Two kids lived in the same neighborhood in Los Angeles. One is Jewish, not religious but observes the customs and holidays while the other is an atheist whose parents are not affiliated to any religion. They attended the same high school and were childhood friends. They watched the same television and they were avid fans of baseball. They heard, read and watched the news on the Israel Palestinian conflict and saw how Israel spokespeople and hasbara organizations defend Israel’s case. They watched the news from CNN and other media houses air Palestinians claims and narratives from organizations supporting their cause.
The Jewish kid, on being urged by the parents went on the Birthright trip to Israel. During the trip, he got acquainted with Israel’s history and his connection to the land from his instructors. He met young IDF soldiers and he participated in hiking to Masada and the Dead Sea. He visited Jerusalem, stuck some prayers at the Wailing Wall and moved around some areas in the old city. He visited the Sea of Galilee and marveled at the Golan from where he saw the borders with Syria and Lebanon where he appreciated Israel’s geopolitical position in the Levant. He meditated at Tzfat and visited the Yad Vashem to see the handiwork of Nazi Germany and he climbed Har Herzl were he appreciated the sacrifices many of his people made to ensure that Israel came to stand. in Tel Aviv, he saw the high tech inventions Israel kept churning out. He saw how Israeli Arabs live without been oppressed in Tel Aviv and are part of the national life. What a modern society Israel is. It is just like his America with the same values. After this trip education, he became more connected with Israel with hope of maybe serving in the IDF in the future. He is now prepared to support Israel and make his friends take a favorable look of the country when he gets back to Los Angeles.
With his friend, he enrolled in the same college back in Los Angeles. During his first year, Israel had a conflict with Hamas and there was a spate of knife attacks in Israel by the Palestinians and of course the IDF responded with raids, airstrikes, arrests, detentions, etc. His professors in school condemned Israel’s actions and blamed Israel’s occupation and colonialism for the attacks. His classmates and friends picked him out as a representative of Israeli aggression against unarmed kids throwing stones. He saw his friend in the neighborhood join the students march screaming “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free!” He was shunned and bullied in school. For his defense, he prattled out all he learned during his birthright trip on how Israel made the desert bloom, respects LGBTQ, has Arab judges, and is a democracy and American ally. He also put up the classical defense he has seen the Hasbara organization and Israeli spokespeople say about Hamas been a terrorist organization, do not want peace and how Mahmoud Abbas was corrupt.
His erstwhile friends screamed at him
“Occupier!”
“Colonizer!”
“Apartheid enabler!”
“Racist!”
“Zionist!”
“Murderer!”
He was totally unprepared for this and went back home wondering why his friends started hating him so much. He whined and complained to his parents and they told him that those friends are just anti-Semitic. He kept wondering what happened that he could not really be able to put his case for Israel across well and stand up to those classmates. “Why is Israel occupying the Palestinians? If only the settlers in West Bank do not go there to establish settlements, if only Israel does not have a right wing government with Itamar Ben Gvir there or trigger happy IDF soldiers, if only……..” He has no real answer or defense to present against his attacking classmates. His parents, Hasbara and Israeli officials and spokespeople and the birthright instructors did not equip him well to be able to stand on his feet and defend Israel. He will grow up to love Israel and support it, beg and cajole, fund and give other support to politicians to pass laws and policies that will favor Israel because he has nothing to give as an answer to the ideological issues his detractors are making against Israel. He will also grow to despise the ‘settlers” and the likes of Itamar Ben Gvir for been the problem.
Where did hasbara get it wrong?
- How is it that many of the so called Israel advocates will have their behinds kicked by the Palestinian supporters when presenting Israel’s case and many times, make its narrative they were defending so pathetic that in some cases, they came out worse off than they met it?
- How is it that Israel’s case, which ordinarily should have appealed to the left for the ideological basis of justice, fairness, truth, it embodies is now perceived as a right-leaning cause supported by religious evangelicals doing so for God’s blessings, oppressors and racists?
- How is it that when justice, human rights and morality are mentioned in this conflict, automatically Israel is perceived as the oppressor while Palestinians are seen as the victims?
- Why is it that when oppressed people are mentioned and Palestinians are included in that, Israel is automatically seen as the culprit?
Is it all about anti-Semitism? Anti-Semitism is usually condemned by many people who claim to be progressives and human rights campaigners and they do not see the hatred against Israel as been anti-Semitic. Maybe they are right and maybe they are wrong
If anti-Semitism is truly perceived as something that should be condemned by those claiming to be human right campaigners who fixate on and condemn Israel all the time, then the way of Hasbara and how Israel is presenting its case is not effective and could be the culprit. This site is dedicated to looking at the answers and official hasbara narratives being presented by Israel and its supporters and spokespeople in making its case.
On case by case basis, it analyzes those answers and narratives and explores how it can sound to the mind and conscience of the man or woman who seeks for truth, justice and morality in this conflict. This is for the man, who is neutral and has no leaning to either left or right, does not support Israel or Palestinians and has no prior knowledge of this conflict but is a neutral observer but of course is informed about world affairs. How he could see the cases presented by these two contenders and then decide who to support. It is geared towards analyzing those answers and narratives from Hasbara to show how they fall far short of making Israel’s case and in many situations, make it worst.