Israeli PR machine in frenzy over CBS report on Christians

By Mairav Zonszein April 24, 2012 | Edit

By going to such great lengths to interfere in a report by CBS News simply because it involves Israel, the government and foreign ministry of Israel are proving just how reprehensible the country’s policies are – that they require constant PR surveillance.

When the Israeli government and its embassy in Washington discovered that CBS News show 60 Minutes was going to run a segment on the increasing departure of Christians from the West Bank, they felt obligated to step in. With Prime Minister Netanyahu’s advice and blessing, Ambassador Michael Oren decided months ago that before the show even aired, he must speak with the network’s chairman in order to make sure the report included an Israeli reaction, delaying the report’s airing from last Christmas to this last Sunday.

The Ambassador claimed he had information the 60 Minutes story was going to do a “hatchet job” on Israel which, apparently for Israeli leadership and diplomatic officials, means any mention at all of the possible suffering of Christian Palestinians in places like Bethlehem, due to the separation wall towering over their homes, or the myriad other hardships and violations committed by Israel’s military occupation.

In this clip from the full 60 Minutes report, Bob Simon tells Ambassador Oren that he has never in all his years of journalism been confronted with such interference in his reporting, before a story even aired.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWH__xgv8qQ[/youtube]

By telling Bob Simon of CBS News that there is a ‘first time for everything,’ Ambassador Oren admitted that Israel’s Foreign Ministry is pioneering a new kind of diplomacy: pure damage control. Israel will continue to be an occupying force, while doing everything in its power to make sure its PR strategy is cleansed of any mention of it. Great plan.

As far as Israel is concerned, this makes perfect sense. As one Israeli diplomat told Haaretz: “Ambassador Oren did what a diplomat is supposed to do to – prevent serious damage.”

How many faux pas will it take for Israel’s well-oiled PR machine to realize that the best way to prevent serious damage to its image is to simply act in a way that merits a better image? One that maybe wouldn’t require my taxes going to an ambassador that is wasting time making Israel look even worse than it already acts. This kind of effort doesn’t show the world how fair and democratic Israel is – but rather gives the world every reason to believe Israel has a lot it must hide and much “damage” to “control.”

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TEST TEST GAL Our team has been devastated by the horrific events of this latest war. The world is reeling from Israel’s unprecedented onslaught on Gaza, inflicting mass devastation and death upon besieged Palestinians, as well as the atrocious attack and kidnappings by Hamas in Israel on October 7. Our hearts are with all the people and communities facing this violence. We are in an extraordinarily dangerous era in Israel-Palestine. The bloodshed has reached extreme levels of brutality and threatens to engulf the entire region. Emboldened settlers in the West Bank, backed by the army, are seizing the opportunity to intensify their attacks on Palestinians. The most far-right government in Israel’s history is ramping up its policing of dissent, using the cover of war to silence Palestinian citizens and left-wing Jews who object to its policies. This escalation has a very clear context, one that +972 has spent the past 14 years covering: Israeli society’s growing racism and militarism, entrenched occupation and apartheid, and a normalized siege on Gaza. We are well positioned to cover this perilous moment – but we need your help to do it. This terrible period will challenge the humanity of all of those working for a better future in this land. Palestinians and Israelis are already organizing and strategizing to put up the fight of their lives. Can we count on your support? +972 Magazine is a leading media voice of this movement, a desperately needed platform where Palestinian and Israeli journalists, activists, and thinkers can report on and analyze what is happening, guided by humanism, equality, and justice. Join us.

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