Search our Archives:

Where is our Documentary?

By Howard Handler

What troubles me the most is the anti-Israel mind-set that pervades the rest of the world. Of course, historically, there has always been extensive prejudice against the Jews and later Israel. And there is no doubt anti-Israel sentiment is often anti-semitism in disguise. Though, it must also be assumed that much anti-Israel bias can be attributed to plain ignorance.

In this dynamic world, global conflicts each day compete with the likes of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes for attention on our 24-hour news cycle. The typical world citizen does not or, to be generous, cannot thoroughly learn about the world around them. According to a recent Zogby International poll, seventy-four percent of Americans could identify the Three Stooges while only forty-two percent could identify the three branches of government; politicians understand this too well and are compelled to dumb down complex public policy into 30-second sound bites. When it comes to foreign policy, the picture is bleaker. For instance, consider the crisis in Darfur. Are you familiar with the history behind the conflict or know the key players? Probably not, but it’s likely that you have formed, based on very casual observations, the generic opinion, albeit correct opinion, that the genocide must be stopped. Your anecdotal evidence on Darfur conceivably was derived more from the grassroots, stop-the-genocide movement, which was largely driven by the Jewish community, than from a detailed, personal examination of the issue.

Much of the worldwide opinion on Israel is also formed through a similar bottom-up approach. Far left-wing activists have adopted an unabashedly anti-Israel agenda. Yet, I have zero doubt that the vast majority of left-wing activists, who seize every opportunity to condemn Israel while remaining silent on the corruption, oppression and human indignities that permeates the Arab world, maintain little historical and factual knowledge of the Arab-Israeli crisis. New, unseasoned activists are indoctrinated early with this anti-Israel agenda with little to no alternative viewpoint presented. Sadly, many young Jewish activists have blindly adopted this anti-Israel platform as well. Nonetheless, these activists create noise, make news, and unduly help shape worldwide public opinion.

Additionally, low-budget, unconventional marketing campaigns by anti-Israel propagandists have successfully influenced public opinion. Via websites, blogs, petitions, rallies, flyers and other dubious sources, these groups have been able to mold public opinion by disseminating lies and misinformation. An hour and nineteen minute anti-Israel documentary entitled, “Peace, Propaganda & the Promised Land,” circulating the internet climbed to Google’s list of top-100 internet videos. This ugly documentary spews a poisonous potion of misrepresentations, lies, and classic anti-semetic rhetoric in a manner that appears candid and well researched to the unknowing. Certainly, this video, for a certain sub-set, preaches to the choir, but just as you may have been educated about the crisis in Sudan by a petition or a rally, these tactics effectively influence opinion. As the well-known dictum goes, “repeat a lie often enough and the people will believe it.” Unfortunately, this dictum works so well, even Jews supportive of the Zionist cause believe such falsehoods that Jews usurped Arabs from the land to create Israel.

The mainstream media too, as you know, has become an instrument of misinformation with well documented biases toward Israel and the tendency to often assign a moral equivalence to terrorist organizations. Couple that with mind-boggling double-standards the United Nations and other world leaders apply to Israel, its no wonder the teeming masses fail to comprehend Israel’s morally superior position.

Yes, the State of Israel and many wonderful organizations have worked hard to combat this prejudice against Israel. We, the Jews, often see our case well articulated by an Israeli diplomat on CNN or in a letter-to-the-editor by AIPAC, and unquestionably our political muscle in the United States is strong. However, where we fall short, in my opinion, is two-fold.

First, Diaspora Jews are grossly ill-prepared to advocate on behalf of Israel. Many Jews, young and old, do not know the very basic history or facts surrounding Israel’s struggle for survival. At academic institutions, workplaces and social settings, Israel comes under attack, often from well meaning but uninformed individuals, and Jews too often miss opportunities to educate their contemporaries about Israel’s position because they too are miserably uninformed. We must arm ourselves with the facts before we expect the world to do the same.

Second, while an excess of websites and blogs effectively distort Israel, the Jewish community has failed to duplicate our mainstream media public relations efforts in non-traditional mediums. You can find great facts and lengthy position papers on the websites of the American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise (AICE) or the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) – websites that will surely not attract the non-Jewish community. Like a politician, we must dumb down our message and present our talking points in a clear and simple manner. We need a unified, eye-appealing, straightforward website that concisely tackles the major issues and dispels the most common myths of the Israeli-Arab conflict; this website should be marketed worldwide and available in numerous languages. We need an organized “truth squad” to scour the internet and immediately counter bogus anti-Israel blog postings. We need to employ more structured guerilla marketing techniques such as distributing flyers throughout urban centers. And where is our documentary?

Essentially, we need to move beyond traditional public relations efforts, and fast. We need to take our message to the gentile community, because they will not come to us. We need to change attitudes and moderate views not just of the fringe of society, but the views of the mainstream masses that piece together their opinion on Israel from fragmented sources. Opinions can be changed, I know, because I have, myself, converted or moderated a number of people who held on to erroneous notions about Israel and its policies.

And we must do this to ensure Israel receives worldwide support now and for future generations. Changing the mind of one person has an exponential affect, as that person will share their beliefs with their friends, family and most importantly their children. However, we will fail if we do not quickly adapt to the changing world around us, and recognize that your common college student will not read Alan Dershowitz’s excellent book, “The Case for Israel,” but might watch on his laptop, while sitting at Starbucks, a three minute video that his friend, who found the video’s link on a blog, forwarded to him, which explains why Israel is not an apartheid state.

Howard Handler is Chairman of the Jewish Political Alliance of Illinois and works in the government and political sector. He earned a degree in Journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is completing a masters program in Public Policy and Administration at Northwestern University. He can be reached at hhandler@hotmail.com

Please let us know if you see something unsavory on the Google Ads and we will have them removed. Email us with the offensive URL (www.something.com)