Totally agree with the author! I live in Canada and from my experience an average person, although constantly exposed to news about Israel,has absolutely no idea about the situation. When the Palestinians present their case, they use the international media very skillfully, and their motives, suffering and ideas are very well translated into the "universal human" terms and are easy to relate to. However Israel usually issues short unemotional statements, mostly in a very cold proud unapologetic way, with no explanation of their motives and problems. As a result an average canadian thinks that there was a country called Palestine, that Israel has occupied it driven by territorial and religious appetites, and keeps it no matter how much suffering it's causing. People here have no clear idea about the security considerations, about Israel's democratic liberal nature or ,for example, the reasons behind current occasional Israeli stikes into Gaza. Israeli hasbara has to tell Israel's situation to the world in a calm simple way, like you tell a story to little children, from human aspect .If you just issue short statements with such a cold political language, nobody has the ability to put it into context, nor understanding how your reasons have anything to do with protection of real people.

it would be wise to point out that israel seeks peace actively, however with regards to Egypt...well, fine, maybe their army doesn't come-a-invading anymore but they surely are responsible for clandestine destabliization efforts. Show how peace still doesnt even equal peace with Egypt. Even Jordan..there is peace with them militarily, but the palestinians seem to be their proxy, Jordan as far as i know does nothing for their plight. The children of Israel are always welcome in their tiny enclave. The children of Ishmael referred to as palestinians do not seem to have the same luck with their brethren in muslim countries. FOR SHAME

Agencies in Israel remain incompetent in functionality... by design - of the socialists. The government must ... "direct more funds towards it so that it can effectively put forth Israel’s arguments in a professional, organized manner" Professional and organized are NEVER words that come to mind when dealing with anyone who has ever fed from the government trough. Didn't the municipality of Jerusalem print 35,000 brochures saying "Jerusalem, there is no such place" when they meant there is no place like it? Until there is direct representation in government and responsibility taken by politicians, NOTHING good will happen in Israel, not for a writer/settler from Efrat, not for a Western immigrant, or an African immigrant, not for a demented chief rabbi, and not for any non-connected, non-native.

The problem with "hasbara" is evident from that very term, which translates into "explaining." The normal course of events is that someone slings an accusation at Israel, and its supporters then start to "explain." In other words, pro-Israel activists are usually on the defensive, merely reacting to a barrage of absurd and outrageous accusations. This article hits the nail on the head in that it advocates a more proactive approach. Pro-Israel activists, primarily on the U.S. college campus scene, are often unable to defend themselves or Israel against the type of accusations mentioned in this article. Unfortunately, they are often unfamiliar with or inadequately trained to convey the strong Jewish claims to the land, even if they intuitively feel Israel is in the right. Many "pro-Israel" clubs and student organizations spend their time and energy (not to mention funds) on feel-good Israeli "culture" fests, and do not even broach the important issues because that would make them "too political." On top of this, we have groups masquerading as "pro-Israel" that undermine Israel's case. For example, the Israel on Campus Coalition includes among its member organizations both Peace Now and the Union of Progressive Zionists (the latter sponsored the "Breaking the Silence" program, demonizing the IDF on college campuses) . There are some organizations that do prepare pro-Israel advocates for effective Hasbara. These include Aish Hatorah's Hasbara Fellowships program and the Zionist Organization of America's Campus Activism Network, as well as StandWithUs.

Unfortunately, Israel cannot compete financially with the Arabs who are buying up all available talent, including talented Jews to work on their behalf.

