitism which are widely repeated in mainstream media. The Simon Wiesenthal Center has leveled charges of extreme anti-Semitism at, among others, the anti-Zionist Jewish group [[Jewish Voice for Peace]];<ref name=":2">{{cite web | last=Liphshiz | first=Cnaan | title=EU official says the Simon Wiesenthal Center's annual antisemitism list has gone too far | website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency | date=10 Jan 2022 | url=https://www.jta.org/2022/01/10/global/eu-official-says-the-simon-wiesenthal-centers-annual-antisemitism-list-has-gone-too-far | access-date=19 Nov 2023}}</ref> President [[Barack Obama]];<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{cite web | last=Richardson | first=Valerie | title=Obama’s refusal to veto anti-Israel U.N. vote ranked most anti-Semitic incident of 2016 | website=The Washington Times | date=27 Dec 2016 | url=https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/dec/27/obama-refusal-israel-vote-most-anti-semitic-2016/ | access-date=19 Nov 2023}}</ref>{{Efn|When the US voted to abstain rather than veto a routine UN resolution condemning Israel's construction of settlements, a mainly symbolic move on the part of the US, the Wiesenthal Center ranked it as the absolute worst anti-Semitic incident of 2016, ranking it higher than a remark from white nationalist Richard Spencer which implied that Jews were not people but merely "soulless golem".<ref>{{cite web | last=Haines | first=Avery | title=The Canadian roots of white supremacist Richard Spencer | website=Macleans.ca | date=25 Nov 2016 | url=https://macleans.ca/news/world/the-canadian-roots-of-white-supremacist-richard-spencer/ | access-date=19 Nov 2023}}</ref>}} a Berlin mayor who was deemed insufficiently critical of the [[Boycott, Divest, and Sanctions]] (BDS) movement;<ref name=":2" /> and the entire state of [[Germany]].<ref name=":2" />
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This document has been adopted or considered by some governments, including the United States, as a guideline for policies concerning hate speech.
This document has been adopted or considered by some governments, including the United States, as a guideline for policies concerning hate speech.


In late 2023, the highly prominent [[2023 Israel–Gaza war|siege and onslaught against Gaza]] increased global scrutiny on Israel and Zionism even among politically neutral or unengaged working people. Israel and the Zionist Western powers have responded to this opposition from their own citizens with propaganda overwhelmingly reliant on this tactic, including by attemting to equate the Palestinian slogan "from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" with anti-Semitic views, support for mass killings or expulsion of Jews in the region, or even an intention to kill all Jews around the world.{{Cn}} In November 2023, billionaire [[Elon Musk]] responded to an apparently anti-Semitic post with the sentence "You have said the actual truth", earning him widespread condemnation. Musk announced just two days later, possibly in order to save face, that the phrases "from the river to the sea" and "decolonization [of Israel]" were genocidal in nature and as such would be banned from X/Twitter.<ref>{{cite web | last=Lanard| first=Noah| title= ADL Celebrates Elon Musk’s Crackdown on Pro-Palestinian Speech | website= Mother Jones| date= 18 Nov 2023 | url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/11/elon-musk-river-sea-antidefamation-league/ | access-date=19 Nov 2023}}</ref>
In late 2023, the highly prominent [[2023 Israel–Gaza war|siege and onslaught against Gaza]] increased global scrutiny on Israel and Zionism even among politically neutral or unengaged working people. Israel and the Zionist Western powers have responded to this opposition from their own citizens with propaganda overwhelmingly reliant on this tactic, including by attemting to equate the Palestinian slogan "from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" with anti-Semitic views, support for mass killings or expulsion of Jews in the region, or even an intention to kill all Jews around the world.{{Cn}} In November 2023, billionaire [[Elon Musk]] responded to an apparently anti-Semitic post with the sentence "You have said the actual truth", earning him widespread condemnation. Musk announced just two days later, possibly in order to save face, that the phrases "from the river to the sea" and "decolonization [of Israel]" were genocidal in nature and as such would be banned from X/Twitter.<ref>{{cite web | last=Lanard| first=Noah| title= ADL Celebrates Elon Musk’s Crackdown on Pro-Palestinian Speech | website= Mother Jones| date= 18 Nov 2023 | url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/11/elon-musk-river-sea-antidefamation-league/ | access-date=19 Nov 2023}}</ref> In November, the ADL began adding pro-Palestine protests, including those attended by Jews and even rabbis, to its highly important and widely quoted catalogue of anti-Semitic incidents and hate crimes.<ref>{{cite web | last=Lee | first=Micah | title=Anti-Defamation League Maps Jewish Peace Rallies With Antisemitic Attacks | website=The Intercept | date=11 Nov 2023 | url=https://theintercept.com/2023/11/11/palestine-israel-protests-ceasefire-antisemitic/ | access-date=19 Nov 2023}}</ref>


=== Holocaust ===
=== Holocaust ===

Revision as of 19:31, 19 November 2023

The racial policies and Zionist ideology of the State of Israel have drawn criticism and resistance from various sources, including leftist groups, NGOs, and the mainstream media of several countries. As a response, Israeli groups and the Israeli state have undertaken measures to influence foreign opinion surrounding Israel's policies, especially in the United States and Europe. Massive well-funded public relations groups exist in these countries in order to shut down criticism of the state and its actions, typically using dishonest or unfair tactics to shift the narrative.

