Friday, November 14, 2003

The Difference Between Their Hasbara and Ours

Besides the fact the Pro-Palestinian supporters have come out stronger, I wonder if there is an intrinsic difference between how they are able to present their views and how we do it.

What they want to present can be boiled down to a picture, such a crying mother whose house has been destroyed by the IDF (no need to mention in a caption that their were suicide bomb belts hidden under the bed). It appeals to emotion and seems real. And they have great bumper stickers ("Save Palestine").

What do we offer? Articles and long-winded editorials (an exageration, but not far off the mark, I think); expositions of the history of Israel, discussions of why settlements are legal and why the occupied territory is at best merely disputed according to international law--instead of stories about real people...boring. People cannot make their way through it and tend not to trust it.

Now we are getting wiser...ads showing how Israel reacted to 9/11 contrasting with Palestinians celebrating. No wonder Pro-Palestinians are crying (whining?) foul. Is the next step a bumper sticker ("Stop the Palestinian Murder of Americans!")

But the problem is, if their pictures ring true and our pictures ring true, if we both have clever bumper stickers--won't that merely give the edge to the "let's be even-handed; its a cycle-of-violence" crowd?

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