Public relations of Israel

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Israeli propaganda during their 2012 onslaught on the Gaza Strip, known by the IDF as "Operation Pillar of Cloud" in reference to the Book of Exodus. Israeli propaganda typically focuses on the victimhood of Israeli Jews, implicitly justifying Israeli terror bombing and aggression.

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, the Israeli state, Israeli Zionist organizations, and pro-Israeli diaspora 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 of Israel and its actions, typically using dishonest or unfair tactics to shift the narrative. Zionist propaganda has historically been known by the Hebrew term hasbara (Heb: הסברה), meaning "explanation" or "clarification".

Language

An article from December 2023, during the 2023 crisis in Gaza. The article body makes it clear that the "man in fatigues" is in fact almost certainly IDF.

Western news outlets have a years-long history of reporting on Israeli atrocities in tortured language which often employs the passive voice and other forms of circumlocution in order to excise words related to Israel, the IDF, or violent terms such as killing and bombing, from their headlines and copy.[1][2] In 2023, a student at MIT published a statistical language analysis of years of New York Times articles that showed a pervasive use of the passive voice going back to the First and Second Intifadas.[3]

Here are only a few examples from 2022:

  • On 15 April 2022, the second Friday of Ramadan, Israeli troops fired rubber-coated steel bullets, teargas, and stun grenades at worshippers at Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem directly following the dawn prayer, arresting at least 400 and wounding over 150.[4] Reuters and the BBC reported the event as a "clash"[5][6] and repeated IDF claims that Palestinians had been armed with "stones and fireworks".[6]
  • On 13 May 2022, Israeli police beat pallbearers and mourners at the funeral of widely respected journalist Shireen Abu Akleh after she was murdered by Israeli forces. While several sources correctly described the attack in their headlines,[7][8] including the New York Times[9] and The Guardian,[10] several others used neutral language that refused to name Israel as the instigator, such as "Violence erupts at Shireen Abu Akleh's funeral in Jerusalem as Israeli forces confront Palestinian mourners".[11][12][13][14]

Other examples of this type of rhetoric can be found in reporting surrounding Israel's 2023 onslaught on Gaza.

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[15]

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.[16][17][18][19][20] 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[20] 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;[21] President Barack Obama;[21][22][a] a Berlin mayor who was deemed insufficiently critical of the Boycott, Divest, and Sanctions (BDS) movement;[21] and the entire state of Germany.[21]

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,[19] 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"[19]

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 attempting 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.[24] 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.[25]

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.[26][27] 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.[28] Groups like the ADL frequently attack those who compare any event to the "Holocaust", including the atomic bombings of Japan.[28] 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.[29]

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.[30]

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,[27][31][32][33][34] 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",[35][36] 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

Character assassination

Norman Finkelstein

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".[23]

