The Gaza Storyline

Helle Dale /

The storyline of the Gaza embargo has been written by now, defined by the Turkish so-called “peace activists,” clearly a misnomer if ever there was one. But misnomers and public relations is in large part what the convoy and the attempt to break the Israeli embargo was all about. In terms of information warfare, the activists have won so far, hands-down. Israel needs to do all it can to capture the information offensive. This can be done in several ways if only the media would be responsible enough to listen: Perhaps most important of in terms of changing the narrative will be showing world what Israel is and has been doing in terms of humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza and in terms of acting with moderation towards those who want to break its embargo, which of course it shares with Egypt.

In this, Israel faces an uphill battle, for one things because international organizations like the U.N. are dominated by its critics and file knee-jerk condemnations, and secondly because the world media reflects a similar bias.  Therefore, Israel’s public diplomacy strategists have a tough job, even under the best of circumstances. In the case of the assault on the Turkish convoy, the problem has been exacerbated by an intelligence gap that left the Israeli commandos ill-prepared for the well-armed resistance from activists in search of a confrontation. (more…)