Opinion  Ben-Dror Yemini
The boomerang effect of anti-Israel lies
Ben-Dror Yemini
Published: 25.05.18, 23:21
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48 Talkbacks for this article
1. They are self proclaimed "progressive", ignorant and loud.
just me   (05.26.18)
You mean " the ‘massacre’ claims have become a consensus in SELF PROCLAIMED progressive circles in Israel and worldwide."
2. Titled: Tayyip Recep Erdogan Is Indeed ...
jfraser ,   Chicago, IL   (05.26.18)
... an Islamofascist.
The entire world must come to realize this as fact.
Don't EVER trust Erdogan or Iran's clerics - particularly Ayatollah Khamenei !
Titled: Tayyip Recep Erdogan Is Indeed ...
3. MD
EF Barasch ,   Sacramento   (05.26.18)
Using live fire from snipers as THE FIRST RESORT?

I am a dedicated Zionist. You deserve what you get for being
absolutely stupid and making Jews all over the world look bad.

No one denies Israel's right to defend it borders. but not by
butchery. Why cannot you get that into your heads?

No one can defend the indefensible.
4. Great Article.
Ron ,   Melbourne   (05.25.18)
5. It's the collective unconscious, not "public diplomacy".
Dai Leshtus ,   Chelm   (05.26.18)
How about learning how the collective unconscious works here? How about understanding how the "noble savages" projection that Palestinians enjoy, actually works?

How about a formidably well trained Ethiopian-Israeli woman as our ambassador at the UN? How about a Yemenite-Israeli woman as Foreign Minister (Bibi still absurdly keeps that portfolio for himself)? How about a Arab Israeli woman as our ambassador to the European Union? (They would have to eat their anti-Semitic hearts out!)

How about having as formidable agencies / bodies PLUS A MINISTRY for anti-demonization, as we have Intel and Army, and an actual Hebrew NAME for the phenomenon? (without a name, we tend not to see it).

How about not countering their emotional Ashrawis, and Erekats with cerebral facts, but with a much more compelling emotional narrative, framing them as the imperialists, the expansionists, the racists, the apartheid, the rejectionists they are. BUT NOT with a phlegmatic, cerebral spokesman, but a dark-skinned woman.

You won't persuade hardcore anti-Semites like Roger Waters. He's not the target. But with time and patience, the dissonance will begin to bear fruit and we can be in a much, much better place in 5 to 10 years.

Demonization and anti-Semitism in order to delegitimize and ultimately destroy Israel, is something that Israel is only now beginning to seriously internalize as not some distraction to her serious, professional defense matters, but an existential threat.

It's not politics or "public diplomacy". It's not clarifying facts. It's in the realm of psychology in general and collective psychology in particular. Israel needs an agency to defend herself from demonization. It cannot be the IDF spokesperson's job.

It must be a world-class, big yet agile agency / body / network of psychologists and sociologists willing to learn and listen, historians and advertisers, social network engeneers, writers, cinema professionals, all formidable people, forming no less a superb body than Shin Bet and Mossad.
6. Logically admission is not proof of one death.
ZIPPY'S USED CARS ,   Levittown, NY   (05.26.18)
7. If Hamas supporters are fair target for murder, then Israel
Khalid Amayreh ,   Occupied Jerusalem   (05.26.18)
supporters are also fair target for murder. You can not kill a person for his or her political views
8. ignorant writer.People shouldn't get killed for their views
Khalid Amayreh ,   Occupied Jerusalem   (05.26.18)
9. Jews can'r commit mass murder and whine about fall-out
Erika LOFSTEDT ,   Vienna   (05.26.18)
10. Yemni: your bloody soldiers slaughtered 100 kids in 5 hours
Ephraim Hendel ,   London   (05.26.18)
11. Yem is lying: Hamas said they were supporters not operatives
Carmela Menache ,   Tel Aviv   (05.26.18)
12. Hamas has over a million supporters. Are they to be killed?
Khalid Amayreh ,   Occupied Jerusalem   (05.26.18)
13. move on
Ralph   (05.26.18)
They still hate you - it does not matter what you do. Turn left and turn right. Go forward an go back. Israel will always be demonized. Israel has to simply contain the threat and move on. Forget Europe. Europe will do what Europe does best - capitulate. India and other world markets is waiting for Israeli products.
14. Europe can burn, that's fine
Empress Trudy ,   Raleigh   (05.25.18)
There's no downside to watching angry Muslims destroy Europe.
15. Jews blame world for Jew bad behavior, land theft, murder
(05.26.18)
16. So very true.
DOV ,   USA   (05.26.18)
17. Palestine = fake nation that we need to come to grips with
Khalid Amayreh ,   Unified Jerusalem   (05.26.18)
We are like the native American Indians....scattered tribes, but not really a "nation".
18. There's no point trying to understand Jew-hate or self-hate!
(05.26.18)
19. Moving Poles
Mark ,   London   (05.26.18)
"Ukrainians should fire rockets at Poland, because that’s where they were expelled from"

I'm confused. I thought it was the Poles who were expelled from the Ukraine, for example from Lvov. As the Ukraine at the time was part of the old Soviet Union there was nothing they could do about it. However, they were compensated with territories taken from the old German Reich.