Here's the problem: the FM has it's own PR department, but the Prime Minister's office does the same. The PM's office also controls the Government Press Office located in Beit Agron in Jerusalem. The GPO used to provide international journalists with tons of information, hold briefings, answer questions, and take journalists on field trips. Then, the PM's office saw that they could take the budget for the GPO and use it for "media advisors" for the PM. In other words, instead of providing hasbara, they started using the budget to hire cronies to "advise" the PM on "media". So, instead of having a large staff that gives hasbara, the GPO has one guy who feeds info to the media. Once in a blue moon they organize a field trip. Lame lame lame. The FM, on the other hand, wants to run hasbara, but they bonk heads with the PM's office over who is in charge: the PM or the FM? The result is that everybody is trying to do it, but nobody is doing it well. The PM's priority remains to keep the funds for hiring cronies, and for fighting a turf war with the FM over hasbara. The FM people, of course, have their own agenda which often differs from the govt policies, so the PM's office says "we'll do hasbara, you do foreign stuff". In the end, nobody at the top is cooperating to address the basic need of getting the word out. The Pals, on the other hand, hired American media spin meisters years ago, and keep them on the payroll. Thus, despite their horrific record on human rights, despite rampant corruption that funnels billions away from the needy and into their cronies' pockets, despite their inability to organize themselves into a nation-state, the Pals continue to get tons of sympathy the world over. If the person occupying the Prime Minister position ever decides to put it on the agenda, we might get somewhere. In the meantime, Israeli hasbara will continue to be half-assed and innefective.

of course, the biggest problem is the leadership of the gov't which is without conviction. that said, with some limited exceptions, the people in the Foreign Ministry do not know how to design a campaign, a programme, an appeal. and, if they did know, they clearly could not implement it with the people that they have. those people are not there because of their talent. (why they are there is another question.) this is simple enough to figure out. so, money, while important, is not the solution.

I know Canada and the US are different countries but you might be interested in a study that was carried out on NPR in the US. During the six-month period studied, NPR reported the deaths of 62 Israelis and 51 Palestinians. While on the surface that may not appear to be hugely lopsided, during the same time period 77 Israelis and 148 Palestinians were killed in the conflict. That means there was an 81 percent likelihood that an Israeli death would be reported on NPR, but only a 34 percent likelihood that a Palestinian death would be. Of the 30 Palestinian civilians under the age of 18 that were killed, six were reported on NPR--only 20 percent. By contrast, the network reported on 17 of the 19 Israeli minors who were killed, or 89 percent. While 61 percent of the young people killed in the region during the period studied were Palestinian, only 26 percent of those reported by NPR were. Apparently being a minor makes your death more newsworthy to NPR if you are Israeli, but less newsworthy if you are Palestinian. An Israeli civilian victim was more likely to have his or her death reported on NPR (84 percent were covered) than a member of the Israeli security forces (69 percent). But Palestinians were far more likely to have their deaths reported if they were security personnel (72 percent) than if they were civilians (22 percent). Of the 112 Palestinian civilians killed in the Occupied Territories during the period studied, just 26 were reported on NPR. Of the 28 Israeli civilians killed in the Territories--mostly settlers--21 were reported on NPR. Israel has also succesfully lumped the Palestinian cause in with the 'War on Terror'. This is a distortion as Palestinians have not committed any acts of 'terror' on the West. There is no world wide Jihadist doctrine to the Palestinian militants unlike, say, Al Quedda. The issue of 'terror' is highly charged and debateable but it is one that reputable news agencies shun in favour of 'militancy' or 'militant' when reporting stories on Palestine.

u kill us and talk abt peace .... that is make me laugh .... stop killing people Palestinians don't forget people they lost in their fight for Jerusalem and the Arabian land look 4 the word Jerusalem it is Arabian mean the land of peace that u 'll never kn .... we didn't forget our people and we just need 4 chance 4 fighting to get our land back ..... 4 this time ..... we r back again

the knowledge of the Jewish people's right to Eretz Yisrael is diminished. In Europe, they would yell at the Jews: "Go to Palestine!" It was a known fact that this was our historical homeland. We have become complacent and also have raised a generation of Jewish ignoramises. Those of us who know history spend our time on various forums on the internet doing battle for Israel. We need some help from Israel itself!

Annapolis was an opportunity to lay out Israel's case and its interests. Instead, Israel's leadership spent its time promoting the interests of its antagonists. Olmert was especially apologetic in speaking of the "suffering" of the Palestinians, without laying out the responsibilities of its antagonists for this state of affairs. If even the Prime Minister doesn't know, or is unwilling, to make Israel's case, the Foreign Ministry can't be expected to fill in the gap. They're just following his lead.

