Countering the Anti-Israel Apartheid and the BDS Messages - Essay Example

?Countering the Anti-Israel Apartheid and the BDS Messages INTRODUCTION Anti-Israel apartheid is a set ofpropaganda against Israel that are meant to give a negative impression of Israel in the eyes of the world. The BDS messages are messages that are sent world over to spread propaganda against Israel. Both the anti-Israel apartheid and the DBS messages have worked to paint a bad picture of Israel in the eyes of the world. According to the BDS messages, Israel is an apartheid state, which means that committing crimes against humanity is a legal policy is Israel. The anti-Israel apartheid and the DBS messages have spread to an extent that in America, there is the Israel apartheid week which is an international campaign which involves, calls for boycott of Israel in US campuses. According to the current anti-Israel apartheid policy, fighting campus hatred is a strategy that is applied to curb anti-Israel apartheid. However, according to the CEO of pro-Israeli organization, there is hostile environment toward Israel in 60-80 out of 4000 American universities (Benhorin, 2012). This is a considerably manageable figure with added communication efforts, the number could go down reasonably. In the current policy, demonstrations are another strategy that is channeled towards bringing to an end or at least reducing the spread of anti-Israel apartheid and the DBS messages. Peace demonstrations are most of the time mistaken for riots. This leads to defensive response from other members of the affected area, for instance, these demonstrations lead to destruction of property, hence provoking havoc from the victims. Propaganda is a dangerous calamity that if not controlled well can lead to a number of calamities. These include; various states may cut economic links with Israel, and this may lead Israel in a crisis of lacking a country to trade with, which may lead to economy deterioration in Israel. It may also lead to cut of diplomatic ties from other countries. This would limit Israel to depend on her educational materials since there would lack exchange programmes among schools in Israel and those in other countries. These and many others call for introduction of a new policy to fight the propaganda. Just to mention but a few loopholes in the current policy, there is dire need for a new policy that will help prevent rise in the de-legitimization in a more professional way. The new policy will address the issue in all dimensions; social, political and economic. Social in the sense that it will take into consideration the social effects of the strategies put in place on the social lives the Israelite as well as those of other people. The policy will take care of the economic factor in that it will be reasonably affordable to implement both financially and time wise. THE NEW POLICY This is a policy that will use communication efforts to help prevent the rising de-legitimization. This policy contains terms and strategies that when implemented will give positive and more effective results. The policy will make it clear that other than using political strategies to fight propaganda, communication can also be used to curb the fast spreading calamity. Using communication means will enable the message to reach more people than demonstrations and boycotts would. Since the challenge at hand is spreading at a very fast rate, an equally fast means is required to counter its immense spread. Therefore, the strategies in this policy are designed to suit the speed at which the propaganda is spread and manage to save the face of Israel in the eyes of the world (Burgoon, Berger, & Waldron, 2000). These strategies include; use of print media, use of electronic media, use of social media, use of small media, publicity in international forums, use of targeted scholarships and campaigns in institutions . Print media is a strong tool that can be used to control this fast spreading fire. Print media ranges from newspapers, magazine, newsletters, journals and books. Through these channels, millions of readers will have a chance to read the truth about Israel and see the bias in the BDS messages that they may have probably come across in the past. Print media is a very strong channel since what has been written on paper can be read and re-read years over by generations to come (Fill, 2009). For instance, a journal or book written to reveal the truth that counters the propaganda in the DBS messages will be read by assorted readers from all over the world. Since written information does not erase off the paper after it is read, this information will spread to people who borrow the book or journal, both in the present and in the future. As a result, millions of people will have their eyes open and they will be able to see the truth of the matter and spread that truth to their colleagues and friends. Various types of magazines can be used to deliver the same message to different types of people. Depending with the type of magazines published, the message will be able to reach people from both genders and all age groups. The electronic media is another tool that can be used to spread the gospel to a mass audience. The electronic media includes the television, films and radio. These two devices are capable of making the world believe anything. Therefore, messages can be aired through these channels to reach out to masses world over (Burgoon, Berger, & Waldron, 2000). For