Dr. Michael Wise is a founder and investor in numerous technology companies. He is a graduate of YU and holds a PhD .in Theoretical Physics from Brandeis U., is the author of Israel demography study (BESA) and has published numerous articles about Israel sovereignty and demographics in Judea and Samaria. mlwise@gmail.com
Israel and the Jewish community are currently losing the slogan war, not because the facts are against them, but because they have been slow to recognize that the battlefield is perception, not evidence. At university protests, on social media, and in mainstream political discourse, SLOGANS that would not survive five minutes of honest scrutiny are repeated by millions who have never examined them.
This is not a problem that can be solved with longer essays or more detailed policy papers alone. It requires a strategic understanding of how information actually travels in the modern world, and a commitment to developing counter-messaging that is just as clear, just as shareable, and far more truthful.
One lie travels faster than twenty truths. Antisemitic SLOGANS like "apartheid" and "genocide" are designed to be repeated, not examined. They collapse complex realities into emotional triggers. The antidote is not a lecture. It is a sharper, truer counter-slogan that forces the audience to think differently.
There is a well-documented principle in propaganda studies: a single false slogan can be shouted on a street corner in three seconds, while the factual rebuttal requires paragraphs, context, and an audience willing to listen. Joseph Goebbels understood this. So did every demagogue before and after him. Today, in the age of social media, short-form video, and algorithmically amplified outrage, SLOGANS is extraordinary successful weapons.
SLOGANS used at contemporary anti-Israel demonstrations, such as "genocide," "apartheid state," “ethnic cleansing," “settler terrorism," "Israel kills babies" and “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free" are used not as precise legal or political terms but as weapons of delegitimization. They are deliberately engineered to provoke outrage and shut down inquiry. Their goal is not to describe a situation accurately. It is to make Israel's existence appear inherently criminal.
These anti-Israel SLOGANS convinced the UN Secretary General Guterres to say, “Gaza is becoming a graveyard for children," “The scale of civilian death is unprecedented," “This is a crisis of humanity," and “The destruction is unlike anything I have seen."
These SLOGANS have specific legal or historical definitions that Israel does not satisfy. Apartheid in South Africa involved codified racial laws that denied citizenship and rights to the majority population. Arab citizens of Israel vote, hold parliamentary seats, serve as judges, and operate businesses freely. Gaza and the "West Bank" involve a genuine and painful territorial dispute with roots in multiple wars, none of which began with Israeli aggression. These distinctions matter but stating clearly and often is to no avail.
The Jewish community and Israel's advocates have refuted these SLOGANS with current and historical accounts and legal arguments. These are valuable and necessary. But they are not sufficient in an environment where most people form opinions from headlines, short videos, and social feeds.
The challenge is not to abandon intellectual honesty. The most effective response uses brief, memorable, and emotionally resonant messaging. This does not mean manipulative. It means distilling the truth into a form that can actually be heard.
SLOGANS used against Israel and the Jewish people are not new. Hatred of Jews is one of the oldest and most persistent bigotries in human history. From medieval blood libel accusations to Nazi propaganda to today's anti-Zionist rallies, the same slanders resurface in new packaging. The oldest blood libels, accusations that Jews murdered Christian children for religious rituals, have no historical basis. They were fabricated in medieval Europe to justify persecution and massacre. The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a fabricated text claiming Jewish plans for world domination, was exposed as a forgery over a century ago.
Yet these SLOGANS continue to circulate online today, often recycled through anti-Zionist framing. They follow a template that is updated for each era's anxieties and media landscape. Antisemitism is the only form of bigotry routinely dressed up as political commentary and given a mainstream platform. Call it anti-Zionism. Call it anti-colonialism. The Jews are still the target. That is antisemitism. It has always been antisemitism.
Israel and Jews have been fixated on defensive messaging in response to these libels and SLOGANS! If the conversation always begins with Israel justifying its existence or its actions, the other side has already won the opening move.
GO ON OFFENSE WITH POWERFUL SLOGANS
The answer is to go on offense with SLOGANS that hit back and capture the imagination of the majority of uncommitted listeners and viewers. SLOGANS that are just as blunt and just as memorable as the propaganda being used against Israel. Effective SLOGANS should share several qualities:
-they must be factually accurate and verifiable,
-concise enough to repeat on posters and in conversation.
