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Hasbara (Hebrew: הַסְבָּרָה, meaning "explaining") is Zionist propaganda, information warfare and psyop aimed at international audiences.[1] In addition to the Zionist government, private groups such as Christians United for Israel and StandWithUs are involved.[2][3]
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.[2]
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."[4]
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."[5][6]
In 2011, the popular Israeli based +972 Magazine stated "Israeli advocacy is probably the most widespread and ambitious state-run propaganda effort in the world today."[3] This same year, 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 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 IDF Spokesperson unit. All the members of the IDF New-Media Desk are English speakers and many of them are new immigrants to Israel.[7][8] This team can reach up to 100,000 volunteers on social media networks, as well as many bloggers.[3]
In 2015, the Zionist Education Ministry started requiring all high school students to take hasbara courses before traveling abroad on school trips.[2]
References
- ↑ TRT World. "The art of deception: How Israel uses ‘hasbara’ to whitewash its crimes" TRT World. Archived from the original on 2024-02-02.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Jessica Buxbaum (2023-05-11). "Israel's Latest Hasbara Scheme Enlists High School Students as Trolls against Palestine" MintPress News. Archived from the original on 2023-07-05.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Noam Sheizaf (2011-11-13). "Hasbara: Why does the world fail to understand us?" +972 Magazine. Archived from the original on 2024-04-26.
- ↑ Democracy Now (2002-08-14), Israel’s First Lady of Human Rights: A Conversation with Shulamit Aloni, video, 50.59. Archived from the original on 2024-24-04
- ↑ Israel National News - Arutz Sheva (Aug 18, 2010). "Course: Zionist Editing on Wikipedia". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2024-03-17..
- ↑ Rachel Shabi and Jemima Kiss (2010). "Wikipedia editing courses launched by Zionist groups" The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2024-02-08.
- ↑ Yoni Kempinski (2011-02-16). "IDF Facebook-Twitter Commando" Arutz Sheva. Archived from the original on 2024-02-05.
- ↑ Israel National News - Arutz Sheva (2011-02-17). "Meet the IDF Facebook-Twitter Commando". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2024-04-28..