propaganda

The photo of Razan that circulated on social media.

How the IDF is tarnishing the name of the medic it killed in Gaza

The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit published a video it claims shows Razan al-Najjar throwing a tear gas canister into an open field and professing to be a ‘human shield’ — as if that justifies her killing. By Yael Marom “Razan al-Najjar is no angel of mercy,” tweeted IDF Arabic Spokesman Avichay Adraee on Thursday. Attached to Adraee’s defamatory tweet…

By +972 Magazine June 8, 2018

A still frame from the IDF Spokesperson's video.

When does propaganda go too far?

The Israeli army publishes a heavily edited video of a detained Palestinian man from Gaza being interrogated about Hamas tactics. The army won’t answer any questions about it. By Oren Ziv The Israeli army often claims that video clips published by B’Tselem and other human rights organizations in the occupied territories are mendaciously edited, and…

By Oren Ziv May 28, 2018

A crowd of journalists stands in front of the Separation Wall during a protest for Land Day, held in front of the Qalandiya checkpoint, West Bank, March 30, 2013. Land Day commemorates the death of six Palestinian protesters at the hands of Israeli forces during mass demonstrations in 1976 against plans to confiscate Palestinian land in northern Israel. (Photo by: Anne Paq/Activestills.org)

Israeli body that accredits journalists honored for propaganda

The official Israeli government body that accredits journalists has just been honored by the country’s PR association for enhancing Israel’s image abroad. Anyone who values an independent and free press should be alarmed. The government bureau responsible for accrediting journalists in Israel was honored last month by Israel’s association of public relations professionals for its work…

By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man October 4, 2017

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Members of the Palestinian national security forces carry the bodies of Nadim Nawara and Muhammad Salameh during their funeral procession in the West Bank city of Ramallah on May 16, 2014. Both teens were shot dead by Israeli forces during clashes the previous day outside the Israeli-run Ofer prison following a protest commemorating the Nakba. (Activestills.org)

Pallywood: The dark matter of the Zionist universe

Two recent cases of Israeli troops caught murdering Palestinians demonstrate the power, and limitations, of an entire nation deciding to believe what it wants to believe, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. By Eishton They call it “Pallywood.” Like Dark Matter, it’s a non-observable phenomenon, derived from our need to settle the contradiction between the viewable…

By +972 Magazine February 17, 2017

Israeli Ambassador Mark Regev presents his credentials to the UK Foreign Office. (Israeli Embassy/Twitter)

The making of a hasbara superstar, Israel’s new ambassador to the UK

For the past decade Mark Regev has become Israel’s preeminent government mouthpiece. Now, as the world prepares to mark 50 years of occupation, Netanyahu appoints a hasbara heavyweight to represent him in the UK. By Yoni Mendel I’m not sure Mark Regev is a name Israelis are too familiar with. But around the world he seems…

By +972 Magazine April 26, 2016

Activists demonstrate against the Prawer Plan at Herod’s Gate in East Jerusalem, November 30, 2013. The Prawer Plan, if implemented, will displace tens of thousands of Bedouin citizens of Israel. (Photo: Activestills.org)

Stop calling us ‘Israeli Arabs’

The phrase ‘Israeli Arabs’ is meant to divide us from the rest of the Palestinian people. Thankfully, more and more young Palestinian citizens are no longer scared to openly confront their own Pharaoh and reclaim their story. “So explain it to me again,” Amanda repeated. “How can it be that while Israel celebrates its independence, or…

By Rami Younis April 9, 2015

An IDF Spokesperson infographic published on its Facebook page with the caption: "Hamas has no regard for human life".

Truth is the first casualty when war is declared

The recurring elements in the manipulation of public opinion and discourse in wartime also appeared during ‘Protective Edge.’ Shaked Spier brings you the Ten Truths, Ten Commandments and Ten Lies of war. By Shaked Spier The truth Several truths dominated the hegemonic discourse in Israel during and since “Protective Edge”: 1. Israel doesn’t want war,…

By Haokets September 27, 2014

Israelis take cover as a sound of alarm broke near a house damaged by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip, in the southern city of Ashkelon, Israel, July 16, 2014. Four children on the beach in Gaza City were killed in an Israeli airstrike, raising the overall death toll to over 200 Palestinians as operation 'Protective Edge' enters it's ninth day. One Israeli civilian was killed on July 15 from a direct hit near the Erez Crossing.

Propaganda wars: Searching for a narrative in Operation Protective Edge

No amount of Tweeting, tagging, posting or liking will save Gazans from an Israeli ground invasion. So why bother? By Corey Sherman Recent political upheavals in the Middle East tend to have a social media subplot, whether it’s how savvy youth use it to subvert harsh authority, or how states manipulate access to it so…

By +972 Magazine July 17, 2014

An Israeli soldier fires tear gas toward Palestinian, Israeli, and international activists during a demonstration against the occupation and in support of Palestinian prisoners the West Bank city of Hebron, March 1, 2013. (Photo by: Ryan Rodrick Beiler/Activestills.org)

The logic of the occupation

What we can learn from the arrest of a well-known Palestinian activist’s wife. Nariman Tamimi was due to stand trial today at Ofer Military Prison for a rare charge: violating a closed military zone order. Nariman was arrested in her own village during an unarmed protest, in which not even one stone was thrown. When…

By Noam Sheizaf July 9, 2013

Omissions, half-truths, lies: Ambassador Oren in Foreign Policy

In a piece recently published, Israel’s Ambassador to Washington Michael Oren rejected claims regarding anti-democratic trends in his country, and compared the legal status of Palestinians in the West Bank to that of American citizens in Washington DC and the U.S. territories. A response. When Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu appointed Professor Michael Oren – a historian…

By Noam Sheizaf April 10, 2012

NoamSheizaf, NoamS

Jewish Week op-ed makes (bad) case for Israel’s boycott law

Lisa Levi tries to defend the undefendable boycott law at The Jewish Week. After making the old case that the Israeli boycott law is anything like the French or the American (simply false claim, as any form of the current boycott movement is perfectly legal in the United States. In fact, a Knesset research report,…

By Noam Sheizaf February 1, 2012

Government Press Office doing PR for the settler movement

It seems that every state agency in Israel is becoming a tool in the effort to further colonize the West Bank and deepen the control over the lives of Palestinians. Soon after the government reached an internal “deal” with the settler movement that would keep the families who settled in a so-called “illegal” outpost on the…

By Noam Sheizaf January 13, 2012

Hasbara: Why does the world fail to understand us?

A short discussion of the Israeli term used to describe the ongoing, ever-growing, national propaganda effort. I have used the word “Hasbara” pretty freely recently, and so do more and more people, without stopping to explain what it actually means. The use of this term has been widespread in Israeli Hebrew for many years now,…

By Noam Sheizaf November 13, 2011