Peloni: Highly recommended article. Dr. Nussbaum provides an important discussion of the various missteps surrounding the responses to the ever increasing anti-Zionist/antisemitic campaign taking place around the world today. He also provides a strategic format by which misdirection and delayed responses might be best addressed in a unified fashion.
Focusing on “hatred-inspiring and genocide-justifying fabrications” repeatedly and uniformly across different organizations fighting anti-Zionism and antisemitism will ensure that this most strategic set of responses will be expressed repeatedly.
Francesco Hayez (1791-1882) Destruction of the jewish temple in Jerusalem.Origin: acquired in 1868 by a donation of his author.(cat. 756)Gallerie dell’Accademia. Image from Rawpixel. Original public domain image from Wikimedia Commons
At least since the destruction of the Second Holy Temple in Jerusalem in the year 70, CE, Jews have been beset with divisiveness that has compromised the potential to achieve the lofty spiritual goals envisioned by its prophets and increased Jewish physical vulnerability to external enemies and their kinetic threats. Consequently, especially in times of external attacks, appeals emanate from many distinct camps within the Jewish people calling for Unity. Jews are consciously aware of the perils presented by their succumbing to their enemies’ strategic efforts to “Divide and Conquer” them, piece by piece.
The call for unity is admirable, but in reality, the diverse voices calling for unity want, and perhaps some optimistically even expect, the others to adopt their perspective to achieve that elusive unification. In contemporary Israel, haredim seek unity within a strictly Torah observant society. Israeli Leftists seek unity following their foreign ideology positioning their socialist-derived, secular universalism as the essential epicenter of unity with the rest of humanity, not necessarily with traditionalist, observant or non-observant fellow-Israelis…married of course to a visceral hatred of Netanyahu and the political “Right.” The “Old Guard Israeli Left” whose “conceptzia” led directly to October 7th, feel entitled to their historical and founding ideological unity as well.
(Interestingly, Communist China with approximately 1.3 billion citizens is governed by a single political party, while Israel with a paltry 9.534 million citizens, counts 12 parties in its current Knesset (parliament.) Three of this dozen are composites of two smaller parties that on their own, would not exceed the 3.25% of the popular vote to qualify for representation in the 120-seat Knesset.
Yes, some cultures lean toward collectivism while others toward individualism. Traditionally, Jews have been fierce individualists, perhaps surprisingly to their survival as a distinct people. Being of relatively small numbers, if all of them followed a leader who made a very bad choice, and overarching uniformity might have (G-d Forbid) been nationally catastrophic. Dissenters would have avoided the disastrous path.
In peoples of far greater numbers, rampant individualism would lead to unimaginable chaos. To illustrate, in Israel, there is one political party in the Knesset for every 800,000 or so citizens. In China, the Chinese National People’s Congress would have about 175 political parties using a similar ratio of one political party in the government for every 800,000 citizens… should they ever decide to switch from a one-party governing system. Furthermore, a highly populous country can sustain and survive a disastrous decision from the top, as China did when millions starved under Chairman Mao’s relentless Great Leap Forward. More Chinese starved to death than the world’s present Jewish population. What may work for the numerous won’t work for the few and vice versa.)
I would like to suggest something far less “ideology-driven” but far more strategic and tactical. We know that the traditional “Hasbarah” is completely irrelevant and ineffective. It is modeled on projections about how “we” would like others to see “us” as “highly intelligent, well intentioned, good, and helpful people” which may be true to a greater or lesser extent, but is completely blind to the reality of the highly successful, massive propaganda campaign waged against Israel beginning in 1964 with the invention of a mythical Palestinian People by the KGB, gifted to Arafat and the PLO.
The initial framework was enhanced and updated by the lavishly funded aid of top P.R. firms in the West, with the backing initially of the Saudis, but more recently, principally, by the Qataris and possibly by Iranians
Their retrospectively obvious strategy was to create a five component “Palestinian Mythology” intended to resonate with positive aspects of self-identity, especially in segments of Western society who unquestioningly idealize the basic tenets of Marxist/communist values, specifically bifurcating humanity into the immutable evil Oppressors and the perennially virtuous Oppressed. Their effectiveness has also been enhanced by coloring the Oppressors “White” and the Oppressed “Black and Brown.” Jews, in this projected pallet are magically deemed “Ultra-White.” The depicted Oppressed Palestinians are of course honorable “Brown folks” who can do no wrong, including October 7, because they are simply “resisting oppression.”
The preceding represents the underlying fertile soil for the seeds of the Palestinian Arab Mythology to root, grow, and displace previously flourishing and useful plants across the domain. The Five Books of the Palestinian Arab Mythology are as follows:
1. The Book of Denial of Jewish History, Nationality, and Aboriginal Status in the Land of Israel Over the Last 3,000 Plus Years, Including Judea, Shomron and Gaza.
2. The Book of Replacement: A Revisionist, KGB-Invented, Mythically Ancient Palestinian Arab National Presence in Present Day Israel.
3. The Book of Erasure of Jewish Legitimacy Under International Law, Falsely Portraying Israel as a Colonialist, Occupying Power.
4. The Book of Slandering Israel as an Apartheid State Despite the Absence on Anything Resembling a South African Apartheid Law.
5. The Projected Blood Libel Accusing Israel of Committing “Genocide” against the Palestinian People When the Twin Realities are a) That Israel’s Arab Population has Increased Almost Tenfold Since the Founding of the State 77 Years Ago, and b) the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, Hezbollah, and Palestinian Authority Charters All Call for the Eradication of All of the World’s Jews.