Rhetoric

Use of racist language

"In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man. Support Israel. Defeat jihad."

– 2012 advertisement in major US cities paid for by the American Freedom Defense Initiative[1]

Anti-Semitism

Since at least the 1990s, pro-Zionist organizations have exploited an increasing sensitivity towards anti-Semitism and political correctness in Western countries in order to defend Israel's policies and delegitimize most or all critiques of Zionism as expressions of latent anti-Semitic beliefs.[2][3][4][5][6] Israel's supporters highlight individual anti-Semitic hate crimes and statements in order to claim that a "new anti-Semitism" has begun to spread globally, associating Israel's critics with mass shooters and murderers[6] as well as buttressing the key Zionist point that Israel's militarism and violent expansion are vital to the survival of all Jews in an increasingly anti-Semitic world. In the West, organizations such as the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the Simon Wiesenthal Center, the World Jewish Congress, and the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) lead this propaganda effort in national statements on anti-Semitism which are widely repeated in mainstream media. The Simon Wiesenthal Center has leveled charges of extreme anti-Semitism at, among others, the anti-Zionist Jewish group Jewish Voice for Peace;[7] President Barack Obama;[7][8][a] a Berlin mayor who was deemed insufficiently critical of the Boycott, Divest, and Sanctions (BDS) movement;[7] and the entire state of Germany.[7]

In 2016, the IHRA produced the "working definition of anti-Semitism", a set of guidelines intended to clarify anti-Semitism and distinguish it from criticism of Israel and other issues. The definition contained valid examples of anti-Semitic invocations of Israel, such as the charge of dual loyalty or international subversion by all Jews,[5] but these were directly associated with criticisms of Israeli policy and Zionism itself, such as:

  • "Denying Jews the right to self-determination [i.e. Zionism] or calling Israel a 'racist endeavor'"
  • "Applying a double standard to Israel that isn’t applied to other countries"
  • "Applying classic anti-Semitic smears, like the blood libel, to Israel"
  • "Comparing Israel to the Nazis"[5]

This document has been adopted or considered by some governments, including the United States, as a guideline for policies concerning hate speech.

In late 2023, the highly prominent siege and onslaught against Gaza increased global scrutiny on Israel and Zionism even among politically neutral or unengaged working people. Israel and the Zionist Western powers have responded to this opposition from their own citizens with propaganda overwhelmingly reliant on this tactic, including by attemting to equate the Palestinian slogan "from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" with anti-Semitic views, support for mass killings or expulsion of Jews in the region, or even an intention to kill all Jews around the world.[citation needed] In November 2023, billionaire Elon Musk responded to an apparently anti-Semitic post with the sentence "You have said the actual truth", earning him widespread condemnation. Musk announced just two days later, possibly in order to save face, that the phrases "from the river to the sea" and "decolonization [of Israel]" were genocidal in nature and as such would be banned from X/Twitter.[10] In November, the ADL began adding pro-Palestine protests, including those attended by Jews and even rabbis, to its highly important and widely quoted catalogue of anti-Semitic incidents and hate crimes.[11]

Holocaust

Related to the use of anti-Semitism is the exploitation of the memory of the Holocaust in order to deflect criticisms of Zionism and the Israeli state.[12][13] The Israeli state emphasizes Holocaust Day, or Yom HaShoah, as a national day of remembrance, twisting a somber memorial for Jews into a key part of its own raison d'etre. The teaching and representation of the Holocaust in the United States also reflects the influence of Israeli advocacy groups which have abused the tragedy by framing it as an ahistorical, unique event.[14] Groups like the ADL frequently attack those who compare any event to the "Holocaust", including the atomic bombings of Japan.[14] Ironically, however, some defenders of Israel refer to modern opposition to Israel as a "second Holocaust". Thanks in part to the influence of these groups, the figure of six million Jews is better known in the West than the 6 or 7 million other innocents killed by the Nazi war machine. Norm Finkelstein claims that polls have shown a higher rate of recognition among Americans of the Holocaust than Pearl Harbor or the nuclear attacks at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.[15]

This support for genocide awareness does not extend beyond the genocide of the Jews. Israeli Zionist groups and individuals, including noted author Elie Wiesel, declined to attend a convention on the recognition of genocide when it was announced that the Armenian genocide would be discussed. Israel is an ally of Turkey, which officially denies the genocide to this day. Israeli groups also removed references to the Armenian genocide from displays at the United States National Holocaust Museum.[16]

Nazi analogies

Countless Jewish anti-Zionists have drawn comparisons between their own generational trauma from the Nazi era and the behavior of the state of Israel,[13][17][18][19][20] and many Jews and non-Jews use such comparisons for rhetorical effect. Nonetheless, supporters of Israel label any rhetoric relating Israel to Nazis or the Holocaust "Holocaust inversion",[21][22] ostensibly a form of anti-Semitism and/or Holocaust denial.