instance, a voice record of the truth about Israel can be aired in as many international radio stations as possible. The message will reach both those who heard of the BDS messages and those who have not. To those who have heard of the messages, the new information will be a clarification of the reality. To those who will not have heard of the messages, the information will act as a strong foundation to counter the spread of the messages since by the time they hear of the messages they will be armed with the truth, hence will not believe the propaganda. International television stations, just like the radio stations, have the power to impact the audience way of thinking and point of view on the misleading messages. Some people tend to believe more when they see other than when they hear. This means that the electronic media ought to work hand in hand to produce better results. Films acted and produced by Israel should include the theme of the anti-Israel apartheid to bring in the light what it is all about and how it affects the world view of people about Israel. Social media is the most used medium of communication among the youth all over the world. With the revolution in the world of technology, social networks are fast replacing other media of communication, especially among the young people (Maria Elena Figueroa, 2002). This makes social networks the best tool to spread the truth about Israel. The most popular networks such as ; Facebook, twitter, YouTube, MySpace, Skype and others can easily reach out to many youths in the world within a short period of time. Pages can be created to campaign against anti-Israel apartheid. Through these pages, members of various social networks will get to know to understand Israel better and see the positive side of it. The youth comprise the largest population of this world. Therefore, posting this information for the youth to see, watch and read outs us at a safe position since it also means that the future generation will get the right information. Through this the spread of the BDS messages will be in check. Use of small media is use of small items to spread a message across a wide population. These items include; pens, fliers, caps, t-shirts, and other small items that can have writings on them. Short messages of truth about Israel can be printed or engraved on the surfaces of these small items and shared in as many parts of the country as possible (Harwood, 2000). These items are used on a daily bases or at least on a regular bases. A message that is read on a daily bases or regularly tends to stick in the mind of a person and forgetting it may take a very long time. As a result, once the message tings in the minds of the people, the BDS messages and any other propaganda is likely to make no sense to that person when they come across it. Publicity in international forums such as the United Nations, USAID, and others is another way of countering the spread of the anti-Israel apartheid (Burgoon, Berger, & Waldron, 2000). During such forums, selected agents can make presentations to defend Israel against the DBS messages. Through these forums, representative of various countries get to hear the truth about Israel and take the message to their mother countries. In addition to this, the country may use targeted scholarships, mostly academic scholarships. Through these scholarships, students who school in Israel get a positive and different perception of Israel, opposite of what they may have gotten from the misleading DBS messages. These students take the goodness of Israel to their countries and with time more people will get to know the truth. TIMELINES The implementation of these strategies should take place one after the other or simultaneously according to the resources needed to implement them, how fast the tool used is and how far it is expected to cover. For instance, we may start with social networking since it requires less resource and is likely to reach more people within a shorter period of time. We can then use electronic media since it covers a wide range and is used by everybody all over the world. After the first two are in order the rest can follow simultaneously. CONCLUSION In conclusion, the new policy will help a big deal in countering the anti-Israel apartheid. On the other hand, some resources will be required to make the whole policy get in place. These include; human resources, for instance the news anchors for the electronic media, the people to send messages via the social networks and so many others. There will also be need for finances to carry out the activities of the policy. References Benhorin, Y. (2012). Israel Apartheid week marked in US Campuses. ISRAEL NEWS, 2,9. Burgoon, J. K., Berger, C. R., & Waldron, V. R. (2000). Mindfulness and Interpersonal communication. Journal of Social Sciences, 56(1): !05-127. Fill, C. (2009). Marketing Communications: interactivity, communities and content (5th ed.). London: Prentice Hall. Harwood, J. (2000). Social Cognitive Aproaches to Interpersonal Communication. Journal of Language and Social Pschology, 19(4): 491-450. Krauss, R. M. (2002). The Psychology of Verbal Communication. Retrieved March 05, 2012, from Columbia University: http://www.columbia.edu/~rmk7/PDF/IESBS.pdf Maria Elena Figueroa, D. L. (2002). Communication for Social change working paper series. Retrieved May 19, 2012, from The Rockfeller Foundation: http://www.communicationforsocialchange.org/pdf/socialchange.pdf Read More