Winning SLOGANS must be capable of reframing the narrative rather than merely defending against attack, and emotionally honest without being inflammatory.
Successful SLOGANS can be based on the following facts:
On Hamas, ISIS, and Al-Qaeda
- "Hamas, ISIS, and Al-Qaeda murder Christians, Hindus, and gays." A factual summary of documented atrocities carried out by all three organizations across multiple countries and decades.
- "Hamas and ISIS are slave traders. That is not a metaphor." ISIS ran a documented slave market targeting Yazidi women. Hamas has held hostages, including women and children.
- "If Hamas, ISIS, or Al-Qaeda ran your country, you would not be allowed to protest." A pointed reminder aimed at Western activists who march in support of organizations that would execute them for their lifestyle, their religion, or their politics.
- "They started on Saturday. They are coming for Sunday." Those who target Jews first do not stop there.
- "9/11. October 7. Never Again. A demand that the world not wait for the third.
- "Bin Laden attacked the World Trade Center. Hamas attacked a music festival." Al-Qaeda and Hamas share the foundational ideology of violent Islamist supremacism. Connecting these dots for a Western audience is not fearmongering. It is pattern recognition.
- "9/11 happened because the world was not paying attention. October 7 happened because the world forgot." A call for vigilance framed in recent history.
On Political Islam
- "57 Muslim-majority countries. How many is enough? 15 million Jews in the entire world. And somehow Israel is the aggressor and colonizer." A factual juxtaposition that reframes the power dynamics the media routinely inverts.
- "Two hundred years ago there were no Arab populations in most of Europe. Today Islamist political movements openly campaign for governance by religious law in France, Britain, Germany, and Sweden." This is a documented demographic and political shift that European governments themselves have struggled to address openly.
- "When an organization publicly states it wants to rule the world, it is reasonable to take that seriously." Multiple Islamist organizations, including the Muslim Brotherhood, have published explicit global political ambitions.
- "The UN Human Rights Council has passed more resolutions against Israel than against every other country combined. That is not justice. That is a majority bloc with an agenda." The 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation holds significant voting weight in the UN General Assembly to shape international discourse in ways that have nothing to do with the merits of any particular issue.
- "Islam already governs 57 countries. " A direct challenge to the logic of those who frame every Muslim-majority political expansion as self-defense while framing every Jewish or Israeli act of self-preservation as aggression.
The distinction worth maintaining is the difference between a political ideology and a religious population. The target of these SLOGANS should not be Muslims as people. It is Islamist political movements that pursue domination through violence, and coercion. The ordinary Muslims who want to live peacefully are not the subject of possible SLOGANS. The organizations and governments that murder, enslave, and conquer in the name of religion are.
Winning Requires Allies, Clarity, and Persistence
The slogan war cannot be won by the Jewish community alone. It requires allies, people of conscience from every background who recognize that antisemitism is not a Jewish problem but a human one, a warning signal that has historically preceded broader societal breakdown and violence. It requires clarity and persistence.
Propaganda works through repetition. So does truth. The answer to a thousand false SLOGANS is not silence or resignation. It is a thousand accurate ones, repeated with the same energy and frequency until the narrative shifts. The facts are on the right side of this argument. The challenge is making sure they travel as fast as the lies. That is a strategic problem, and it is one that can be solved.
Possible Short List of SLOGANS Worth Considering
- No more 9/11s. No more October 7s.
- October 7 happened.
- 9/11 and October 7. One ideology.
- Hamas kills Christians, Hindus, and gay people.
- ISIS kept slaves. Hamas kept hostages.
- Jihad is not resistance.
- 57 countries is not enough for them. 1 is too many for us?
- They came for Saturday first. Sunday is next.
- Israel left Gaza in 2005. Hamas took over. Then came the rockets.
- Hamas uses civilians as shields. War crime.
- Israel left Gaza in 2005. Hamas took over. Then came the rockets.
- Hamas, ISIS, or Al Qaeda rape girls.
- Have a safe flight.
They are not spin. They are documented facts expressed in forms that can travel. So far, Israel has failed in the SLOGAN War.
You can help her win it.
You dear reader may have some great ideas. Please message it online or email your best thoughts to mlwise@gmail.com