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Israel has long relied on its much-vaunted hasbara to conceal the reality of its domination of Palestine and subjugation of its people. Propaganda in short, the hasbara industry has been an invalua…

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Opinion Israel throws millions into new clandestine hasbara initiative 0 Comments January 28, 2022 at 6:04 pm Demonstrators attend a Pro-Israel demonstration outside the Israeli Embassy on May 23, 2021 in London, England [Hollie Adams/Getty Images] by Nasim Ahmed Nasimbythedocks Listen 0:00 / 0:00 − 1.0x + Default Ready Israel has long relied on its much-vaunted hasbara to conceal the reality of its domination of Palestine and subjugation of its people. Propaganda in short, the hasbara industry has been an invaluable tool in shaping the narrative and how it is viewed in the West, where the perception of Israel as a democracy facing a never-ending threat to its existence has been effectively used to justify all manner of human rights abuse and violations of international law. Decades of occupation; subjugation of people who happen to be of a different race; acts of aggression that have become a matter of routine is, however, hard to sell as a permanent reality which the rest must accommodate in perpetuity. So, every now and then, when Israel feels that it is losing the battle for hearts and minds, the occupation state devises a new plan to counter what it calls “fighting the phenomenon of delegitimisation against the State of Israel.” Needless to say, the portrayal of the growing opposition to Israel as a “delegitimisation” campaign is itself a ploy to deflect, used by the hasbara industry to discredit and defame individuals, groups and organisations exposing its many war crimes and human rights violations. Of late, this tactic has been used to dismiss reports by prominent human rights group like B’Tselem and Human Rights Watch, both of which concluded that Israel is practicing the crime of apartheid, that “promotes and perpetuates Jewish supremacy between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River.” The Israeli Ministry for Strategic Affairs has been spearheading its hasbara. Established in 2006 for the role of coordinating security, intelligence and diplomatic initiatives regarding strategic threats faced by the occupation state, the Ministry directed its huge resource from confronting military threats to targeting human rights organisations and civil rights groups. The global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement (BDS) became its number one enemy while grass-root movements like Black Lives Matter were not far behind on the Ministry’s list of foes that needed to be knee-capped before gaining momentum in the same as the campaign against apartheid South Africa did during the 80s. READ: Dubai based PR firm hired producer of fake terrorist videos to make anti-Qatar film Despite throwing millions of dollars into the hasbara industry, there is a realisation in Israel that it is losing the battle for hearts and minds. Not only has Israel’s status as a pariah state become cemented in the eyes of the global community, it is also losing the support of progressive Jews. Where, one time, they were willing to give Israel the benefit of doubt, believing that the occupation was temporary, they are no longer able to reconcile the tension between their progressive liberal beliefs and the policies of the occupation state. In truth, these tensions have existed from the beginning of Israel’s birth but now that the occupation is widely accepted as a permanent reality along with apartheid, no amount of hasbara can bridge that gap. Such anxieties have prompted a re-think in Israel over its hasbara strategy. According to +972 Magazine the Israeli cabinet recently approved a project that could inject $30 million toward covertly funding government propaganda in the US and other Western countries. The plan is to transfer money indirectly to foreign organisations that will spread Israeli propaganda in the countries in which they operate, all while hiding the fact that they are backed by the Israeli government. The extra funding will be allocated to re-start a non-governmental organisation called “Concert” which operated as ...