In other words, there was a whole load of population shifting, and moving international boundaries after WW2. I don't suppose the Poles loved their country any less than Palestinians.
20. Radicalization of the Muslim communities
Mark ,   London   (05.26.18)
It is not hard to radicalise Muslim communities in Europe. All of them come from countries in permanent chaos, and of course the West and Israel are to blame.
21. Naah
MrDude ,   London   (05.26.18)
It doesn't change anything. Those communities were already radicalised.

What is stupid, is how Israel did such a bad PR job and failed to get its side of the story out there. Something that Israel had become better at recently, this time you failed Israel.
22. Don’t nurse a rabid dogs they will bite you
Cushi ,   Brisbane   (05.26.18)
The boomerang will hit Europe too
In the 70s after repeated failed attempts at Israeli plain hijacking and hostage takings by Arab terrorist, those very same terrorist turned on the countries that supported them in more ways than one i.e. paid ransom monies.

1979, Khomeini returned to Iran on Air France chartered flight from France his last place of refuge, since that time France has become the main target for terror attacks second to none in Europe.
Then there’s the knives attacks most have failed resulting with the attacker being eradicated.
The world jumped up and down protesting the IDF and ordinary Israelis’ swift response and thinking their support for terrorists will grant them an immunity from similar attacks on their own turf.

And then there’s the vehicle attacks…and on it goes…the cancer cells have multiplied.

Do I feel joy for the suffering of our European nemesis, NO.
But I will say; don’t nurse a rabid dogs they will bite you.

23. The anti-Israel bias of institutions and media
Moshe   (05.26.18)
In the free world, stems probably not only from progressive circles' strong inclination against the Jewish state and poor Israeli PR, but also from bribery of many influencing Western bodies by the Arab wealth.
24. I wonder, does anyone know the well kept secret
Yaffa ,   Haifa   (05.27.18)
of the alternative model that those who boycott Israel offer to the world?
How will they support the hungry people of the world just with money? Money will give you the ability to buy anything, but what if you wont have anything to buy due to boycotting Israel and the Israelis? ...I wonder.
25. the boomerang
tiki ,   belgium   (05.27.18)
The west deserves it.
26. I'd love to see the State of Palestine
David Kunkel ,   Buffalo   (05.27.18)
...I'm sure it would be a lovely, peaceful place full of Arabs loving each other and tolerant of all faiths, just like the rest of the Middle East and pretty much wherever Muslims exercise political power.
27. There was a story about this
David Kunkel ,   Buffalo   (05.27.18)
"For their safety," the IDF kept journalists far away from the action and provided them with video and narrative updates. By contrast, Hamas brought journalists right up to the front and pushed them towards the battle, knowing that every dead or injured journalist would be a black eye for Israel. If life is cheap, expect death. Israel mourns every Israeli casualty; Hamas and Fatah celebrate every one of theirs killed. I think that pretty well sums up the difference. If that's how they regard their own, how do they regard "the other?
28. Mass media main culprit behind anti-Semitism...
Alexander ,   Tel Aviv   (05.29.18)
…..and Israel hatred.

International Western mass media with a global outreach, coupled with Arab-Muslim mass media, are the ones responsible for defaming Israel, categorically and systematically denying and manipulating facts, turning the Israeli side - the victims - into "perpetrators", and the Arab side - the perpetrators - into "victims".

This is an old and commonly known truth: Israel wins the military battles and wars on the battlefield, while the Arabs win the PR war in newspapers and broadcasting companies.

Add to that, the biased and prejudiced politics of social media such as Facebook.

The Western journalists and TV reporters who relish in defaming and tainting Israel's name and reputation are as dangerous as the actual terrorists who attack Jews and Israelis.

Conclusion?
Israel needs to fight the war in mass media as well.
Israel excels in many fields, but is lousy in PR. So much for the statement that "Jews control media". If that were true, Western media would be for Israel and not against it.
29. Israel created the mess
Albany Aden ,   Lisbon - portugal   (11.10.18)
As i wrote in other message when hamas won the elections in gaza back in 2005 or 2006 israelbrefused to negotiate with the palestinian movement. That is a fact. Instead israel did choose the path of war. 3 waRs in 10 years. Thousands killed. Now a shoot to kill policy. That is neiter nice nor defensible. What wascthe end game? The overthrow of hamas? Well a pa ruled gaza would not do to israel any favor. So israel had no other policy besides blockading gaza, waging war, and hope the gazans would overthrow hamas. Such war policy towards a wholle population does not gave good image of the jewish state
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