Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Israel Backed by Army of Cyber-Soldiers

This article explains alot to me about blogs and polls over the net. It seems the war can only be won on every single front. Organization is key to success, but changing world media or polls by forcing ideas through sheer numbers is where bias starts. Thanks AB for this article based on facts.
mrtez


From Yonit Farago in Jerusalem
The Times
28th July,2006

While Israel fights Hezbollah with tanks and aircraft, its supporters are campaigning on the internet.
Israel’s Government has thrown its weight behind efforts by supporters to counter what it believes to be negative bias and a tide of pro-Arab propaganda. The Foreign Ministry has ordered trainee diplomats to track websites and chatrooms so that networks of US and European groups with hundreds of thousands of Jewish activists can place supportive messages.
In the past week nearly 5,000 members of the World Union of Jewish Students (WUJS) have downloaded special “megaphone” software that alerts them to anti-Israeli chatrooms or internet polls to enable them to post contrary viewpoints. A student team in Jerusalem combs the web in a host of different languages to flag the sites so that those who have signed up can influence an opinion survey or the course of a debate.
Jonny Cline, of the international student group, said that Jewish students and youth groups with their understanding of the web environment were ideally placed to present another side to the debate.
“We’re saying to these people that if Israel is being bashed, don’t ignore it, change it,” Mr Cline said. “A poll like CNN’s takes just a few seconds to vote in, but if thousands take part the outcome will be changed. What’s vital is that the international face of the conflict is balanced.”
Doron Barkat, 29, in Jerusalem, spends long nights trawling the web to try to swing the debate Israel’s way. “When I see internet polls for or against Israel I send out a mailing list to vote for Israel,” he said. “It can be that after 15 minutes there will be 400 votes for Israel.
“It’s very satisfying. There are also forums where Lebanese and Israelis talk.”
Israel’s Foreign Ministry must avoid direct involvement with the campaign but is in contact with international Jewish and evangelical Christian groups, distributing internet information packs.
Amir Gissin, the Israeli Foreign Ministry’s public relations director, said: “The internet’s become a leading tool for news, shaping the world view of millions. Our problem is the foreign media shows Lebanese suffering, but not Israeli. We’re bypassing that filter by distributing pictures showing how northern Israelis suffer from Katyusha rocket attacks.”

17 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

That actually kind of sucks, I prefer to hear peoples opinions whether I like them or not.

As much as I disagree with the owners of this blog on many many issues, I am enjoying hearing the other sides opinions in very very well written articles, and hopefully those who do show up here are not some flesh bot trolling the internet for either side.

4:16 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Lilu
The point about this is that any websites, blogs, polls that say anything negative about Israel are actively targeted by pro-Israeli activist who will deny, attack, call people like the writers of this blog anti-Israeli and hate spreaders, in an attempt to deflect any criticism of Israel. Hats off to the brilliance of the Israeli propaganda machine and the skill of pro-Israeli activists and the best one of them all - AIPAC.
So make sure to check out the following websites

http://www.wujs.org.il/activist/campaigns/hasbara.shtml

and

http://giyus.org/

Sign up to the last one and you'll see how efficient the Israeli propaganda machine is.

If the Arabs and pro-Arabs were as good as the Israelis in the cyber wars then this war might be over by now.

4:36 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Dead on. There is a difference between posting your point of view and posting only to counteract others. It is a sign of being overly self conscious

4:43 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Well it seems that popularity for that word is now an issue..is it really...shoud we all not focus on what is currently happening with ceasefire and food aid to north of israel and lebanon..however I do not see anything saying that north israel needs any supplies...

Anyway if that war start to turn into focusing on the image it reflect on to the world i do not know where we are going....

Autrement serait il possible d'avoir l'article tant contreverse par nicole et anomymous car je n'arrive pas a ouvrir leur lien....merci tu peux me l'envoyer sur jeannelr@yahoo.com


Merci d'avance

4:48 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

well I just found a blog from a FRench in Israel..sorry it is not afcts...but might give us an idea of how they feel...I did not succeed into getting the direct link to the blog which is wirtten in French...but only through LCI website...

http://tf1.lci.fr/infos/monde/0,,3320983,00-israel-refugie-raconte-.html

5:09 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

watch out Lebanon.... this is coming soon to your land.......

http://www.ladysun.net/

Hizbullah is looking for your support.
Please all support the rule all over Lebanon.

Thanks
Nassrallah

7:56 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

oh we are so facked!

8:19 PM  
Blogger Bash said...

Somehow I don't see how Northerners suffering in Israel can compare with Babies being killed in Dahyeh and the South of Lebanon

9:05 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thats exactly the problem though, if your truly against the killings, you have to be against it all, and not just the proportionally un-balanced sides. Men, women, children, jewish, arab, whatever they may be, they're still dying, and that is the real issue. