An informative guide to understanding the situation in Palestine. I do not claim ownership of any multimedia referenced in this book-- attribution and sources provided as always.
Astoria E Greene
Today we are going to take a look at the concept of propaganda. What is it? How can you identify it?Why do you need to protect yourself from it? It's important to understand the reasons why propaganda is created and spread, and what you can do to not fall victim to the consumption of misinformation OR become a distributor it. The simple fact is that spreading misinformation can be dangerous. What may be a simple click of a post to you, can contribute to ideals that threaten the livelihood of other people and it furthers a false narrative. So without further talk, let's take a look into what is propaganda?
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Propaganda is defined as a type of media intended to influence or persuade an audience to side with one perspective of a political conflict or point of view. Propaganda can take many forms-- advertisements, tweets, children's commercials, celebrity statements, political cartoons, and more. Most propaganda is intended to appeal to some element of persuasion, these being ethos (appeals to credibility, trust), pathos (appeals to emotions), or logos (appeals to logic). But this is a very basic way of explaining it. Most propaganda is not meant to be easily detectable, unless you know the red flags to look out for. There are certain buzzwords and other phrases that should always put you on alert that something may be propaganda. True journalism is meant to inform, and report facts and stories in the most honest, accurate, and objective manner, so that you may form your own opinion based off of what you know. Propaganda does not do this, propaganda is intended to sway and distract.
So, let's take a look at some things of you may have seen in recent circulation, and let's explore why these things might fall into the classification of propaganda.
Example No. 1: The Political Cartoon
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Above is a political cartoon which depicts two families of 3 standing on opposite sides of a warzone, separated by a dotted line which demarcates Gaza and Israel. The family on the Israeli side holds a sign reading "We are not Netanyahu" while the family on the Gaza side holds a sign reading "We are not Hamas". The cartoon appears to be a call for peace and neutrality, highlighting the innocent persons who have been harmed or killed during this ordeal. However, this cartoon is propaganda.
This cartoon attempts to appeal to both pathos and logos. We see the family on either side— both a family of three, both regular looking persons, both have a child. However, this cartoon depoliticizes settler violence, which is the root cause of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It attempts to absolve Israelis of the inherent violence and theft which comes with colonialism.
It appeals to logos by showing mass destruction on both sides of the dotted line. You can even see the shell of a bombed building on the Israeli side. Logic tells us that if civilians on both sides are suffering en mass, then this must be stopped. The civilians just want peace! But again, this is a misrepresentation, and its factually inaccurate. Damage is not proportionate on both sides. As of November 3rd, 2023, the death toll among Palestinians has risen to over 9,000 persons, compared to 1,400 on the Israelis, most of whom were civilians killed in the initial attack. Since October 7, Israel has dropped a total of 25,000 tons of explosives on the Gaza Strip— the equivalent of two nuclear bombs. This does not account for the long-lasting health complications and housing crises, both of which are an inevitable for the Palestinians.
In short— this cartoon appears to be a call for peace and neutrality, sympathizing with the civilians who have been affected by the war. But what is actually is, is a misrepresentation of settler-colonial violence, painting both the oppressor and the oppressed as the victims of what is now a genocide of the Palestinian people. One cannot be an innocent bystander in a war which occurred as a result of one side imposing on occupied land. That's not how it works.
Example 2. "They're gonna eat your babies!"
It's important that you watch this if you haven't seen it yet. This 30 second clip was posted by the official Youtube account for Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
There really isn't... much to be said. This is cut and clear propaganda. It is intended to incite fear, understanding, trust. "Any parent would do anything for their child." Speaking to the audience as if, the entity of Israel in a country as itself is simply a "parent" protecting their child. And it's complete with the call to action "Now hug your baby and stand with us."
It is no secret, that the bond between parent and child is one which many would do anything to protect. This plays into a very primal fear. The primal need to protect ones young. Now, this video was posted three weeks ago, and the '40 Beheaded Babies' claim has since been debunked by several sources. But the video remains up, for all of the world to see and remember.
Astoria E Greene
[03 November 2023]
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Sources
Smith, Bruce Lannes. "propaganda". Encyclopedia Britannica, 3 Nov. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/topic/propaganda. Accessed 3 November 2023.
"Letter: There's No Equating Netanyahu with Hamas." Reading Eagle, Reading Eagle, 23 Oct. 2023, www.readingeagle.com/2023/10/24/letter-theres-no-equating-netanyahu-with-hamas/.
"Babies Can't Read the Text in This Video but Their Parents Can." YouTube, IsraelMFA, 11 Oct. 2023, www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hh8t8sHnTng.
