Hasbara spam alert

[Christa]

The hasbara brigade strikes again! You always hear about Israeli attempts at media manipulation. Everyone knows it's going on but usually the process happens through cyber insurgents like those involved with Giyus (and its media monitoring software, Megaphone). Now, we know that the Israeli foreign ministry itself is orchestrating propaganda efforts designed to flood news websites with pro-Israel arguments and information.

A reader of my blog has received the following email which documents both the efforts and the agency that originated them. The solicitation to become a pro-Israel "media volunteer" also includes a list of media links which the ministry would like addressed by pro-Israel comments.

Remember when the defence department was paying public relations companies and Iraqi newspapers to insert articles praising the Iraq war? The companies also attempted to plant coverage favorable to the US military in US newspapers. There rightly was a media uproar about the manipulation. We'll see whether the same happens over this.

The foreign ministry shouldn't get a pass on this one. It may view such hasbara as maximising its efforts to "explain" Israel's position in the world media. I view it as a cynical attempt to flood the web and news media with favorable flackery in a vain attempt to tilt public opinion toward Israel. Not only does it do Israel a disservice, it stains every legitimate effort that the ministry might make to explain Israel to the world, since no one will believe a word it says knowing it engages in such outright propaganda.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jan/09/israel-foreign-ministry-media

[azurnoir]

1. It is quite obvious to say the least n/t

[peacetalksforall]

2. We heard last week that a public relations firm had been hired to improve

Israel's image in the U.S.

They all have their work cut out for them - as the saying goes.

The only way their reputation can be saved is if the distinction is made between their leaders and those who support their leaders - and - the Israelis who want peace and deplore or criticize their own for not following a peace agenda and following an extreme war agenda.

There is a difference. War leaders in Israel have evidently had more supporters, especially during the eight years of the Cheney adminstration and many times previously. Once survival, not something different. Earth resources? Just like the U.S. leaders.

In this country, they have never had a problem with AIPAC and all the other organizations running the show. Their action in Gaza, however, ruined all their years of work.

Deservedly ruined their covert public relations and opportunities that were gifted to them by our media, military, and government, especially under neo-cons. They buying has always existed in the U.S.

[ShadesOfGrey]

3. Seems they are more concerned about public opinion...

than they are about the horrific conditions in Gaza they're creating.

If they'd just treat the Palestinians with a little compassion... :think:

[Scurrilous]

4. Israel gains in media blitz, but for how long?

<snip>

"The advertisements in the international press couldn't be clearer: a map of London with an outline of the Gaza Strip alongside, missiles raining down onto Britain's capital.

"Imagine if Hamas terrorists were targeting you and your family," reads the text under the map, overlayed with concentric rings showing the range of the rockets Hamas militants fire from the Gaza Strip into Israel.

The ads, which ran in the International Herald Tribune on Monday and were sponsored by the Anti-Defamation League, a pro-Israel group, form part of Israel's effort to explain itself and a war in which Gaza medical officials say over 900 Palestinians have been killed, including nearly 400 women and children.

Israel has focused its assault on daily Hamas rocket attacks that have severely disrupted life in its south.

"No country would allow such danger on its borders, and neither will Israel. That's why Israel is fighting back," the ad, which would have cost about $60,000 to run, concludes in bold capital letters. A website address underneath included the words "Israelstrikesback."

Israel, which has fought a half-dozen wars since its creation in 1948, often worries it doesn't do a good enough job of communicating its motives, either to the world or at home.

That was never truer than in 2006, when it fought a 34-day war in Lebanon against the Hezbollah guerrilla group that had seized two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid.

Hezbollah fired more than 4,000 rockets into Israel during the fighting and the Jewish state emerged with its pride dented and its enemy claiming victory.

A commission that looked into that conflict concluded that one major shortcoming was Israel's "hasbara" -- a Hebrew word that translates as "public diplomacy" or "explanation."

As a result, Israel set up the National Information Directorate to coordinate its domestic and global message.

Formed eight months before the Gaza war, it kicked into high gear as soon as the conflict began and scored early success, although there are growing signs the campaign may be stalling.

Through traditional media and everything from YouTube to Twitter and Facebook, appointed diplomats and spokespeople have flooded the airwaves and the Internet with Israel's position."

more

[Howardx]

5. thanks

cant hurt to get the word out

[BunkerHill24]

6. Excellent. Thanks for sharing w/us.