You Too Can Improve the Image of Israel

It is no secret that Israel has a severe problem with hasbara. Over the past forty years, the Jewish state has been slowly but surely been transformed in the public eye from a tiny nation proudly defending itself from annihilation into a state that is perceived as an oppressor, a human rights violator, and – to many of its detractors – to one of the most evil regimes on the planet.

Most Zionists who follow the news know how absurd these characterizations are. We also know that Israel is, to put it charitably, inconsistent in getting its message across properly to the world. Everyone complains about it, and everyone has their own ideas on how to fix it – but very few people are actually doing anything about it themselves.

This is a shame, because everyone who is reading this article can help Israel, starting today.

I have a pro-Israel blog, Elder of Ziyon. I have written thousands of articles about Israel and the Arab world over the past six years, and I get a fair number of readers. Lately, I have been using my blog as a laboratory to test out different ways of getting the message across. I can track the number of readers for any particular post, how many times people “tweet” the post and how many link to it on Facebook and other social media sites. Using these methods I can see what works and what doesn’t. The lessons are valuable not only to bloggers but to everyone who cares about helping Israel.

One problem that we Jews have is that we are too logical. Thousands of years of studying Gemara may have made us good at arguing, but it also convinced us that anyone can be swayed by a good argument. So we happily read and write long texts explaining why the “settlements” are legal, why US Resolution 242 does not imply that Israel must stay within the Green Line, and why a blockade of Gaza does not flout international law.

Our enemies, on the other hand, spend their time reaching people on an emotional level. They show photos and videos of crowded camps, of bombed out buildings, of old women crying.

In the real world, the emotional argument wins.

As much as we like to pretend that everyone shares the Jewish love for an innovative and logical thought process, in reality people usually make up their minds about Israel (and everything else) based on their gut. If a person who is not already emotionally invested in the argument one way or the other sees a tear-jerking film that pushes one side of the story, nine times out of ten that person will instinctively gravitate towards the side that pulled at his or her heartstrings.

We need to prioritize our emotional arguments. We need to talk about our deep connection to the land of Israel. We need to emphasize how we have cried every year over the destruction of the Temples. We need to show the human toll that would result from hundreds of thousands of Jews who the world wants to uproot from their homes. We need to describe the pain that would result from losing Har HaZeitim again, and what happened to it during those tragic 19 years that Arabs had control.

Not only is our emotional connection to the Land far deeper than anyone else’s, but no one can argue against love and fear. Emotions are our most potent weapon, but one that we are ceding almost completely to those who hate Israel. We know that we are right from a legal, historical and moral perspective – but we need to humanize the message.

It is not only the message that must hit emotional chords – but also the media that the message is communicated in. People respond to messages that are visceral, and that hit all of their senses. Powerpoints, posters, songs, poetry, film, novels, plays, even cuisine - all need to be employed to impact people on every possible level. Text alone generally does not have the same impact as more visual media.

On the Internet, the goal is to create something that will “go viral” – that ordinary people will see and want to forward to their friends. Videos do better than written articles, and humor is possibly the biggest weapon of all. Most of us have seen Latma’s “We Con the World” video created last year, and it was hugely effective with millions of views on YouTube. Why? Because it was funny, timely, and visceral.

While defending Israel is important, it is vital to go on the offensive. No one wins any games by only playing defense. The fact is that every accusation made against Israel – true or false – can be made much more plausibly and effectively against Israel’s neighbors and enemies. Attack the abysmal human rights records of the Arabs themselves. Publicize how nearly every Arab country has laws that specifically deny citizenship to Palestinians alone.

Arab nations constantly attack Israel to distract their people from their own human rights violations. The recent riots in Tunisia, Algeria, Libya, Bahrain, Yemen Egypt and Jordan – and the deadly police responses – prove that Israel is not the problem in the Middle East, not by a long shot. The Arab and Islamic dictatorships, where there is no freedom of expression or of the press, are the ones who need to be put on the defensive.

Beyond that, we need to publicize the good things that come out of Israel every day. Art, dance, fiction, scientific achievements, medical advances – we know it is amazing, but the world doesn't get to see these parts of the country.

So how can you, personally, help?

There are two basic ways to help: by creating pro-Israel content, and by publicizing the best content that is made by others.

For those who have the ability, creativity and time, by far the best thing to do is to apply the concepts of emotional and visceral media to the creation of pro-Israel videos, songs or song parodies, articles, comics, or even video-games and phone apps. One of my readers says that a good romance novel with a strong, masculine Zionist protagonist could do wonders to change Israel's image among those that read them.

Challenge yourself to distill a pro-Israel argument into a 140-character tweet (or even a bumper sticker.) Think outside the box and use your talents! Then send your efforts to popular Zionist websites to get publicized.