If Jews are going to be strategically unified, we should focus only on these fundamental charges against Israel, and by association ALL Jews, even those who, like Churchill’s apt analogy, believe in feeding their friends to the crocodile, hoping he will eat them last.
Focusing overwhelmingly on these “hatred-inspiring and genocide-justifying fabrications” repeatedly and uniformly across different organizations fighting anti-Zionism and antisemitism will ensure that this most strategic set of responses will be expressed repeatedly, as a unified theme to undermine categorically any spurious allegations against Israel. The corollary to (allegedly) Goebbel’s dictum that “People will believe even a great lie if it is repeated often enough,” is that “People will believe even the truth if it is repeated often enough.”
Focusing on how many new inventions Israeli agricultural technologists have invented to help subsistence farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa, the latest cancer-fighting drugs discovered by Israeli biologists and physicians, the latest communications breakthroughs by Israeli technologists, or the most wonderful basic science advances discovered at the Technion or the Weitzman Institutes do not address the Five Charges levied against Israel and by extension, Jews and non-Jews who support Israel.
Imagine the case of a physician charged with the murder of his wife and two children. (There was a similar case in Ottawa about a decade ago with 5 children if I recall correctly.) In response to the first charge of murdering his wife in the first degree, the physician replied, “Your Honour, in my 35-year medical career, I treated over 20,000 patients for life-threatening diseases and 89% recovered, representing the highest rate in this country’s history.”
In response to the second charge of murdering his oldest daughter in the first degree, the doctor responded, “Your Honour, in my medical career, I patented 38 different life-saving drugs, that are used across 152 countries and have saved over 3 million lives.”
In response to his third charge of murdering his son in the first degree, the doctor responded, “Your Honour, in my medical career, I developed and perfected 7 surgical techniques, used in 57 countries that have saved over a quarter of a million lives”
Not surprisingly, the doctor was convicted. As he was being led out of the courtroom in hand and leg cuffs, he said to his lawyer, “Oh, by the way, during the weekend that the murders occurred, I was in Hawaii at the Annual AMA Convention where I received a Career Achievement Award in Medical Science and Practice. I have the front page of the Honolulu Star Advertiser in my breast pocket with my picture receiving the award.”
I think this illustrates the inadvisability of not addressing the charges but going on irrelevantly about how smart, accomplished, and beneficial “we” are and neglecting addressing the strategic charges against us, that, like in the case of the doctor, could be refuted easily.
I will add a couple of tactical thoughts on the topic.
Israel and Diaspora Jews engaged in combating anti-Zionism and antisemitism react to the latest in an ongoing set of fabricated charges, on a daily basis. Playing “defense” or “catch–up” is a losing tactic. It allows the false charge to make its way around the world a number of times before the rebuttal is even issued. Consequently, even if the defensive statement were broadcast or made available on Mainstream or Social-Media, its effect would be weak.
Further, by not first identifying and debunking the Palestinian Arab Mythology, we give away a solid, truthful and compelling organizing principle that links various related incidents as part of a recognizable pattern of lies, that frames and lends credibility to our counter arguments. When we link any charge with its specific Book of Mythology source, both the historical and present contexts illuminate the pattern and destroy its credibility.
Additionally, “we” have to go on the offensive concerning the Founding Charters of MB and Iranian Terror Related Franchises that are truly genocidal. Further, we can show various Western Imams and Sheiks who openly advocate for murder of Jews in Israel and the Diaspora, and their cited sources dating back 1,200 years or so prior to the founding of the state of Israel.
We must recognize that potential audiences vary in terms of their level of interest, previous knowledge of the conflict, available time to devote, cognitive style, political biases, and attentional capacity that the bring to any messaging that we present. Consequently, we must use different modalities (e.g., spoken, written, visual/symbolic), exposure times, and complexity levels to attract and maintain their interest.
Lastly, and this is strategic, we have to show clearly and historically that the Islamist battle with Israel is only the opening 21st century volley against the West as a culture, civilization, alternate set of values. Indeed, any non-Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Bhuddists, Druze, Animists, Baha’i, Zoroastrians, Shintoists and ATHEISTS, are Kufrs and on the long-term Islamist agenda…just down the road. Confirmatory contemporary and historical records abound.
But we must do our homework so that people countering the slanders and blood libels against us have a reasonably broad and deep knowledge and understanding of how optimally to undermine and debunk the false charges against us, rather than ignore the charges, call someone an antisemite, or attempt to plead innocent without addressing the charges.
David Nussbaum is a retired professor of psychology, University of Toronto Scarborough, an Elected Fellow of both the Canadian and American Psychological Associations and Chair of the Canadian PA Section for the Study of Extremism and Terrorism. He and his wife made Aliyah in 2020, and he is in his fifth Daf Yomi cycle.
An excellent discussion of the conversation in the public domain. We, who read the articles on this site, are quite aware of the facts needed to counter the libelous claims, but where we all fail is to make the general public aware of them.
When I review the Middle East news in the media, I am always amazed by their capability to circumvent the facts and tell us “their take” rather than the simple truth. It’s such a shame. Politicians, while not telling the truth is on their list of accomplishments, give additional spin to the tales told by the media. The experts, who are omnipresent, tell us their “take” on the situation, but are no better at telling stories than the scientists that demand that we believe the science, which varies depending on who is paying the bill for their tales.
Sorry to say, getting the truth out is uphill and against the wind.
@dreuveni
Yes, but with a unified strategy, emphasizing common themes, will perhaps have the potential of leveraging some advantage to this chronic disability of messaging.