Controlling the Narrative
David Wiseman
Online Reputation Management Expert ? Founder Follow Team Israel ? Member of inaugural Voice of the People Council ? Professional Story Teller ? Online Branding Expert ? Wikipedia Editor ? Author ? Speaker
As Wilt Chamberlain famously said “Nobody roots for Goliath”
Unfortunately for Israel, it’s assumed the role of Goliath (Ironic given that David was very much #teamisrael.) And because of this it’s lost its narrative.?
Normally the truth sets you free, but when you’re waging a war of propaganda it hangs around your neck like an albatross.?
It wasn’t always the case. There was a time when people gravitated to a tale of an ancient people who after thousands of years of systematic persecution returned to their historic homeland and not only survived but thrived.
The fledgling country became the Start-Up Nation with a state of the art army, a great standard of living, and is the only democracy in the Middle East. It’s now up against refugees and freedom fighters with a much more compelling narrative.?
Words like colonialists, settlers, ethnic cleansing occupiers, and apartheid roll off the tongue, onto the banners, and into TikTok hashtags.
Even better, take a triggering word like genocide, flip it on its head and throw it back in Israel’s/a Jewish person’s face.
This is the problem for Israel. It doesn’t have a narrative that people care about.?
Facts means a history lesson which nobody has the time or interest for. Point to the Bible? Who believes in god these days? It must have been written by AI.
Dates and details? Boring!
A winning narrative is that the Jews and Israel are powerful, and that the Palestinians are weak,? displaced and occupied.
A losing narrative is the Holocaust which goes to show you should never mess with Godwin’s Law.
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And this is where Israel has fallen down, it’s connected its narrative to the past; to ancient history and nothing is as irrelevant as this.?
The Palestinians and those who support them connect their narrative to the present - the suffering, Gaza turned into a wasteland, the electricity turned off, etc.
For those keeping score at home, this only leaves one thing.?
If Israel is to lock into a winning narrative, it has to connect it to the future. The promise of a better tomorrow; a tomorrow where the wolf dwells with the lamb and the leopard lies down with the kid; a tomorrow with peace in the Middle East.?
If Israel pursues peace and invites everyone in the Middle East (Palestine, Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Hamas, even the Houthis, etc) to discuss it, how would it look for the usual suspects if they didn’t turn up? If they don’t even come to the table, there goes their narrative.?
Israel should call Hamas’ bluff and see how tethered they are to the narrative of their charter. If the goal is no longer destroying Israel, but governing a country Hamas simply vanishes.?
Along with them go the slurs of colonialists, ethnic cleansers, occupiers, and the like.
What will the Israel haters do? What will they accuse Israel of doing?
Don’t worry, I’m sure they’ll think of something.?
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1 年I am not the most knowledgeable on this subject, despite my efforts, but what I need to express is the fact that people are killing other people. I would like to believe that we, as a species, have figured out that working together rather than against one another has always made a more efficient and effective solution.
Investment Professional; Leader and Communicator; Australian and South African Chartered Accountant
1 年A novel idea but I don’t think that can work when the ideology is so twisted and the mentality is almost from a species from another planet that we civilized people cannot understand.
in one thing i agree: then the Netanjanus and the Hamas guys lose power and more sober and moderate politicians (like Rabin Peres etc) take over - Hamas will dissolve just like the IRA dissolved in the UK once a peace process was set in place..
and not ultra-orthodox israelis politicians to stop extending into Palestinian land and claim it.. otherwise: this stupid war will NEVER end.. and the poor civilians and small people on both sides will suffer for decades to come.. but I have the feeling there is people on both sides who WANT that.
sorry man but this is BS on the top level. You do the same you say ISRAEL but you immediately say "jews" so everybody who DARES to criticize the Israelian treatment of Palestinians MUST be an Antisemite - and that's a narrative that worked for decades (never criticise a person doing dumb things if the person HAPPENS to be a jew also, since you MSUT be an antisemite". this does NOT work anymore - granted you lost THAT narrative. just check the maps of how much of this land Israel owned and how much the Palestinians 50, 30 10 years ago and NOw and you will see that it IS valid to criticize what the Israelis have done to the Palestinians. It is no "narrative" that would correct this or make it look "nice" it is just coming back to them how they treated the Palestinians. That said: this is NOT an excuse to make civilians suffer on both sides - and of course I disapprove that but 50 Israel women and children are freed but "how only could that happen" in the same time 150 women and children Palestinians are freed. time to take the "Israelis are the poor and good" and the "Palestinians are the vicious" ones book back to the shelves and have a realistic view on whats going on there. We don't need "a new narrative" but some realistic