Israel has lost the media war

Naddoður

Active member
Like many military operations in the past that ended with unexpected casualties the IDF was caught unprepared and without an adequate response to the reports on Monday morning that some 10 activists aboard the Mavi Marmara had been killed.

Instead of taking the initiative and setting the media tone, the Israeli PR machine was scrambling for damage control on Monday.

Does this mean that the IDF did not prepare?. No; The first tactic chosen was to try and undermine the flotilla’s legitimacy and show that the ships were organized by a radical Islamic group called IHH that was based in Turkey and had ties with Hamas.

The government also went out of its way to prove that there was not a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. Reporters were invited down to the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza and shown the truckloads of food and medical supplies that Israel transfers daily to the Strip.

But, as in the past, when hell broke loose, the government and military spokespeople could not be found. It took the IDF more than four hours to respond.

If the IDF had hoped to obtain a complete media blackout and planned to jam the signals from the Mavi Marmara; well this did not work and the cameras on the ship successfully transmitted images throughout most of the takeover and enabled the activists to get their message out about the Israeli “aggression.”

Without an Israeli response – which came out later in the day and seemingly proved that the soldiers acted in self defense – the media was full of one-sided reports based on Al Jazeera. What Israel needs to realize is that in today’s media world, every minute counts.
 
The reason that the Israelis are so far behind the eightball is that they have committed a serious crime against all International conventions of safety at sea, and in doing so, they have senselessly murdered 10 people. Even they realise that they had no excuse to even be on board, let alone armed, and with ill intent. No wonder they are in damage control.

The predicament they bought down on themselves would have made Idi Amin blush with embarrassment.

You state that the Israeli government went out of their way to show that there was no humanitarian crisis in Gaza..... I ask, "How come virtually every other humanitarian agency in Gaza can show otherwise". This includes the Red Cross, Red Crescent, Médecins Sans Frontières, B'tselem (Israeli) etc,. etc., are they all liars? It would be highly unlikely as their stories all coincide.

The propaganda exercise being conducted by the Israelis at Kerem Shalom,... would you care to tell us all when that started exactly,.... about the same time they learned that the world was howling for their blood, that's when it started.

There are 1.3 million people in Gaza, nearly half of them in Gaza City, they need far more aid than can be sent in a few dozen trucks,... trucks that will stop, as soon as the last reporter leaves the scene. It's all happened before,...

Why did the Israelis try to blackout communications, what were they afraid of? They were afraid that the truth would be seen,... as it was,... and wasn't it just as well, now the world can see what actually happened, rather than waiting for the "sanitised" version told later by the Israelis.

Israel needs to wake up to the fact that they are no longer always able to censor what happens in Palestine, or anywhere else for that matter. Now the world can see their crimes almost as they occur. Beatings, harassment, torture, expropriation of land, and when they go badly,.... murder.

The Internet is indeed a marvellous piece of technology.
 
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Israel don't want war!!

Peace to you all I’m 14 years old I care for my country!
I want to say to all politicians around the world
Israel is a very civilized country and it was not just killing people!
Arabs all the time looking for a fight with Israel and get her guilty!
Israel giving up territory, releasing prisoners (Muslims) and still many,
Muslims are terrorist attacks all over the land of Israel, demonstrations and all sorts of other problems.
Hope it gets people to understand me and my country. Do not be against Israel without knowing the truth.
 
Peace to you all I’m 14 years old I care for my country!
I want to say to all politicians around the world
Israel is a very civilized country and it was not just killing people!
Arabs all the time looking for a fight with Israel and get her guilty!
Israel giving up territory, releasing prisoners (Muslims) and still many,
Muslims are terrorist attacks all over the land of Israel, demonstrations and all sorts of other problems.
Hope it gets people to understand me and my country. Do not be against Israel without knowing the truth.
Gwox, the reason some of us say what we do, is because we understand the policies of your government and have seen many of the things they have done in the past.

There's nothing wrong with being proud of your country, but you must, know why others think the way that they do.

As the title of this thread points out, it is not merely some of the people on this forum who think this way, but it is a general consensus of feeling from around the world. The world is becoming sick of Israel's intransigence, "accidents" and all too frequent poor behaviour that Israel usually attributes as being that of the unwashed Muslim hordes.

Below is a portion of a comment printed in Haaretz only a few months ago, titled "The country that wouldn't grow up".
Seen from the outside, Israel still comports itself like an adolescent: consumed by a brittle confidence in its own uniqueness; certain that no one “understands” it and everyone is “against” it; full of wounded self-esteem, quick to take offense and quick to give it. Like many adolescents Israel is convinced – and makes a point of aggressively and repeatedly asserting – that it can do as it wishes, that its actions carry no consequences and that it is immortal.
There is much more and it is worth reading if you wish to understand why many non Muslim people around the world see Israel as they do. I can't find the original Haaretz article but there is a copy here: http://israelblog.com/1147619908/

Shalom my friend.
 
