"Hasbara" Has Gone The Way of "Zionism"

Israel's enemies have long succeeded in turning the word "Zionism" into a pejorative term. According to The Jerusalem Post, they are also succeeding into turning the word "Hasbara" into a synonym for propaganda of the most exploitative kind:

What is often overlooked when Israeli "hasbara" is criticized as not effective enough is that, while the Hebrew word literally means "explanation", there are plainly quite a few people who don't want to listen to any explanation of Israeli concerns and viewpoints. For them, "hasbara"is nothing but propaganda. Thus, the ostensibly objective SourceWatch site claims with an unabashed lack of objectivity: "Hasbara refers to the propaganda efforts to sell Israel, justify its actions, and defend it in world opinion. [...] Israel portrays itself as fighting on two fronts: the Palestinians and world opinion. The latter is dealt with hasbara. The premise of hasbara is that Israel's problems are a matter of better propaganda, and not one of an underlying unjust situation."

Read the whole thing.

Technorati Tag: Israel and Hasbara.