Influence

Funding

Wikipedia

Israeli groups train and organize Wikipedia editors in an effort to systematically shift the narrative.

Organizations

Israeli advocacy groups typically have names such as "Anti-Defamation League", presenting themselves as neutral opponents of bigotry, or names which identify Israel with Jewry, such as the World Jewish Congress.

Anti-Deutsche

Campaigns

Jeremy Corbyn

Ilhan Omar

Rashida Tlaib

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ When the US voted to abstain rather than veto a routine UN resolution condemning Israel's construction of settlements, a mainly symbolic move on the part of the US, the Wiesenthal Center ranked it as the absolute worst anti-Semitic incident of 2016, ranking it higher than a remark from white nationalist Richard Spencer which implied that Jews were not people but merely "soulless golem".[9]

References

  1. ↑ Dabashi, Hamid (24 Sep 2012). "The war between the civilised man and the savage". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 19 Nov 2023.
  2. ↑ "What Is… Antisemitism, Anti-Zionism, Anti-Israel Bias?". ADL. 3 Oct 2022. Retrieved 19 Nov 2023.
  3. ↑ "Defining antisemitism: Why anti-Zionism is a form of antisemitism". World Jewish Congress. Retrieved 19 Nov 2023.
  4. ↑ Chotiner, Isaac (11 May 2022). "Is Anti-Zionism Anti-Semitism?". The New Yorker. Retrieved 19 Nov 2023.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Sales, Ben (15 Jan 2021). "The IHRA definition of anti-Semitism and why people are fighting over it, explained". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved 19 Nov 2023.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Stephens, Bret (24 May 2021). "Anti-Zionism Isn't Anti-Semitism? Someone Didn't Get the Memo". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 25 May 2021. Retrieved 19 Nov 2023.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Liphshiz, Cnaan (10 Jan 2022). "EU official says the Simon Wiesenthal Center's annual antisemitism list has gone too far". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved 19 Nov 2023.
  8. ↑ Richardson, Valerie (27 Dec 2016). "Obama's refusal to veto anti-Israel U.N. vote ranked most anti-Semitic incident of 2016". The Washington Times. Retrieved 19 Nov 2023.
  9. ↑ Haines, Avery (25 Nov 2016). "The Canadian roots of white supremacist Richard Spencer". Macleans.ca. Retrieved 19 Nov 2023.
  10. ↑ Lanard, Noah (18 Nov 2023). "ADL Celebrates Elon Musk's Crackdown on Pro-Palestinian Speech". Mother Jones. Retrieved 19 Nov 2023.
  11. ↑ Lee, Micah (11 Nov 2023). "Anti-Defamation League Maps Jewish Peace Rallies With Antisemitic Attacks". The Intercept. Retrieved 19 Nov 2023.
  12. ↑ Connolly, Kate (9 Nov 2023). "'Never again is now': 1938 Nazi pogrom anniversary marked in Germany". the Guardian. Retrieved 19 Nov 2023.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 "Israel, the Holocaust, and Anti-Semitism, by Noam Chomsky (Excerpted from Chronicles of Dissent)". chomsky.info. Retrieved 19 Nov 2023.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Finkelstein, Norman G. (2003). "Chapter 2: Hoaxers, Hucksters, and History". The Holocaust Industry. Verso. ISBN 978-1-85984-488-5.
  15. ↑ Finkelstein 2003, Chapter 1.
  16. ↑ Finkelstein 2003, Chapter 2.
  17. ↑ Frieden, Tal (18 Nov 2023). "I Am the Grandchild of Holocaust Survivors, and I Am Calling for Ceasefire Now". Truthout. Retrieved 19 Nov 2023.
  18. ↑ Scahill, Jeremy (20 May 2015). "Blacklisted Academic Norman Finkelstein on Gaza, "the World's Largest Concentration Camp"". The Intercept. Archived from the original on 9 July 2018. Retrieved 19 Nov 2023.
  19. ↑ "'Never Again for Anyone': Hundreds Rally at Statue of Liberty Demanding Gaza Cease-Fire". Common Dreams. 6 Nov 2023. Retrieved 19 Nov 2023.
  20. ↑ "Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP): What You Need to Know". ADL. 17 Nov 2022. Retrieved 19 Nov 2023.
  21. ↑ Congress, World Jewish (25 Jan 2022). "Antisemitism defined: Why drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to the Nazis is antisemitic". World Jewish Congress. Retrieved 19 Nov 2023.
  22. ↑ "Holocaust Inversion: The Portraying of Israel and Jews as Nazis". Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. 23 Dec 2014. Retrieved 19 Nov 2023.
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