When the Libyan people took on their reviled dictator, Moammar Gadhafi, Israeli officials seemed puzzled by the alarming and unprecedented trend of popular awakenings in the Arab world.
Israel’s Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, has claimed that these awakenings are only proof of the ‘weakening’ of the Arabs – even at a time when international consensus points to the opposite conclusion.
According to Israeli daily, Haaretz, Lieberman has claimed, “the Arab world is becoming increasingly weakened.”
Worried perhaps that all rational analyses will show how Israel’s decade-long aggression has been a major contributing factor to instability in Middle East, Lieberman decided to dismiss the notion altogether. “Whoever thinks that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is part of the problems in the Middle East is trying to escape reality,” he said.
It must be a strange ‘reality’ which Lieberman subscribes to, but he isn’t the only Israeli official that sees the world through such tainted logic.
While Lieberman has settled on the realization that “it is clear to everyone…that the greatest danger they are facing is not Zionism, but rather Hamas and Jihad,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed into a different direction involving Iran and post-Mubarak Egypt.
Addressing the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations in Jerusalem, Netanyahu labored desperately to link some imagined Iranian designs into the future of Egypt. “The leaders in the West and the leaders in Tehran do not want the same future for Egypt,” he claimed, according to the Jewish Tribune (February 24).
“American and European leaders want an Egypt that is free, democratic, peaceful and prosperous…On the other hand, leaders in Tehran want to see an Egypt that is crushed by that same iron despotism that has crushed human rights in Iran for the last three decades,” he said.
One is accustomed to hearing the flawed historical references of Israeli officials, but Netanyahu’s latest comments are truly baffling. Tehran’s political involvement in Egypt was and remains nominal. Yet again, Israeli officials are interpreting the Middle East solely from the self-serving viewpoint of the Israeli political establishment itself.
This Israeli discourse is as old as the Israeli state. The initial narrative was predicated on the assumption of a unified party of ‘Arabs’ hell-bent on destroying a small, beleaguered Israel. The former represented all that was evil, extremist and anti-Western, and the latter embodied all that was good, democratic and civilized.
Maintaining this illusory discourse continues to be essential for Israel, for it serves multiple purposes and has long been the backbone of Israeli official hasbara, or propaganda. Even as the Israeli army demolished much of Gaza and killed and wounded nearly 7,000 Palestinian civilians in the 22-day military onslaught of 2008-09, the propaganda continued in full-force. It suggested that the loss of so many civilian lives was a price worth paying in order to uproot Islamic ‘extremism’ (as represented by Hamas).
Although Israeli propaganda has always been relentless, the Israeli official message in the face of popular Arab uprisings seems befuddled and unclear. The reason for this might be the fact that the current push for democracy – using largely non-violent means – in several Arab countries, took Israel by complete surprise. The Arab peoples’ desire for reforms and democratic change is utterly inconsistent with the image of Arabs shrewdly crafted by Israel and its friends in Western media. This image suggests that Arabs are simply incapable of affecting positive change, that they are inherently frenzied and un-democratic. Thus Israel, ‘the only democracy in the Middle East’, can be trusted as an oasis of stability and democracy.
Israeli officials tried to infuse this tired message following the uprisings in North African Arab countries, but this time it seemed incoherent and was quickly overshadowed by the chants of millions of Arabs for democracy, freedom and social justice.
Another reason behind the current failure of Israel to capitalize on the ongoing turmoil is that Israeli propaganda tends to precede – not follow – such upheavals. Israeli hasbra is most useful when Israel takes the initiative, determining the nature, scope, timing and location of the battle.
The official propaganda that preceded the war on Gaza seemed more institutionalized than ever. Former Israeli ambassador to the UN, Dan Gillerman was reportedly summoned by Tel Aviv to lead the PR effort. He said that the diplomatic and political campaign had been underway for months. The Guardian’s Chris McGreal, reporting on the campaign from Jerusalem during the war, quoted Gillerman as saying, “I was recruited by the foreign minister to coordinate Israel’s efforts and I have never seen all parts of a very complex machinery – whether it is the Foreign Ministry, the Defence Ministry, the prime minister’s office, the police or the army – work in such co-ordination, being effective in sending out the message.”
Israeli hasbara had then worked in tandem with the Israeli military, leading to a most coordinated campaign of war and deceit. But when the Arab people revolted, starting in Tunisia, the belated Israeli response was confused.
