Editing Hasbara

[[Category:Imperialist propaganda]]
[[Category:Racist propaganda]]
[[File:Zionist headlines.png|thumb|[[Bourgeois media|Western media]] headlines falsely accusing [[Islamic Resistance Movement|Hamas]] of beheading civilians]]
'''Hasbara''' (Hebrew: הַסְבָּרָה, meaning "explaining") is [[Zionism|Zionist]] [[propaganda]], [[information warfare]] and [[psyop]] aimed at international audiences.<ref name=":1">{{Web citation|author=TRT World|newspaper=TRT World|title=The art of deception: How Israel uses ‘hasbara’ to whitewash its crimes|url=https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/the-art-of-deception-how-israel-uses-hasbara-to-whitewash-its-crimes-46775|archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20240202101602/https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/the-art-of-deception-how-israel-uses-hasbara-to-whitewash-its-crimes-46775|archive-date=2024-02-02}}</ref> In addition to the [[State of Israel|Zionist government]], private groups such as [[Christians United for Israel]] and [[StandWithUs]] are involved.<ref name=":0">{{Web citation|author=Jessica Buxbaum|newspaper=[[MintPress News]]|title=Israel's Latest Hasbara Scheme Enlists High School Students as Trolls against Palestine|date=2023-05-11|url=https://www.mintpressnews.com/israels-teen-troll-army-hasbara-scheme/284626/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230705063422/https://www.mintpressnews.com/israels-teen-troll-army-hasbara-scheme/284626/|archive-date=2023-07-05}}</ref>

== History ==
The Ministry of Hasbara was established in 1974 with future Israeli prime minister and president [[Shimon Peres]] as its leader. It was dissolved the next year, and the Foreign Affairs Ministry is now in charge of hasbara.<ref name=":0" />

== Current situation ==
In 2002, the former Israeli Minister of Education [[Shulamit Aloni]] expressed that antisemitism and the Holocaust are frequently used to silence dissent toward Israel's policies. "When from Europe someone is criticizing Israel then we bring up the Holocaust. When in [the US] people are criticizing Israel then they are antisemitic."<ref>Democracy Now (2002-08-14), [https://www.democracynow.org/2002/8/14/israels_first_lady_of_human_rights Israel’s First Lady of Human Rights: A Conversation with Shulamit Aloni], ''video'', 50.59. [https://archive.org/details/2002-israels-first-lady-of-human-rights-a-conversation-with-shulamit-aloni Archived] from the original on 2024-24-04</ref>

In 2010, two Israeli groups, [[Yesha Council]] and [[My Israel]], launched a course to teach participants how to edit Wikipedia articles to ensure that what is written on Israel is "Zionist in nature."<ref>{{YouTube citation|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t52LB2fYhoY|channel=Israel National News - Arutz Sheva|title=Course: Zionist Editing on Wikipedia|date=Aug 18, 2010|archive-url=https://archive.org/details/course-zionist-editing-on-wikipedia|archive-date=2024-03-17}}</ref><ref>{{Web citation|author=Rachel Shabi and Jemima Kiss|newspaper=The Guardian|title=Wikipedia editing courses launched by Zionist groups|date=2010|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/aug/18/wikipedia-editing-zionist-groups|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240208163554/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/aug/18/wikipedia-editing-zionist-groups|archive-date=2024-02-08}}</ref>

In 2011, [[Arutz Sheva]] conducted an interview that revealed the existence of the [[IDF New-Media Desk]], a team of soldiers dedicated to online information warfare and the dissemination of  [[Zionism|Zionist]] [[propaganda]] in social media. "Our goal is to provide as much information online as possible... New-Media is a new medium in order to disseminate information" said the co-founder and commander of the team. The team is located in the international communications department of the [[Israel Defense Forces|IDF]] spokesman unit. All the members of the [[IDF New-Media Desk]] are English speakers and many of them are new immigrants to Israel.<ref>{{Web citation|author=Yoni Kempinski|newspaper=Arutz Sheva|title=IDF Facebook-Twitter Commando|date=2011-02-16|url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/142374|archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20240205015847/http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/142374|archive-date=2024-02-05}}</ref><ref>{{Video citation|url=https://youtu.be/9HtFukI_K84|channel=Israel National News - Arutz Sheva|title=Meet the IDF Facebook-Twitter Commando|date=2011-02-17|archive-url=https://archive.org/details/meet-the-idf-facebook-twitter-commando|archive-date=2024-04-28}}</ref>

In 2015, the Zionist Education Ministry started requiring all high school students to take hasbara courses before traveling abroad on school trips.<ref name=":0" />

In 2017, Israel launched their official hasbara app, also known as '''Act.IL''' (also '''Act-IL''')<ref>{{Web citation|author=App Store|title=Act-IL|date=2021-12-01|url=https://apps.apple.com/us/app/act-il/id1141853455|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211201165725/https://apps.apple.com/us/app/act-il/id1141853455|archive-date=2021-12-01|retrieved=2021-12-01}}</ref><ref>{{Video citation|url=https://youtu.be/DWD5xiiafBc|channel=Act-IL|title=Upgrade your Israel Activism - Intro to the New Act-IL App|date=2019-03-17}}</ref>. The launch was announced by then-Minister of Strategic Affairs, [[Gilad Erdan]], during an event connected to New York's annual Celebrate Israel parade. The app was developed as part of the 4IL ("For Israel") digital campaign, which aimed to provide tools for pushing back on articles and social media posts critical of Israel and supportive of the boycott movement, targeting boycotts, justifying Israeli oppression, going after human rights groups and activists, promoting Israeli technology and culture, and criticizing Israeli conscientious objectors.<ref name=":3">{{Web citation|author=Natasha Roth-Rowland|newspaper=972Magazine|title=Mission failed: How Israel’s anti-BDS app went belly-up|date=2022-04-25|url=https://www.972mag.com/israel-anti-bds-app/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240426121624/https://www.972mag.com/israel-anti-bds-app/|archive-date=2024-04-26|retrieved=2024-06-11}}</ref> Act.IL was shut down in March 2022<ref>{{Web citation|author=Michael Arria|newspaper=Mondoweiss|title=Israel pulls the plug on its anti-BDS app — ‘a failure from the start’|date=2022-03-11|url=https://mondoweiss.net/2022/03/israel-pulls-the-plug-on-its-anti-bds-app-a-failure-from-the-start/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240606174057/https://mondoweiss.net/2022/03/israel-pulls-the-plug-on-its-anti-bds-app-a-failure-from-the-start/|archive-date=2022-03-11|retrieved=2024-06-11}}</ref>, less than a year after the Strategic Affairs Ministry, which led the government's charge against the boycott movement, was folded into the Foreign Ministry.<ref name=":3" />

== References ==
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