References

  1. ↑ Robinson, Nathan J. (15 May 2018). "Israel and the Passive Voice". Current Affairs. Retrieved 7 Dec 2023.
  2. ↑ Academy, NBCU (19 May 2021). "Don't call it a "clash": Why words matter in covering Israel and Palestine". NBCU Academy. Retrieved 7 Dec 2023.
  3. ↑ Jackson, Holly M. (2023-06-06). "The New York Times distorts the Palestinian struggle: A case study of anti-Palestinian bias in US news coverage of the First and Second Palestinian Intifadas" (PDF). Media, War & Conflict: 175063522311781. doi:10.1177/17506352231178148. ISSN 1750-6352.
  4. ↑ Masarwa, Lubna (15 Apr 2022). "Israeli forces attack Palestinian worshippers in al-Aqsa Mosque raid". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 7 Dec 2023.
  5. ↑ "Palestinians clash with Israeli police at Jerusalem holy site, 152 injured". Reuters. 16 Apr 2022. Retrieved 7 Dec 2023.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Jerusalem: Over 150 hurt in clashes at al-Aqsa Mosque compound". BBC Home. 15 Apr 2022. Retrieved 7 Dec 2023.
  7. ↑ Federman, Josef (14 May 2022). "Israeli police beat pallbearers at journalist's funeral". AP News. Retrieved 7 Dec 2023.
  8. ↑ The Associated Press (13 May 2022). "Israeli police beat mourners at a slain Al Jazeera journalist's funeral". NPR. Retrieved 7 Dec 2023.
  9. ↑ Kingsley, Patrick; Abdulrahim, Raja (13 May 2022). "Israeli Police Attack Mourners Before Funeral for Shireen Abu Akleh". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 Dec 2023.
  10. ↑ Taha, Sufian (13 May 2022). "Israeli police attack funeral procession for shot journalist Shireen Abu Aqleh". the Guardian. Retrieved 7 Dec 2023.
  11. ↑ Reals, Tucker (13 May 2022). "Violence erupts at Shireen Abu Akleh's funeral in Jerusalem as Israeli forces confront Palestinian mourners". CBS News. Retrieved 7 Dec 2023.
  12. ↑ "Israeli police clash with mourners at funeral of slain Palestinian journalist". France 24. 13 May 2022. Retrieved 7 Dec 2023.
  13. ↑ McFall, Caitlin (13 May 2022). "Israeli police clash with mourners carrying casket of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh". Fox News. Retrieved 7 Dec 2023.
  14. ↑ Cloud, David S.; Kalin, Stephen; Bank, West (13 May 2022). "Israeli Forces, Palestinians Clash in West Bank Before Funeral of Journalist". WSJ. Retrieved 7 Dec 2023.
  15. ↑ Dabashi, Hamid (24 Sep 2012). "The war between the civilised man and the savage". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 19 Nov 2023.
  16. ↑ "What Is… Antisemitism, Anti-Zionism, Anti-Israel Bias?". ADL. 3 Oct 2022. Retrieved 19 Nov 2023.
  17. ↑ "Defining antisemitism: Why anti-Zionism is a form of antisemitism". World Jewish Congress. Retrieved 19 Nov 2023.
  18. ↑ Chotiner, Isaac (11 May 2022). "Is Anti-Zionism Anti-Semitism?". The New Yorker. Retrieved 19 Nov 2023.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 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.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 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.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3 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.
  22. ↑ 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.
  23. ↑ Haines, Avery (25 Nov 2016). "The Canadian roots of white supremacist Richard Spencer". Macleans.ca. Retrieved 19 Nov 2023.
  24. ↑ Lanard, Noah (18 Nov 2023). "ADL Celebrates Elon Musk's Crackdown on Pro-Palestinian Speech". Mother Jones. Retrieved 19 Nov 2023.
  25. ↑ Lee, Micah (11 Nov 2023). "Anti-Defamation League Maps Jewish Peace Rallies With Antisemitic Attacks". The Intercept. Retrieved 19 Nov 2023.
  26. ↑ Connolly, Kate (9 Nov 2023). "'Never again is now': 1938 Nazi pogrom anniversary marked in Germany". the Guardian. Retrieved 19 Nov 2023.
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 "Israel, the Holocaust, and Anti-Semitism, by Noam Chomsky (Excerpted from Chronicles of Dissent)". chomsky.info. Retrieved 19 Nov 2023.
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 Finkelstein, Norman G. (2003). "Chapter 2: Hoaxers, Hucksters, and History". The Holocaust Industry. Verso. ISBN 978-1-85984-488-5.
  29. ↑ Finkelstein 2003, Chapter 1.
  30. ↑ Finkelstein 2003, Chapter 2.
  31. ↑ Frieden, Tal (18 Nov 2023). "I Am the Grandchild of Holocaust Survivors, and I Am Calling for Ceasefire Now". Truthout. Retrieved 19 Nov 2023.
  32. ↑ 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.
  33. ↑ "'Never Again for Anyone': Hundreds Rally at Statue of Liberty Demanding Gaza Cease-Fire". Common Dreams. 6 Nov 2023. Retrieved 19 Nov 2023.
  34. ↑ "Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP): What You Need to Know". ADL. 17 Nov 2022. Retrieved 19 Nov 2023.
  35. ↑ 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.
  36. ↑ "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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