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Hello again senojekips :smil:

Of course Israel knows the importance of social media and some claim that this is one of the reasons they took over the ship in international waters. The last thing they wanted was those on board getting good signals on their mobile phones and other hand held devices; the idea of the peace activists sending live streaming video or updating their Twitter or FaceBook accounts during the raid was too much of a risk. That’s the theory anyway.

No matter who you believe is right in this latest debacle there is no doubting that Israel failed miserably in their attempt to win over social media. The highest trending topic over the last few days on Twitter has been “flotilla” and the flotilla organisers are now darlings of the social media world. The only real support for Israel is coming from the neo-conservatives in America and groups within Israel. Even the social media within Israel is not universally behind this latest action with many calling for the government to step down over it. One popular FaceBook page though is calling for a boycott of Turkish products so as to save the national pride of Israel.

In my opinion the great thing about social media is that it gives everyone a voice; I also see this as a bit of a drawback. Everyone seems to have taken a side on this issue and the majority of these people are seeing the whole thing very much in black and white; we all know that the real world is greyer.
 
Peace to you all I’m 14 years old I care for my country!
I want to say to all politicians around the world
Israel is a very civilized country and it was not just killing people!
Arabs all the time looking for a fight with Israel and get her guilty!
Israel giving up territory, releasing prisoners (Muslims) and still many,
Muslims are terrorist attacks all over the land of Israel, demonstrations and all sorts of other problems.
Hope it gets people to understand me and my country. Do not be against Israel without knowing the truth.


Not everyone is against Israel. But there are many who don’t like the way your politicians treat the Palestinians

It is not always easy to see what is right and wrong. Sometimes I think it is difficult.

Just remember that sometimes it may well be that your enemy is right in what they say.

I hope for you when you grow up; that you may help to create peace in your part of the world.

B’vracha
 
Hello again senojekips :smil:

Of course Israel knows the importance of social media and some claim that this is one of the reasons they took over the ship in international waters. The last thing they wanted was those on board getting good signals on their mobile phones and other hand held devices; the idea of the peace activists sending live streaming video or updating their Twitter or FaceBook accounts during the raid was too much of a risk. That’s the theory anyway.

No matter who you believe is right in this latest debacle there is no doubting that Israel failed miserably in their attempt to win over social media. The highest trending topic over the last few days on Twitter has been “flotilla” and the flotilla organisers are now darlings of the social media world. The only real support for Israel is coming from the neo-conservatives in America and groups within Israel. Even the social media within Israel is not universally behind this latest action with many calling for the government to step down over it. One popular FaceBook page though is calling for a boycott of Turkish products so as to save the national pride of Israel.

In my opinion the great thing about social media is that it gives everyone a voice; I also see this as a bit of a drawback. Everyone seems to have taken a side on this issue and the majority of these people are seeing the whole thing very much in black and white; we all know that the real world is greyer.
G'Day Christian,

What you say is correct, but in no way changes any of the facts as they are seen, streaming video evidence is another nail in the coffin of a regime already known to be absolutely without scruples when it comes to getting their own way.

The fact that the Israelis made such a stuff up of the job, in virtually every area from its initial conception to its ultimate execution, is evidece to me of the complete and total lack of care, as to what the rest of the world thinks about their disregard for the accepted social norms of civilised society. In short, they just don't care if they are judged as guilty, as it is almost impossible to paint them any blacker than they already are, and they are very much aware of it.

Ever since the advent of the video enabled mobile phone and the internet, their extreme anti social and illegal behaviour has been able to be exposed, sometimes almost as it happens, in homes all around the world. Prior to which, the Israelis strict censorship and travel limitations within the occupied territories and "Palestinian areas" was keeping the vast majority of their dirty little secrets from the rest of the world.

This flood of undeniable evidence is having a huge influence, not only on previously pro-Israeli people, but even among large groups within the Jewish community. It was relatives of my own in this last group that were the "straw that broke the camel's back" for me. I have two families of relatives that have returned from Israel, in the last 4 years or so, one after 44 years and another after over 30 years living in Israel. One left one adult child behind because his wife did not wish to be separated from her elderly parents. Such is the loss of faith in the Jewish dream.

I see tonight on the local News, where a new conservative group calling themselves "J Street", have recently got into political lobbying in the Eastern states of the USA. All because of there complete dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs and the old school Jewish lobby groups.

There is much much more, but myself only being a two finger, "hunt and peck" typist I will save it until it is more pertinent
 
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