Think of ways that Zionist messages can be made available to the world. Do you have interesting video of your last visit to Israel that shows a side of the country that the news media ignores? Upload it to YouTube!

Once one of my readers sent me a photo taken in the Rami Levy supermarket in Gush Etzion, showing a smiling religious Jew joking with an Arab woman. I put it on my blog, to show how life really looks in Judea and Samaria, and a number of European websites picked up the story. A simple thing like that humanizes the “settlers” that the world regards as faceless, evil creatures.

Are you going to a fundraising dinner with a terrific speaker? Take video of the speech and upload it to YouTube. I did this with a speech by Mike Huckabee and thousands of people viewed it – people who would never have even known about it otherwise.

Don’t just write letters to the editor of a local paper – post them on the Internet, too. Make sure that everything you write remains somewhere permanent on the web so that search engines can find it. Put them on a blog (easy to set up) or email them to influential sites, so your points can be seen by many more people.
Elder of Ziyon

Azerbaijan: Last Tweet Before Arrest

'Azerbaijan: Last tweet before arrest'
by Ali Novruzov

Emin Milli, one of two youth and civil society activists severly beaten and jailed for two months for hooliganism in Baku last week, sent a tweet back on 24th June. Not only was it the last before his arrest, but it was particularly poignant.
"Qurbansız azadlıq olmaz. Ona görə də bu gün mən və mənim kimi adamlar həbs olunmalıdır." Əbülfəz Elçibəy, 1974
'Without sacrifices there isn't any freedom. Therefore, I and people like me have to be arrested.' Abulfaz Elchibey, 1974.
Azerbaijan's ex-President Abulfaz Elchibey was arrested for his dissident activities during Soviet period. The day of Emin's tweet was Elchibey's 71th anniversary.

Elchibey was head of the Azerbaijani Popular Front when, in an almost forgotten episode, Mikhail Gorbachev launched what turned out to be the bloodiest action of his six years in the Kremlin. In January 1990, the Popular Front mounted a series of mass street protests against the ruling Azerbaijani Communist party. With barricades springing up all over Baku, the Kremlin sent in tanks to crush a rebellion, leaving more than 130 people dead.

Azerbaijan: Citizen media in defense of detained activists'
by Onnik Krikorian

Although most activity can be found on Facebook where users continue to update each other on the case of video blogger Adnan Hajizade and youth activist Emin Milli, detained last week and sentenced to two months pre-trial detention, less activity might be visible in the mainstream media, but the situation is changing. Nevertheless, citizen media remains the main source of information.

In a personal post from the heart, Fighting windmills? Take a pill. remembers her friends now sitting in prison in what most consider to be a politically-motivated case.

I have a new desktop picture - Emin waving Azerbaijani flag in front of the UN building in New York. The flag of the country he has been working and living for, the one he dreams to be liberated of corruption and dishonest politicians, the one he came back from New York for, the one, he and Adnan will spend at least two months of their lives in jail for..

[...]

"Being a dissident is an honor" said one of my Georgian friends, when I told him the whole story. That's pretty much what Emin would say, I thought. And then, imagined what he would do if one of us would get detained.

[...]

They say "You can imprison my body, but not my soul". Indeed, they can take away Emin and Adnan but the love we have for each other will never fade away, no matter what. The purest, unconditional, can't-buy-for-oil-money love, that makes my friends wait for me to become an aunt and make sure I get home safely, the one that made 50 people sing Azerbaijani anthem in front of the Sabail Court. The kind of love, that encourages people all around the world forget about the fear and fight for the freedom of our friends no matter what.

[...]

United we stand!

Meanwhile, Media Helping Media, a non-profit organization which assists journalists and activists in countries such as Azerbaijan, says that blogs and Twitter were crucial in getting word out of Hajizade and Milli's arrest long before the traditional media did.

It took the traditional news wires at least 24 hours to catch up with the coverage of the arrest of two youth movement leaders in Azerbaijan. By that time dozens of blogs had been updated and probably thousands of tweets sent. The news was everywhere; everywhere except on the mainstream media. When the news wires arrived they were reminders of yesterday's news. Probably not too late for the media that feeds off and reproduces the wires, but too late for those who want news as it happens.

[...]

That was all going on during Friday and Saturday. I couldn't find a word about the story on traditional mainstream media.

Almost 24 hours later the wires caught up. First AFP filed a piece 'Bloggers held on hooliganism charges in Azerbaijan: rights group' and then Reuters 'Azeri blogger detained, oil major presses case'.

Granted, Reuters added an interesting new angle; that BP, who employed one of the arrested men, was pushing for his release.

Both good pieces again re-tweeted and spread virally and quickly, but 24-hours behind.