There was a similar study done of the BBC by a studies group in Glasgow. I was [un]fortunate enough to meet one of the authors of this "study". He made similar claims and guess what, it turns out there is a reason he - and this "study" you quote - uses the number of people rather than incidents. This is because the headline news tends to cite large events - large number of people killed. So the six Palestinians killed mentioned were part of a larger attack and the 17 Israelis were victims of suicide bombing. One also wonders about the use or non-use of statistics. As we all know now, you simply lie and fabricate stats - for instance there isn't a six month period where 28 Israeli civilians were killed in the territories which kind of throws the accuracy of your post in a bad light. However, these "studies" tend to be only slightly more sophisticated. The only time period that it could be covering is sometime in 2000, 2001. There are plenty of events that could push off a death in the Middle East and given the Palestinians deaths were in ones and twos and Israeli ones in batchs - due to suicide bombings and gun ambushes - it is more likely that at random a Palestinian death would be pushed off. Did any of these studies take that as a null hypothesis and test it? Of course not because they were simply interested in making a point. One waits for the study of the likelihood of a Palestinian killed by a Palestinian vs a Palestinian killed by an Israeli making the news. We already went over your use of "minors" as an example of civilians and it was shown to be utter nonsense. Interested parties can look up the exchange at: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3478308,00.html This is the quality of Richard's argument. Again I consider it a matter of pride that Richard feels that Israel is so blameless that he needs to fabricate and lie.

We stopped killing "you" - the Egyptians - in 1973. We also handed over the Sinai. Why would that be? Nothing to do with the fact you gave us a peace treaty in return and - this is important - actually KEPT TO IT. Maybe you should consider passing this message onto your Palestinian brothers.

the author makes some very telling points that our official hasbara machine ignores, or worse doesn't know. we need more articulate spokespeople like israel to explain our case to both our enemies and friends.

In 2004, there were 141 reports in AP headlines or first paragraphs of Israeli deaths. During this time, there had actually been 108 Israelis killed (the discrepancy is due to the fact that a number of Israeli deaths were reported multiple times). During the same period, 543 Palestinian deaths were reported in headlines or first paragraphs. During this time, 821 Palestinians had actually been killed. In other words, 131% of Israeli deaths and 66% of Palestinian deaths were reported in AP headlines or first paragraphs. That is, AP reported prominently on Israeli deaths at a rate 2.0 times greater than Palestinian deaths. In reality, 7.6 times more Palestinians were killed than Israelis in 2004.

More than 4,000 Palestinian children have been arrested since the start of the second Intifada. Under military regulations in force in the OPT, a child over the age of 16 is considered an adult. This is contrary to the defined age of a child as under 18 according to the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child, to which Israel is a signatory. In practice, Palestinian children from the age of 12 onwards may be charged and sentenced in military courts. Between the ages of 12-14, children can be sentenced for up to 6 months for minor offences, including throwing a stone. After the age of 14, Palestinian children are tried as adults, in violation of international law. There are no juvenile courts for Palestinian children. They also frequently serve their sentences in cells with adult criminal prisoners, which is in violation of international

Your NPR study means what? That the media doesnt teat life equaly? That the world doesnt give enough attention to Palestinians? If you knew anything about what makes a news story you would know that statistics like this are not part of the equation. A girl who went missing over two years ago in Aruba is still commanding more attention than murders which occure each and every day. If you say NPR is pro Israel for under reporting Palestinian deaths, what would the under reporting of Daufur make them? KKK Klan Mambers? And the same goes for the BBC. Western Media has been caught fudging photos in Lebanon, reporting massacures that never happend in Jenin and other such fabrications. How would you put the hundreds of invented deaths that were reported in the western Media in general? I guess they dont count becuase they didn'r really happen? In the real world, we just saw what gets attention: a British teacher who gets 15 days in prison for naming a teddybear Mohammad. If this teacher was chinese would they get this attention? Before you say yes, think of the Bulgarian nuns who were jailed for years in Libya becuase they 'deliberatly spread AIDS' in Libya. What gets media attention is when the boy bites the dog not the other way, the Gaza strip and the West Bank are volatile places, Israel - much less so. When chinese police beat someone up no one notices, Police brutality in the US makes headlines.

