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How Israel's Propaganda Machine Works

James Zogby

Founder and president of the Arab American Institute



"As in past Mideast conflicts, both the media story line and political commentary here in the U.S. has closely followed Israel's talking points on the war. This has been an essential component in Israel's early success and in its ability to prolong fighting without U.S. pushback. Because it recognizes the importance of the propaganda war, Israel fights on this front as vigorously and disproportionately as it engages on the battlefield.

Here's how they have done it:

1) Define the terms of debate, and you win the debate. Early on, the
Israelis work to define the context, the starting point, and the story
line that will shape understanding of the war. In this instance, for
example, they succeeded by constant repetition, in establishing the
notion that the starting point of the conflict was December 19th, the
end of the six-month ceasefire (which Israel described as
"unilaterally ended by Hamas"). In doing so, they ignored, of course,
their own early November violations, and their failure to honor their
commitment in the ceasefire to open Gaza's borders. They also ignored
their having reduced Gaza into a dependency, a process which began
long before and continued after their withdrawal in 2005. Because they
know that most Americans do not closely follow the conflict and are
inclined to believe, as the line goes, "what they hear over and over
again," this tactic of preemptive definition and repetition succeeds.

2) Recognize that stereotypes work. Because, for generations, the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been defined with positive cultural
images of Israel and negative stereotypes of Palestinians, Israel's
propagandists have an advantage here that is easy to exploit. Because
the story has long been seen as "Israeli humanity confronting the
Palestinian problem," media coverage of any conflict begins with how
"the problem" is affecting the Israeli people. As Golda Meir once put
it, "We can forgive the Arabs for killing our children, but we can
never forgive them for making us kill their children." And so, it was
not surprising that, despite the disproportionate suffering of the
Palestinians, media coverage attempted to "balance" the story, giving
an extensive treatment, with photos, of anguished and fearful Israelis
and the impact the war was having on them. Early on, when media
treatment mattered most, Palestinians were reduced, as always, to mere
numbers or objectified as "collateral damage."

3) Anticipate and count on your opponent's blunders. Hamas' stupidity
played into Israel's strategy. From the outset, Israel could count on
the fact that Hamas would launch rockets and issue the kind of threats
that Israel could then parley into sympathy in the West. Knowing that
these would most certainly come, and could be exploited, was an
advantage in their propaganda war.

4) Be everywhere, and say the same thing -- and make sure your
opponents remain as invisible as possible. Israel begins each war with
a host of English-speaking spokespersons (many born in the West)
available at any time for every media outlet (it's no accident, for
example, that Israel has an "Arab" Consul General in Atlanta - that's
where CNN is). The work of their propaganda operation, which spreads
multiple spokespersons in venues across the United States with
consistent talking points, guarantees success. At the same time, they
are able to deny media access to Gaza, only allowing the Western
reporters to operate near the war zone under IDF supervision,
guaranteeing Israel the opportunity to shape every aspect of the story
while removing the possibility of independent verification of the
horror unfolding in Gaza.

5) Give no ground. Since half of the story will be determined by what
political leaders say and do, the political apparatus in Washington is
also pressed into service, ensuring that White House and Congressional
leadership will "toe the line." Statements issued by Congress,
therefore, reflect the talking points and, together, the Israeli
spokespersons, the political commentators, and the Congressional
statements serve as echoes of one another.

6) Deny, deny, deny. When events and reality break through,
contradicting the Israeli-established narrative, creating stories that
run counter to the imposed story line, the propaganda machine works
overtime to deny, deny, deny (saying quite boldly, "Who do you
believe, me or your lying eyes?"), and/or concoct a counter-narrative
that shifts the blame ("We didn't do it, they made us"). In this
instance, that means asserting that the death of Palestinian civilians
is always the fault of someone else, or that reporters or their
opponents are staging the photos of grief (as if to say, "Arabs don't
really grieve like we do").

7) The last refuge.... When all else fails, point to a few examples of
outrageous anti-Semitism, generalize them, suggesting that that is
what motivates critics. It stings, and may be over-used, but it can
silence or put critics on the defensive."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-..._b_156767.html