"Israel's "Rebranding Campaign" for Israel"
"Israel From SourceWatch
Israel, according to the BBC country profile, was created as "the culmination of the Zionist movement, whose aim was a homeland for Jews scattered all over the world following the Diaspora. After the Nazi Holocaust, pressure grew for the international recognition of a Jewish state, and in 1948 Israel came into being." [1]
Rebranding Israel
"When the word 'Israel' is said outside its borders, we want it to invoke not fighting or soldiers, but a place that is desirable to visit and invest in, a place that preserves democratic ideals while struggling to exist," said Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, during a September 2006 meeting with "public relations executives, branding specialists and diplomats" in Tel Aviv. Livni "recently put the image initiative on the government's agenda and will soon develop a budget for the program," according to the Israeli Consulate in New York's media and public affairs consul. [1]
"A staffer with the London-based global ad firm Saatchi and Saatchi is already working with the Israelis free of charge on the re-branding effort." British researcher and branding expert Simon Anholt "said his surveys show that Israel's image abroad is so bad that any re-branding campaign would be 'pointless,'" unless Israel is "'prepared to change its behavior' in the areas of international peace and security." He added, "The most useful thing Israel can do ... is stop wasting taxpayer money in a re-branding campaign." [2]
In early 2007 Elias Buchwald, a founder of Burson-Marsteller, ran a four-day training session for 17 high-level Israeli spokespersons from government agencies. The session was organized by 5W Public Relations, the American Jewish Congress and the Israeli Foreign Ministry.
"We want Americans to relate to Israel emotionally, not just impersonally," Buchwald said. "The point should be ‘Israel has what you like’ by using warm, evocative and colorful language."
Reporter Gary Rosenblatt summarized Buchwald's advice as "keep it short, make it direct, and no matter what the question, know beforehand what message you want to get across and stick with it." The media consul at the Israeli consulate in New York, David Saranga, described Israel's PR problem as being that "Americans miss the human face of Israel, they perceive of us as militaristic and very religious but they miss the lens of culture [and] education”. [3]
Promoting Israel Online
"Israel's official MySpace page was launched in January under the direction of officials from the Foreign Ministry," reported Gregory Levey on Salon.com in March 2007. "The MySpace page automatically greets visitors with a sleekly produced hip-hop song called 'Peace in the Middle,'" and "shows pictures of Israel's beaches, glitzy hotels and the Tel Aviv skyline." [4]
The MySpace page is part of the Israeli government's efforts "to reach out to young Americans" and "disarm the conflict-centric image so prevalent in the Western media."
The Israeli government also has its own blog, at www.isrealli.org, which (like the MySpace page) links to YouTube videos on "Israel's achievements in technology, medicine, business and entertainment," as well as Gay Pride Parades and "a lot of people wearing bikinis.
There is nobody wearing a military uniform in the videos, even though military service is compulsory for all Israelis after they turn 18," observed Levey. Israel's future online plans include a second blog run by Israel's Foreign Ministry, "devoted exclusively to politics," and "an Internet television station aimed at American evangelicals and other Christians." [5]
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Article from Source Watch
Hmm, Israel wants to "rebrand" its image. Hmm, how could they do that?
How about stopping the ethnic cleansing campaign against the indigenous Palestinians?
How about no more preemptive wars of aggression against neighboring countries, like the upcoming ones Israel has planned for Lebanon and Syria?
How about stopping the Gaza blockade that is literally strangling to death the Palestinians?
How about stopping the MOSSAD's murderous assassinations of anyone Israel deems to be a threat?
How about stopping your internal security service, the Shin Bet, from torturing any and all of the over 11,000 Palestinians you're holding...w/o charges... including close to 1,000 kids?
How about... oh hell, forget it.
Israel, you can spend a lot of money and time polishing up that road apple you call the Jewish Zionist State of Israel, but no matter how much time, money and effort you expend, at the end of the day, you still have a big, smelly turd on your hands that's labeled "Israel."
Yeah, and this isn't going to help:
"Build 1, Destroy 55""Peace Now: Only Palestinians' houses demolished
Left-wing movement's report reveals some 70,000 West Bank Palestinians live in Area C under full Israeli control, but only few receive building permits. According to report, for each building permit Civil Administration gives Palestinians, it issues 55 demolition orders Efrat Weiss
Ninety-four percent of the construction requests submitted by Palestinians living in the West Bank under Israeli control are denied, according to a Peace Now report released Thursday morning, referring to the time period between 2000 and 2007.
Civil Administration officials rejected the claims, saying that the figures were inaccurate.
According to the left-wing movement's report, some 70,000 Palestinians live in Area C, which is under full Israeli control and where the Civil Administration is responsible for the planning and construction rules.
Data delivered to Knesset Member Chaim Oron (Meretz), in response to a question he asked the defense minister, revealed that Palestinians hardly received building permits in the areas controlled by Israel.
Peace Now officials said that when the Palestinians have no other choice but to build without receiving a permit, the Civil Administration destroys about 33% of the illegal building, after issuing a demolition order.
In the settlements, however, less than 7% of the demolition orders are executed, an official added.
According to Peace Now, since the year 2000 and up to September 2007, for each building permit given to the Palestinians by the Civil Administration, some 55 demolition orders are issues and about 18 buildings are demolished.
The report revealed that the Palestinians are only given 91 building permits, while more than 18,472 housing units were built in the settlements.
'Quiet transfer planned'
The report also claimed that 4,993 demolition orders had been issued against Palestinians, compared to 2,900 orders issued against settlers' buildings.
Peace Now also said that 1,663 Palestinian buildings were demolished during that time period compared to 199 buildings in the settlements, and that between three to six permits per year were given to Palestinians between the years 2000 and 2004.
Peace Now Secretary-General Yariv Oppenheimer told Ynet, "The Civil Administration figures clarify that the West Bank territories controlled by Israel are for Jews only. The settlers' claims that they are being discriminated against are groundless. The Palestinian residents' illegal building is destroyed, while no enforcement is carried out in the outposts."
A Peace Now official added that "the data prove that the discrimination is clearly and blatantly against the Palestinian population, and the denial of permits and the firm enforcement in the Palestinian communities raises the suspicion that this is an intentional policy aimed at bringing about a quiet transfer of the Palestinians from Area C."
