I intended to post this on the Times of Israel site, but they apparently have a problem with blog posts under a pseudonym.
Times of Israel blogger Sarah Tuttle-Singer posts about the “dirty H-word.”
Newsflash: I curse a lot. Like, a lot a lot — even to the point where a few friends have said “ya know, ya might wanna actually tone down the F*cks and Sh*ts. It cheapens your writing.” (asterisks not in original, natch.)
Meh. Maybe they’re right – in fact, many of you may be doing fistpumps and saying “Hell to the yeah!” and “Testify!” or even… dare I write it… “Word!” right now.
But the thing is, I think a well placed so-called dirty word can actually enhance a sentence — it adds a surprising little twist, like fishnet stockings worn with a classy LBD and Mary Janes. It’s a Victoria’s Secret pushup bra – makes you look again long enough to pay attention and get the message.
But maybe that’s just me.
That said, there is one word that I don’t like to use because I think it cheapens the conversation.
Ready?
No, seriously, are you ready?
OK.
Hasbara.
(Shudder.)
Let’s break it down Wikipedia style:
HASBARA: Public diplomacy in Israel (Hebrew: ??????????? hasbará, “explaining”) refers to public relations efforts to disseminate information about Israel.[1][2] The term is used by the Israeli government and its supporters to describe efforts to explain government policies and promote Israel in the face of negative press, and to counter what they see as delegitimisation of
Israel around the world. Hasbara means “explanation”, and is also a euphemism for propaganda
Key word: “Explaining.”
Well F*ck that.
When you’re explaining you’re reacting to something. And when you’re reacting to something, you’re on the defensive. And, when you’re on the defensive, you are acknowledging blame.
Sure, Israel makes mistakes. Like. Any. Other. Sovereign. State. But PR defense strategy is obviously so not working.
Read the whole thing here.
While I agree with Sarah’s contention that anti-Semitism has mutated and become fashionable again “wrapped in an Israeli flag” (nicely put, and, heck, look at my last post), I have to admit Sarah’s post missed the mark for me.
Why? Well, for a start, Sarah does not come with any solution (and I do like me solutions to problems).
Not only that, but she really seems to be unaware of the true nature of hasbara (yes, I used the word, and I liked it.*)
I mean, what are blogs like Israellycool doing? We are engaged in a war online. And wars involve attack and defense. Accusations are leveled against us on a daily basis, and there are many people out there who would readily believe them if we did not react to them with explanations, rebuttals and facts. At the same time, we do quite a bit of attacking of our own, whether it be shining a light on the terrorist tactics of our adversaries or their propensity to lie (Although I suspect Sarah would characterize that as defensive as well).
Is it all worth it? Heck yeah. While I agree many are preaching to the choir, some of us are recruiting new choir members. Don’t underestimate the power of a good argument or sound rebuttal. And don’t underestimate people’s capacity to think. Sure, there are many whose minds are already made up – usually those who have a problem with Jews or a rather simplistic view of the world, where the ostensibly weak or aggrieved are always justified in their actions, no matter how morally repugnant. But if my 10+ years of blogging have taught me anything, it’s that there is also a significant number of people wanting to understand the situation better and open to facts, evidence and logical arguments.
Reacting to attacks against Israel online is not necessarily- as Sarah claims – acknowledging blame. I posit it can be the exact opposite. Take the recent example of the 11-month-old son of a BBC Arabic journalist, widely claimed to have been killed by shrapnel from the IDF. Pro-Israel blogs took the defensive step of arguing the likelihood he was killed by a palestinian rocket, ultimately resulting in the UN releasing a report confirming this. By tackling the accusation head on, we managed to not only defensively dodge a bullet (so to speak), but also attacked the credibility of Hamas et al by poking another hole in their credibility.
At the end of the day, those who want to find fault with Israel will do so, no matter what we say or do. But there’s also a bunch of reasonable people out there, so let’s not forget that.
Hasbara isn’t such a dirty word after all.
* with apologies to Katy Perry