If as you say - This is the quality of Richard's argument. Again I consider it a matter of pride that Richard feels that Israel is so blameless that he needs to fabricate and lie. - why do you reply to him? Are you worried that he is writing facts that you don't like, that you would prefer were censored?

The year of the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine is misstated as 1919. The correct year is 1922.

Richard, yes, you are right, Canada is different from the US. And so I believe is Europe. I cannot support anything I say with numbers, just my impression. And my impression is that there is no "emotional" balance in reporting about Isreal, that often on tv here you can see normal civilian palestinians who talk about their experiences and suffering, but to see an Israeli that is not an angry settler, a uniformed army general or a politician is extremely rare. And the truth about us, human beings, is that we first develop an emotional identification, make a simple assesment in black and white terms, and then try to adjust any info that comes along into our system of sympathies. So you can imagine what such emotional representation disbalance does to mostly uninformed audience. And I am not imlpying that the media here is anti-Israeli, they are just clumsy and not very knowledgeable and do what they can to complete the "assignment" acceptably and on time, like schoolchildren. The Palestinians greet them with open doors and there is some heroic glory you get from reporting from the territories, while the Israelis treat the international media defensively and their suffering is more private and less photogenic. So if Israel wants to be better understood, nobody is going to do it for them, Hasbara has to make an effort to take media opportunities and present their version, explain their actions, tell their story, and mostly show that their society is made of human beings with normal lives. So of course your sympathies do not lie with Israel, and you blame Israel for manipulation of facts about the Palestinians in the US media, which, whether it's true or not, is not a good idea. So thanks for the info about that study, but that has no real relation to Hasbara work I was suggesting.

The study shows that there is unequal reporting between Palestinain and Israeli deaths. This creates a distortion as a steady misreporting of deaths implies that israel is a victim when the reality is the opposite. The West Bank and Gaza may be 'volatile' but then the people who are 'imprisoned' in Gaza are living without hope and without a functioning economy. They are subject to arbitrary stops and arrest. They are not permitted to enter or enter without IDF permission. The West Bank is being surrounded by a wall nearly 500 miles long. I suggest that anyone who lived in these conditions would be subject to militancy and volatility.

The maximum number of under 18 years old in detention in any given month since the start of the second intifada is 387 in IDF custody and 359 in IPS custody - most months it is well below this. To reach your figure of 4,000 one would have to assume each person arrested is in jail for exactly one month released and then a wholely new batch is arrested which would contradict your claim of over half being sentenced to 12 months or more. I say this to point out your statistics is a lie. But lets be kind and assume for few seconds that by some miracle you broke the habit of a lifetime and were telling the truth. So what? We have been over and over this a minor does not mean she/he is a civilian or even unarmed. Also if you think throwing stones is a minor offence I would like to make two suggestions: a) You throw stones at a policeman in the UK and see if they prosecute b) You phone the Israeli embassy and offer them the following deal in return for having rocks thrown non-stop at you for half an hour you will accept them saying it is "non-violent resistance" and a minor offence. As for your comments about 12 year olds, 14 year olds etc, the total number of under 16 year olds in military detention since the begining of the intifada - assuming each prisoner is released and a new batch arrested so this is an absolute max figure - is 292 in seven years. I'll bet money that you have more than 5005 ASBOS in the UK over the last seven years[this is the equivalent figure for UK accounting for difference in population]. Am I meant to draw any conclusions from that? Also note the last under 16 left military detention in September 2006.

