I'd like to clarify something about this term. Hasbara (הסברה, which really should be appropriately transliterated as hasbarah) is a common Hebrew word that translates as 'explanation'. In the context of a government, the more appropriate translation is 'communications'. All governments engage in this. When we agree with it, we call it 'communications' and when we disagree with it, we call it 'propaganda'. Either way, no government statement should be read uncritically. All government communications are politically interested and that should be a given. But whether we call it hasbara or communications or propaganda, it's crafted and selective. That doesn't mean it's all lies. All governments employ facts in interested ways, and this means when we disagree we call those statements distortions of truth. All governments out and out lie.
I am a bit disturbed by how calling something 'hasbara' is often given and accepted as an argument in and of itself, and one that automatically discredits anything and everything that represents the interests of the Israeli government or those who agree with it. And, truth be told, this disturbs me as it seems to single out Israel as more intentionally deceptive than all the other governments in the world, which I dont think is supportable. It disturbs me because it plays on (intentionally or not) stereotypes about Jews as particularly and uniquely deceptive and manipulative. And if you think this is taking something out of context, let me remind you that the infamous anti Semitic forgery, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, which depicts Jews as a conspiratorial race secretly causing wars for profit, is considered credible throughout the Arab world, and is even quoted in the Arab press.
Now, let me be clear before you start hide rating me. I am accusing NO ONE here of anti Semitism. And I abhor the practice of reflectively labeling all criticism of Israel as anti Semitic. But there is a history here that stinks and it resonates here in an ugly way when people shout HASBARA!!! as a way to reflexively discredit anything that supports narratives considered pro Israel, which I also dont think should automatically discredit a statement.
I also dont mean to suggest that Israel never lies and should not be held accountable as we should hold all governments accountable. In my view, deeply influenced by J.J. Goldberg's article last week in The Forward, this entire unfolding calamity can be blamed on Bibi Netanyahu, who manipulated the kidnappings of Eyal Yifrah, Naftali Fraenkel, and Gilad Shaar in deeply disturbing ways and did so incompetently, bungling into a war he actually did not want.
Israeli authorities knew within a day of their disappearance that these boys were almost beyond doubt already dead. They had a an emergency call from one of the boys on his cellphone. After he whispered to the dispatcher that he had been kidnapped, gunshots and groans were heard, followed by celebratory singing. They didn't even communicate this to the three boys families. Why? Because Bibi wanted to use the pretense of the search to round up some of the prisoners he freed in exchange of the kidnapped soldier, Gilad Shalit. He also immediately accused HAMAS in ways that made it seem as if he had actual information, when it was pretty clear that this was perpetrated by a rogue group connected to HAMAS but with a history of acting on their own to undermine cease fires. Netanyahu's real interest was in trying to weaken or scuttle the reconciliation agreement between HAMAS and FATAH and avoid the authority it gives Abu Mazen (Abbas) to negotiate on behalf of both Gaza and the West Bank. It was a mix of lies of omission and lies of commission or convenient assumption, a willful distorting of the truth in pursuit of a political goal.
The fact is that Bibi Netanyahu is an incompetent cynic primarily interested in hanging onto his own power. And the only thing worse than a cynic is an incompetent one. When things began to spiral, he was faced with the fanatic right flank of his coalition and dragged into an all out conflict he didn't seek. Utterly disingenuous and irresponsible. And while I do not think for a second this undermines the moral culpability of those who let the rockets fly from Gaza, neither do those rockets undermine Israeli moral culpability, and in particular the Prime Minister's, for failing to address the root problems of the occupation and for creating a context in which violence on this scale was a very probable outcome.
So yes. The Israeli government lies and distorts the truth, both in its communications to the world and to its own citizenry. And everything it releases should be read critically and we should hold governments and their spokespersons to account. But that doesn't mean that everything it says should be automatically dismissed any more than communications from the PA should be automatically dismissed, or for that matter communications from the White House. But the central point of this diary is that to use a specific Hebrew term for any and all Israeli government communications as a way to automatically discredit anything it says out of hand really does reinforce toxic stereotypes that affect the way we think even when we don't mean them to. I might even agree wholeheartedly with an argument exposing a particular distortion and I'm not interested in accusing any individuals or policing anyone's speech. But I find this objectionable and also obstructive of actual meaningful discussion and thought the reasons why might be of interest to some.
...and no, I am not being paid by the Israeli government or the IDF to engage in any communications strategy any more than someone who raises valid points about the occupation should be dismissed as in the pay of HAMAS.