Glad I didn't wait for the wires or traditional, mainstream media to catch up. If I had, 24 hours would have been lost and I would have been reading yesterday's news.

Incidentally, today is Adnan Hajizade's birthday. Global Voices Online readers can leave any messages on either the OL! blog, or one now online to support the detained activists. A Facebook page has been set up in support of Emin Milli and Adnan Hajizada. There is also a petition which can be signed online here.

Tweeting While in Detention

'China: Tweeting a detention experience'
by Oi wan Lam, Global Voices

Yesterday, Guangzhou blogger Beifeng went hiking with a number of friends in Baiyun mountain. Some of them were wearing a Tee-shirt that carry a slogan from Xinhua Daily in1946 that says: one-party rule will bring disaster everywhere. It is a communist party slogan against the former ruling party Kuomingtang. The group of people were interrogated by six police and brought to the police station for further investigation. The tea-time lasted for more than eight hours and Beifeng reports on the process via twitter. Here is a translation of his tweets:

Some people with the t-shirts that carry the slogan of past "Xinhua Daily" are interrogated by six police. They are on their way to climb Baiyun mountain.

Police officer numbered 018356 is most active.

The police officers want to take them to the police station, but they don't want to go. There is a tension.

Both sides are taking video of each other, the police officiers then ask us to delete the video.

The slogan on the t-shirts is "one party rule will bring disasters everywhere".


Now all of them are invited to Baiyun police station. You can call up for further inquiry.

The reason for taking us away is to check our I.D and the police station of Baiyun branch is located at Guangyuen Chong Road 805.



I didn't wear the t-shirt, I went there to climb the mountain.

Nine of us are brought to the police branch. We are in a big room and there is no police officer there nor CCTV. From time to time, police officers walk pass the door. Probably they are waiting for the city police officers. We are making all kind of jokes in the room.


Still sitting in the police station. A undercover police walks in and asks us about the source of the slogan and asks if we are willing to write down our names. Two of us write their names down. The rain is very heavy outside.



Police comrades are having meeting, and there is only a police officer attending to us. We are bored. A friend is reciting poem from the Bible. Some fall asleep.

A friend just walked out from the police station front door. Ha, this is so funny.

Now the Baiyun police branch close the front door. Remind me of a saying "it is not too late to fix the cell after the sheep has run away". This is hilarious.

The atmosphere is becoming tense and there are more police. They want to keep us for dinner. We ask them to give a reason for detaining us.


Now the eight of us are sitting in the stair way at the front of the police station, passer-by can stop and watch and take picture of us.

An undercover takes us to a meeting room in the second floor. A senior police officer wants to see us. Up till now there isn't any procedural step taken.


Now they are taking note.


The reason for the written interrogation record is disturbing social order.


I left the police station 20 mins ago. Have been detented for 8 hours. Other people should be fine, will report on that later. However, Yeh Du has to stay and have tea (being interrogated) with security police.

“Fucking revolution”
Other people were asked to change into their new clothes and leave the old ones in the police station. I asked them to write a detention slip if they want us to leave our clothes. The police officers refused to do so. After a long negotiation, I took off my clothes and brought the old one home. But I had to wear the new one. I gave them money for the new clothes, they refused. I asked if I could just walk out without clothes, they wouldn't let me. By the way, the t-shirt that I wore had the slogan "Fucking revolution" with Lenin and his middle finger.

This is my first "tea-time" experience. Totally out of my expectation.

In their written record, I asked them to write down at the end: As a tourist in Baiyun mountain, as a citizen in this country, I feel regret that the police had detained me for more than six hours under the circumstance that I have not broken any law. I wish the country can respect every individual's freedom and will not let such incident happen again.


At first they asked me to change the clothes and I asked them to issue an official reciept for object detention. A police said if the object is a propaganda, they would destroy it. Later they suggested to cut it into pieces and brought the scissors in. I still requested the object detention slip. A police officer was getting angry and I told him that it was nothing personal. Then they consulted with the higher rank officers and eventually I could keep my t-shirt.

They asked me why I need the object detention slip, I said because I would get back my clothes.


Probably they could not think of any excuse to detain us, that's why they did not take away our mobile and eventually let one of us escaped. They had two hours meeting and then printed out a question outline. They must have consulted with higher rank police officials to figure that out. I told them that the whole incident would turn into a joke.


Yeh Du is now back home. All eight of us are back home safe.

As the time line of the tweets are not clear, Beifeng added more details in his blog:



The first tweet was written at 14:40, 19th of July. We arrived at the Baiyun police station at around 15:15. The written record started at around 18:00. 8 of us did that separately. I finished at 21:00. Because I insisted to have my clothes back, I stay longer until 22:55.