[R-G] Israel and 'Propaganda 2.0'

[Anthony Fenton]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jan/09/israel-foreign-ministry-media

Hasbara spam alert
With Israel's foreign ministry organising volunteers to flood news  
websites with pro-Israeli comments, Propaganda 2.0 is here
Comments (286)

     * Richard Silverstein
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jan/09/israel-foreign-ministry-media

The hasbara brigade strikes again! You always hear about Israeli  
attempts at media manipulation. Everyone knows it's going on but  
usually the process happens through cyber insurgents like those  
involved with Giyus (and its media monitoring software, Megaphone).  
Now, we know that the Israeli foreign ministry itself is orchestrating  
propaganda efforts designed to flood news websites with pro-Israel  
arguments and information.

A reader of my blog has received the following email which documents  
both the efforts and the agency that originated them. The solicitation  
to become a pro-Israel "media volunteer" also includes a list of media  
links which the ministry would like addressed by pro-Israel comments:

     Dear friends,

     We hold the [sic] military supremacy, yet fail the battle over  
the international media. We need to buy time for the IDF to succeed,  
and the least we can do is spare some (additional) minutes on the net.  
The ministry of foreign affairs is putting great efforts in balancing  
the media, but we all know it's a battle of numbers. The more we post,  
blog, talkback, vote – the more likely we gain positive sentiment.

     I was asked by the ministry of foreign affairs to arrange a  
network of volunteers, who are willing to contribute to this effort.  
If you're up to it you will receive a daily messages & media package  
as well as targets.

     If you wish to participate, please respond to this email.


My friend did so and received this official communique from the  
ministry with talking points about Operation Cast Lead which s/he was  
to use in her/his propaganda efforts. Among the links was was a Peter  
Beaumont Cif piece. The following were identified as "target sites":  
the Times, the Guardian, Sky News, BBC, Yahoo!News, Huffington Post,  
and the Dutch Telegraaf. Also targeted were other media sites in  
Dutch, Spanish, German and French considered critical of the invasion.

Locally, here in Seattle, peace activists held a rally at our federal  
building attended by 500 protesters. In the foreign ministry  
communique issued the next day, activists were directed to comment in  
the Seattle Post Intelligencer's article about the demonstration. The  
comment thread for the article is riddled with clear hasbara "plants"  
who distort the balance and tone of the discussion with their  
programmed arguments, making it much more favorable than it otherwise  
would be.

Here the foreign ministry's coordinator describes a meeting he  
attended at the government's offical office:

     Hi all,

     I had a meeting in the ministry of foreign affairs today, and was  
very happy to hear that their metrics show that Israel's position in  
the internet is getting better every day. It means that you're doing a  
good job! MFA are concerned with the biased public opinion in Europe.  
So please focus your efforts on European media.

     What can you do to help?

     - Identify internet battle-grounds in different languages, and  
let me know
     - Comment/post/vote in the listed links and others; you can use  
the material attached below
     - Write letters to authors and editors. Identify yourself as a  
local resident
     - Have your friends join this activity


This message was meant to encourage the pro-Israel activists in their  
work:

     World governments are still patient with Israel's justified  
operation in Gaza. The [sic] public opinion, on the other hand, is  
impatient, to say the least. This gap will soon close – it always does.

     It is our goal to shift the public opinion, as conveyed in the  
internet; avoiding, or at least minimising, sanctions by world  
leaders. We need to buy the IDF enough time to achieve its goals.


Besides the talking points provided by the foreign ministry to the pro- 
Israel web activists, they are offered online pro-Israel material to  
link to in their comments such as these:
Bicom.org.uk/

Aish HaTorah's What Really Happened in the Middle East

YouTube video: Amid Gaza violence, Israeli and Palestinian doctors  
save baby's life -

CNN's Amanpour interviews Tzipi Livni

Military incursion should be seen as part of War on Terror

Blog from Southern Israel, Morit Rozen

Remember when the defence department was paying public relations  
companies and Iraqi newspapers to insert articles praising the Iraq  
war? The companies also attempted to plant coverage favorable to the  
US military in US newspapers. There rightly was a media uproar about  
the manipulation. We'll see whether the same happens over this.

The foreign ministry shouldn't get a pass on this one. It may view  
such hasbara as maximising its efforts to "explain" Israel's position  
in the world media. I view it as a cynical attempt to flood the web  
and news media with favorable flackery in a vain attempt to tilt  
public opinion toward Israel. Not only does it do Israel a disservice,  
it stains every legitimate effort that the ministry might make to  
explain Israel to the world, since no one will believe a word it says  
knowing it engages in such outright propaganda.

Not to mention that this is such cheap pennyante stuff. What do they  
gain by this? How effective can it be and how many can be convinced?  
By the way, I've even noticed the hasbaraniks in my own blog. You can  
see them a mile away because they've never published a comment before  
yet write something like: "I've enjoyed your blog for a long time, but  
anyone with a brain in their head knows that Hamas is out to destroy  
Israel blah, blah blah." Pretty formulaic stuff. Also, you can Google  
a few phrases of the comment and if you find it appears elsewhere on  
the web you know you either have a hasbaranik or someone who has  
repetition compulsion.

In some instances, western media may intentionally or unintentionally  
fall victim to manipulation. Tony Karon points out that pro-Israel  
journalist-historian Michael Oren has published several stories since  
the Gaza incursion began in US media outlets like the New Republic and  
Los Angeles Times. He is also on active duty with the IDF in Gaza  
serving as a public affairs officer liasing with foreign media. You  
will find nothing noting this in the Los Angeles Times op ed. In  
effect, the media is allowing advocates like Oren to pass themselves  
off as disinterested experts when they are anything but. It behooves  
editors to do some due diligence when they publish any piece that  
advocates for one side or the other to determine whether there may be  
conflicts of interest or other unacknowledged factors influencing a  
commentator's judgment.

It seems we are now well and truly in the world of Propaganda 2.0.