The Israelis were overwhelmingly killed in suicide bombings which is bigger news and more likely to get reported and as they are fewer events less likely to get bumped by random more important events - such as war in Iraq. The Palestinians are more common - so more likely to get bumped by random larger events - and also as smaller numbers - one person, one person there - less likely to get global attention. There is no conspiracy here. The question would be HOW are those deaths covered? I'll bet money that the majority of the reportage on Palestinians uses emotive words like "child" - for a minor under the age of 18 - or woman - with the implication she is a civilian - and I wonder how often they point out that 60% of the Israeli casualties were civilians miles from the combat zone and that all the Palestinians were killed in a combat zone and more than half were "actively engaged in hostilities" when killed, that means they were actually shooting when killed. It is interesting that the study included the first paragraph. I wonder how many of your "duplicates" were headline and first paragraph in the same article - I'll bet the study doesn't mention that. Nor do we get the tone of the report. Of course the real question is why 900 deaths in a far away country get such prominence. I note that the UK had more than 800 murders in the same timeframe, I wonder how many of them are covered by AP? What would be your interpretation of that, I wonder?

It shows exactly this: For a specially selected arbitrary period of time, a selected broadcaster - apparently - the occasion of an Israeli death is more likely to be reported than the occasion of a Palestinian death. That is it. Even taken on it's own terms, this "study" is problematic. For instance the Glasgow media studies study counted an article saying a suicide bomb had gone off killing - say - 6 people as equivalent to six articles saying one person had died. This of course had the effect of inflating Israeli figures and minimizing Palestinian figures. I would love to see something sinister in this abuse but having met Greg Philo and quickly ascertained his intellect and grasp of statistics is next to non-existant, we'd have to go with the work simply being incompetent. I do hope your "study" isn't this one because it has been thoroughly refuted in detail. Does this mean people don't realise that more Palestinians have been killed than Israelis? No it doesn't because by your own account the study shows 500+ reports of palestinian death and 131 reports of Israeli. Given that every single paper report I have ever read has the comparison of Israeli death toll vs Palestinian death toll, it is pretty unlikely that people are unaware of the disparity in raw numbers. What they ARE unaware of is that when you compare civilians the story ain't quite as rosy as you'd portray it. 70% of Israeli dead are civilians. These are people specifically targeted by the Palestinians as civilians. Less than 50% of Palestinian dead are even remotely civilian and far, far less could be described as deliberately targeted. I wonder how often AP or NPR point that out - does your study show this? Do they point out that 704 Israeli civilians were killed and that less than 2000 Palestinians - "not actively involved in hostilities when killed" - have been killed? This is despite the fact that Palestinian "militants" don't wear uniforms and operate out of civilian areas. As for your explaination/pathetic excuses of "militancy", one has to ask if the wall and closures are the cause then why the number of attacks has gone down since they were instated? And also why by an amazing coincidence the number of Palestinians killed in the West Bank has gone down too. In fact in 2007, Palestinians killed more Palestinians than Israelis did. I wonder how many of the Palestinian victims of Palestinians made it to AP's headlines?

Once again, do not let facts get in the way of your anti-semetic lying accusations. You state, and I quote, with vomit in my mouth, " I suggest that anyone who lived in these conditions would be subject to militancy and volatility". Referring to the life saving Israeli, DEFENSIVE fence. The walls and checkpoints came AFTER the suicide bombings, murders and constant terror from the "palis"!! Shame on you. But karma is a very interesting thing....... You will soon be living behind your own walls because Sharia law will soon be implemented by the English, politically correct, spineless British. Be prepared to pay your jizya dhimmi tax and forfeit your entire country, eventually the continent. This time, hopefully the US will not come and save your sorry selves. Fish and chips & Jew hatred as historical & cultural contributions to the world is not worth other noble men and women sacrificng their lives over. Do not sully intelligent conversation here with rascist lies. You are wasting our time and squandering our insightful talents for enlightened exchange of ideas. Go post on the arabic sites--they will love you and your propoganda.

