Hasbara, de Israelische Propaganda

De komende dagen citeer ik uit het offciele Israelische rapport over de wijze waaerop de buitenlandse pro-Israel lobby propaganda (hasbara in het Hebreeuws) dient te voeren. Dankzij het Amerikaanse weekblad Newsweek is dit rapport openbaar:

The Israel Project’s 2009

GLOBAL LANGUAGE

DICTIONARY

Property of The Israel Project. Not for distribution or publication. 2009.

CHAPTER 1:

THE 25 RULES FOR EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

This manual will provide you with many specific words and phrases to help you

communicate effectively in support of Israel. But what is the big picture? What are some

general guidelines that can help you in your future efforts? Here are the 25 points that matter

most:

1) Persuadables won’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

Show Empathy for BOTH sides! The goal of pro-Israel communications is not simply

to make people who already love Israel feel good about that decision. The goal is to win

new hearts and minds for Israel without losing the support Israel already has. To do this

you have to understand that the frame from which most Americans view Israel is one of

“cycle of violence that has been going on for thousands of years.” Thus, you have to

disarm them from their suspicions before they will be open to learning new facts about

Israel.

The first step to winning trust and friends for Israel is showing that you care about peace

for BOTH Israelis and Palestinians and, in particular, a better future for every child.

Indeed, the sequence of your conversation is critical and you must start with empathy for

BOTH sides first. Open your conversation with strong proven messages such as:

“Israel is committed to a better future for everyone – Israelis and Palestinians

alike. Israel wants the pain and suffering to end, and is committed to working

with the Palestinians toward a peaceful, diplomatic solution where both sides can

have a better future. Let this be a time of hope and opportunity for both the

Israeli and the Palestinian people.”

Use Empathy: Even the toughest questions can be turned around if you are willing to

accept the notion that the other side has at least some validity. If you begin your response

with “I understand and I sympathize with those who…” you are already building the

credibility you will need for your audience to empathize and agree with you.

Indeed, if the heart of your communications is a chorus of finger pointing of “Israel

is right, they are wrong” then you will lose more support for Israel than you will

gain. Some people who ALREADY support Israel may nod their heads and say “way to

go,” but people who are not already supportive of Israel will be turned off.

Property of The Israel Project. Not for distribution or publication. 2009. 5

2) Explain your principles. All too often both Arab and Israeli spokespeople go right into

an attack against the other, and virtually no one on either side explains the principles

behind their actions. Americans respond much better to facts, actions, and results

when they know why—not just how. For example, why is there a security fence?

Because more than 250 times terrorists have come through that area killing innocent

people. Israel is forced to defend its citizens from terrorism, and the fence is a part of this

defense.

“As a matter of principle, we believe that it is a basic right of children to be

raised without hate. We ask the Palestinian leadership to end the culture of hate

in Palestinian schools, 300 of which are named for suicide bombers.

Palestinian leaders should take textbooks out of classrooms that show maps of

the Middle East without Israel and that glorify terrorism.”

“As a matter of principle, children should not be raised to want to kill others or

themselves. Yet, day after day, Palestinian leadership pushes a culture of hate

that encourages even small children to become suicide bombers. Iran-backed

Hamas’s public television in Gaza uses Sesame Street–type programming to

glorify suicide bombers.

As a matter of principle, no child should be abused in such a way. Palestinian

children deserve better.”

3) Clearly differentiate between the Palestinian people and Hamas. There is an

immediate and clear distinction between the empathy Americans feel for the Palestinians

and the scorn they direct at Palestinian leadership. Hamas is a terrorist organization –

Americans get that already. But if it sounds like you are attacking the Palestinian people

(even though they elected Hamas) rather than their leadership, you will lose public

support. Right now, many Americans sympathize with the plight of the Palestinians, and

that sympathy will increase if you fail to differentiate the people from their leaders.

Property of The Israel Project. Not for distribution or publication. 2009. 5