Israeli officials warned, yet again, of some Islamic extremist menace at work involving Hamas and Hezbollah, and others warned of an Iranian plot. Some praised their fallen Arab allies, while taking pride in Israel for being a fortress of stability, while others called to speed up the ‘peace process’. Some denied any association between the absence of peace and Arab revolution. Meanwhile, Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Silvan Shalom, who duly accused Iran of attempting to exploit the situation, chastised Western countries for disowning their beleaguered allies in the region.
The fractured nature of the latest round of Israeli official propaganda could partly be blamed on the element of surprise. Israel, which bought into its own dehumanization of its Arab enemies for so long, couldn’t fathom such scenarios as popular non-violent revolutions underway in the Middle East.
But even if a solid, streamlined, and certainly well-financed Israeli hasbara campaign is launched to better manage Israel’s crisis, one wonders if it could really make much of a difference. If a multi-million dollar campaign to hide or ‘explain’ the bloodbath wrought by Israel in Gaza in 2008-09 have largely failed, Israel cannot possibly succeed in hiding the fact that it is no longer the ‘only democracy in the Arab world’ – or that it was ever a true democracy to begin with.
I’d like to know where the author got his figures from .
“Even as the Israeli army demolished much of Gaza and killed and wounded nearly 7,000 Palestinian civilians in the 22-day military onslaught of 2008-09,”…
These figures have never before been floated anywhere, even by the most Israel hating propagandists in the world. If the figures are wrong, and I suspect they are, then the entire article is without merit.
Barry, around 1,400 Palestinians were killed. It should hardly shock you to learn that an additional 5,600 were injured, particularly given the devastation Israel unleashed upon the civilian population.
Actually you are correct about the wounded, I guess. And actually the latest figures I read were that just under 1,200 were killed, about 750 of those being Hamas militants. Please don’t make me run around finding where these figures came from, but what is interesting is that a Hamas spokesmen admitted that about 750 of the dead were militants.
Barry, perhaps you’re using the IDF’s numbers. Here are B’tselem’s:
1,387 killed, of which only 330 were combatants. 773 civilians including 107 women and 320 under age 18.
http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:4cxSWUO_91wJ:www.btselem.org/Download/20090909_Cast_Lead_Fatalities_Eng.pdf+b%27tselem+operation+cast+lead&hl=en&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESgaJ66fIr7uH0oic6SlWNBDiY9fBY7QZY1BjcsrowKsYXl4sERLMJAcUxyTvT2MhqNGRx2RlVIqKPycyTNZUSSGwNHi1jGlZjWBLzJ4ZYNjk-MKz6Oa75VNpYk1d0M2pTsqGBx-&sig=AHIEtbSoy-r3BuanYIHo6Yz1T-sxwXcBlA&pli=1
Jeremy, the day I rely on B’tselem for anything is not about to happen anytime soon. They are very anti Israel and just because they operate out of Israel means nothing.
The figures I used came from an article I read whereby a Hamas spokesman, speaking in Arabic, told of how many dead Hamas militant fighters there actually were. He didn’t realize that his speech would be analyzed and the figures incorporated by those who support Israel, but one might assume he was telling the truth as best he knew it.
And the Palestinians have long been known to inflate casualties in order to win the propaganda wars, quite successfully I might add.
So in the end one has to use the numbers they think are correct, and given that each party has different numbers in mind, you can bet that one or more of the parties in incorrect.
So when a writer uses numbers in an article that are disputed by other parties, perhaps said writer should state that his numbers are based on such and such, but others involved in the war have different numbers.
Even the number of wounded – and yes, I did make a mistake the first time, careless reading on my part – seem inflated by what I have read.
Let me add one final comment. Had those in Gaza – who were left the territory to themselves in order to build a vibrant community, not send thousands of missiles and rockets into southern Israel, there would not have been a single person dead or wounded by the Israeli in 2009.
End of comment.
B’tselem is an Israeli human rights group, Barry. To call them “anti Israel” is simply intellectual and moral cowardice. You can research the numbers. B’tselem’s are similar to other estimates from other credible human rights organizations.
You’re welcome to try to substantiate your numbers, if you think you are able. To wit, the day I rely on you for anything is not about to happen anytime soon. You are very biased in favor of playing apologist for Israeli crimes.
B’tselem is a human rights group like the UN is the worlds moral leader – both are disasters and highly against Israel. It’s not surprising in the UNs case, over 50 Muslim countries and only one Jewish one. In the case of B’tselem, because they are out of Israel one might suspect they are “neutral” but any Israeli knows that are a wolf in sheeps clothing.
