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'Israel Claims Success in the PR War'

Friday, 02 January 2009 17:29

The Jewish Chronicle reports that officials in the Israeli government believe they are winning the 'hasbara' (Hebrew: propaganda) battle.

'The Gaza attack is the first major demonstration of Israel’s total overhaul of its ‘hasbara’ operation following the Second Lebanon War. While the military aspects of the operation were meticulously planned, a new forum of press advisers was also established which has been working for the past six months on a PR strategy specifically geared to dealing with the media during warfare in Gaza,' says the JC.

The Times also this week noted the 'secondary war being fought on the internet' between supporters of Israel and the Palestinians saying that there is 'nothing to rival the organisation and sophistication of Israel's PR war.'

Elsewhere, Stephen Pollard (pictured), the editor of the Jewish Chronicle, complained about the allegedly anti-Israel bias of the BBC and the 'the de facto Hamas daily bulletin on Channel Four News'. The BBC is by far the most important British broadcaster having a reach through its TV, radio and internet sites that no other UK media outlet can come close to matching. As such, it has been quite ruthlessly targeted by pro-Israeli groups in order to intimidate it into adopting ever increasingly pro-Israeli positions.

Just how balanced are our national broadcasters though when it comes to the coverage of the Middle East?

In a remarkable and scientific study of the manner in which the main UK terrestrial news broadcasters (BBC and ITV) cover the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Professor Greg Philo and Dr Mike Berry of the Glasgow University Media Group, in their book, 'Bad News From Israel', detailed how that news coverage tends to promote the Israeli perspective while ensuring that viewers remain ignorant of the actual causes that lie behind that long-running tragedy.

According to the authors, television news is the main source of information on the Israel-Palestine conflict for about 80% of the population. Their research found that on British television, particularly on BBC1, there was a preponderance of official 'Israeli perspectives'. Israelis were interviewed or reported more than twice as much as Palestinians. There were also a large number of statements broadcast from US politicians who tended to strongly support Israel. These in turn were interviewed twice as much as politicians from Britain, with the strange result being that many British viewers will perhaps have come to know more about the US position on the Middle East than their own government's position.

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Terminator - We can turn this around

|2009-01-02 23:36:37

I admit that the supporters of Israel are a darn sight better organised than many Muslim groups.

The key is to get more British Muslims active and yes, you're right, ENGAGEd. That way they can help inform and educate those around them including fellow British citizens about the truth behind official Israeli propaganda.

I am sure we can turn this around. We just all have to make a solid commitment to put in the time and effort necessary to make it happen.