See their website at www.bluestarpr.org "BlueStarPR creates messages that humanize perceptions of Israel. We focus on the freedoms Israelis enjoy, and how these freedoms create a peaceful, prosperous country that respects all its citizens –Jewish, Muslim, Christian and Druze. Our most powerful campaigns have been built around the themes of freedom of the press, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, respect for women, and gay rights and environmental activism. Key Israeli and Jewish leaders publicly affirm our preeminent role in efforts to re-brand Israel. Demand for our resources is high and growing, especially among students. During the last four years, more than 5 million people have seen our thought-provoking billboards, outdoor advertisements, posters, fliers, postcards, online campaigns and video. Volunteers use our materials – person-to-person, on the web, on campus, and on main streets across the globe – to educate their peers about life in Israel beyond the conflict. BlueStarPR alone, unlike any other private or Israeli government entity, has been able to produce positive images of Israel to counter widespread negative stereotypes. Through numerous assessments conducted by outside research organizations, our creative resources have been proven to build support for Israel among its toughest critics — young liberals in North America and Europe. Despite our successes with the next generation of world leaders, our greatest challenge is to generate enough funding to get our persuasive messages where they are needed most: on campus and into the lives of people living in communities challenged most by anti-Israel rhetoric. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to support our efforts in your local community or alma mater."

David, Thank you for reading this article. You are correct in pointing out that the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine was in 1922. It was however, largely based on the Covenant of the League of Nations, June 28, 1919.

Land for peace was never dreamed up for this purpose. Israeli leaders did not make the concessions for peace. That is how they sold it to the masses. The plan was on the table when there were far fewer terror attacks and arafat sailed away into oblivion to Tunis, decades ago.. Beilin and Peres , who deliberately dismantled the PR office in Israel to defend and explain the State's action, revived the "pali people" lie for their EU masters and huge sums of money. That is why the Temple Mount will be quickly handed over so the "pali"s and other moderate arab countries can destroy the 1st and 2nd temple and artifacts that prove Israel's G-d given right to all of her land. There is also some very interesting and hidden treasures below the Mount that the Catholic church is very interested in keeping. Ask yourself why the Church just declared the "palis" have a right to return to Jerusalem, their home? Israel has deeds issued decades ago and proof that there was no inhabitable country then. The "palis" didn't declare it their country then! We can prove that the palis originate from Syria, Lebanon, Jordan & Egypt. We can prove these very same countries confiscated millions from Jews they deported. Israel should have annexed her territories right after her victories. Instead Dayan gave the Temple Mount back to the enemy. Israel--your greatest threat and danger in modern times has always been your own leaders and best friend--- the USA. I pray you all wake up fast because very soon the Golan will also be on the chopping block. I pray that when civil war breaks out, the IDF defends the people and not the corrupt and murderous traitors, including your courts. I pray that moral and strong leaders have already begun their powerful and necessary work. G-d bless you Israel and I pray there are Macabbees amongst you now!!

that stops Israel governements from making her rightful case to all of Israel.--to the world. Israeli leaders have all been paid very hansomely, for decades, to take the country back to Aucshwitz 1947 borders. Therefore the government cannot justify Israel's rights to her land and then convince the Israelis to give it away. Of course the end goal is the destruction of Jewish Israel--as I have outlined earlier and especially with the total destruction of the Temple Mount. As to the claim that the "palis" were not involved in terror--HA ! Are you deliberately misrepresenting the facts or do facts get in the way of your false arguments. Ever hear of Black September in Jordan?. Palis were involved in hijackings,, murder of Israeli olympic athletes in Munich, connected to the first World Trade Centre attacks, they cruelly threw overboard a Jewish American in a WHEELCHAIR off the deck of a cruies ship ( I believe it was named the Achilles Lauro) and various gov't embassy attacks around the world, murdering many Americans along the way. as well. Ask Lebanon if they ever suffered from "pali' terror. I know you must be very disappointed that these facts get in the way of your position of no "pali" terror. It is also cruel and heartless to claim the threat and execution of suicide bombings iare not acts of terror !!