Hasbara should involve explaining Israel to people who don’t understand it. Instead, too much hasbara falls on deaf ears and is outright harmful to Israel. The reason is simple: It preaches to the choir, namely to the choir of rightist Zionists who believe that Israel is always right.
Approaching Hasbara as a quest to convince public opinion that Israel is always right is wrong. Israel is right most of the time and for the time being regarding the most important issues. However, Hasbara premised on the notion that Israel is beyond reproach is foolish: it mistakes hasbara, an explanation of reality, with an idealization of Israel, easily dismissed as propaganda.
The second mistake of hasbara outlets is to approach the case for Israel as a law case, in which all that matters is advancing cogent arguments with no regard for the empathy and emotions of the audience.
I will illustrate the difference between a bad case defended effectively and a good case defended poorly. I will briefly compare and contrast the titles and images on the homepage of Electronic Intifada and of Israellycool. These two websites are representative for pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel advocacy in the English language and by no means the only ones I could have chosen.
The lead article of Electronic Intifada is a smiling Desmond Tutu, with the caption “Palestinians pay tribute to Desmond Tutu”. On the other hand, the lead article of Israellycool is ““Jewish-Convert-to-Islam” Rabbi Mort is a complete fraud.”
The contrast between the two platforms could not be starker: One publicizes Palestinian Arabs paying homage to a Nobel Peace Prize winner and adversary of Apartheid, while the other exposes “Rabbi Mort”. But who the hell is Rabbi Mort? I have spent years reading Arabic media and have never come across any Rabbi Mort. And I am sure neither have you!
The titles of the other articles are phrased in the same aggressive, self-righteous tone displaying an unhealthy inclination to slander critics of Israel rather than explain Israel's position.
Contrast this approach with the sober titles of Electronic Intifada that talk of Palestinian Arab suffering and pain, and it doesn’t take a PhD in psychology to understand why one platform serves the Palestinian Arab cause well, whereas the other harms Israel’s reputation. The people who read one platform will be equipped with arguments based on human empathy and compassion, whereas the other will train readers to argue that anyone who doesn’t support Israel is a fraud, a hater or a self-hater.
Since it is primarily Israel that defends human rights and its adversaries which don’t, why don’t all hasbara platforms promote stories of Israelis, both Jewish and Arab, who show human empathy and compassion and who work for a state where followers of all faiths live in peace and dignity? Why can’t a message of hope and sympathy be conveyed so that readers are armed with the inspiring stories that move people to believe in Israel and its humanitarian values?
Imagine how much worse Arab Palestinian hasbara would be if the headline of Electronic Intifada were ““Islamic-Convert-to-Judaism” Sheykh Wallah is a complete fraud.” and how much better Israeli hasbara would be if Israellycool’s headline were “Meet the Judean rabbi whom Arab Palestinians respect”?
Whereas Electronic Intifada pays lip-service to UN Resolutions, by always writing Israel, Israellycool writes “Palestinian” in quotation marks instead of the equally clear Palestinian Arabs, turning off Diaspora Jews who believe that Palestinian Arabs deserve recognition as a people (whether or not that is valid).
In other words, one platform is perfectly tailored to the tastes and sensitivities of a broader readership, whereas the other radicalizes its readers in a way that then turns them into the kind of keyboard warriors that alienate. They tend to toss the terms “Jew-hater” and “anti-Semite” with an alacrity that lends credence to the claim that pro-Israel advocates abuse the term for political expediency.
I think that hasbara is pointless if it disregards the cares and concerns of the average American or European Jew. Diaspora Jews need to feel inspired and empowered by the message that hasbara platforms provide in order to feel inspired and be able to inspire others. And if, on the contrary, hasbara platforms promote an aggressive and self-righteous message that its readers amplify in social media, Israel will come across as an aggressive and self-righteous nation.
It is a shame and a tragedy that Electronic Intifada appeals to readers’ nobler nature, whereas some hasbara platforms do not even try to.