As for you Jeremy, you drive me crazy in that I have to “prove” everything to you rather than you taking what I say at face value. It’s extra work and I resent it, but hey, if that’s what you want. Here’s one article that supports what I wrote – that Hamas itself said around 700 of the dead in Operation Cast Lead were militants of Hamas.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/hamas-admits-600-700-of-its-men-were-killed-in-cast-lead-1.323776
As for me being an apologist for Israel, I disagree. My goal is to support the truth as best I can and Israel is far and away more honest, moral and everything else as compared to their enemies and backers like yourself.
For example, just reading today that during Cast Lead, israel was taking both resident of Gaza, regardless of their status in the war, to israel hospitals during the war in order to treat them. Of course Hamas did not want this and would rather Gazans die than be treated by israelis. Don’t think this would have happened if the shoe were on the other foot.
See, Barry, that’s exactly why I don’t trust what you say, because you are not honest.
The “700” number includes 250 police. Police are not legitimate military targets. Israel deliberately targeted a police station while a graduation ceremony was underway, a major war crime. It also includes 150 security personnel, also distinct from militants. The actual number of militants the Hamas spokesperson said were killed is “200-300”.
I’ll take B’Tselem’s word over yours any day, Barry. Unlike you, they don’t have a record of willful dishonesty. The majority of those killed during OCL were civilians, by all except Israel’s own account.
Central Commission for Documentation and Pursuit of Israeli War Criminals (TAWTHEQ)
1,444 killed
341 children
248 police
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights
1,417 killed
926 civilians
313 children
116 women
255 police
Al Mezan
1,409 killed
237 combatants
1,172 non-combatants
342 children
111 women
136 police
B’Tselem
1,387 killed
330 combatants
773 non-combatants
320 minors
109 women
248 police
Defence for Children International
348 children killed
Israel committed grave war crimes. You are disgracefully defending the inexcusable and attempting to justify the unjustifiable.
And Jeremy, you have a hole in your head thick enough to drive a truck through. Based on the article, A Hamas spokesman said that 250 Hamas and others were killed at the police headquarters. Too bad there is not a heading for those used as human shields by Hamas and who were killed – that’s what they do.
You are such an apologist for a murderous group. It doesn’t matter how smart you may be or how much research you do, you will always be on the wrong moral side of the equation. Always.
Given that you don’t think Israel should exist, it’s easy to understand why you don’t think they should be able to defend themselves either.
You must think the murder of five israelis, including three children stabbed in the heart, was a justified means of resistance. You are a moral retard Jeremy, a nice guy in some ways, you talk about fairness, but in the end, you will always be one of the bad guys.
Question my honesty all you want. I have lived a life that is honest and decent. I have a good reputation in personal and business matters. My honesty is intact.
Barry, you said, “a Hamas spokesmen admitted that about 750 of the dead were militants”
But that’s a lie.
Which makes you a liar.
And that’s a fact.
Let’s get something straight for all time, shall we Jeremy. I don’t like. On occasion I will make a mistake – I don’t do this for a living as I suppose you do. My information is good though it may be off once in a while. That is not a lie and every time you accuse me of that, your nose grows a bit longer.
In this case, I presume you looked at the link to H’aretz in which a Hamas spokesman was quoted. Here’s part of that article.
“In an interview with the London-based Al-Hayat daily last Monday, however, Hamas Interior Minister Fathi Hamad detailed the heavy price his group had paid during the war.
“They say that it was the people who were harmed in the last war,” said Hamad. “Are we not part of the people nation? On the first day of the war, Israel attacked the police command and killed 250 martyrs, from Hamas and other factions.”
“This was in addition to the 200-300 members of the Al-Qassam Brigade [Hamas’ military wing] and 150 security personnel,” Hamad added. “The rest of the fatalities were from among the civilian population.”
Adding up those numbers you get 700 or thereabouts. You can quibble about whether they were all Hamas, but the spokesman seemed to think they were, and strangely, you don’t.
Barry, why persist in an exposed lie? Police are not legitimate military targets. The graduating cadets were not “militants”. Nor were the 150 security personnel. You have here a Hamas spokesperson saying about 200-300 of those killed were combatants. You inflated that to 700. That is to say, you lied. Now, that might have been an honest mistake. But if that was the case, you would have just accepted the correction. Instead, you persist in the lie.
Such is the nature and extent of Barry Lubotta’s dishonesty.
If you can point to any mistakes in any of my articles, I welcome you to do so. Otherwise spare me your empty insults.
Oh, yes, and as I already pointed out, the 200-300 combatants figure corresponds well with the estimates from human rights organizations, which show that most of those killed during Israel’s barbaric criminal assault on Gaza were civilians.