'When one sees the evidence on the ground, it's the most effective thing'
Photo courtesy of Tourism Ministry
Israeli PR: Dancing in the streets of Jerusalem
Tourism Ministry teams up with Pisgat Ze'ev Dance School to produce a flash mob clip that will be distributed around the world in a bid to present life in Israel from a slightly different angle.
We all know that the news coming from Israel in recent months is not very optimistic, with terror attacks taking place across the country, many of them in Jerusalem.
In a bid to present the Israeli capital from a slightly different angle, the Tourism Ministry has decided to team up with the Pisgat Ze'ev Dance School to produce a flash mob clip that will be distributed around the world as part of Israeli hasbara.
Jerusalem flash mob
The video begins with a routine day in Jerusalem - the First Station compound, Liberty Bell Park, the cafés, the pedestrian-only street in the city center, the tourists and the residents - a moment before the end of 2015. Suddenly, dozens of dancers from the Pisgat Ze'ev community center pop out of nowhere and swing into a joyful dance to the sounds of Avraham Tal's hit "Shoshana."
Photo courtesy of Tourism Ministry
The message, according to the Tourism Ministry, is to show a slightly different face of Jerusalem, and of Israel in general, during these difficult days when most reports reaching the global media are a lot less encouraging.
Photo courtesy of Tourism Ministry
"When one sees the evidence on the ground, like in this clip, and not just from stories that the reality here is different from the reality on the news, it's the most effective thing," a Tourism Ministry official said.
In order to convey the message, the plan is to distribute the clip around the world, both among the Tourism Ministry's bureaus worldwide and among tour operators marketing vacation packages in Israel, in order to show tourists who are afraid to come here that life in Israel is better than what they have been told.
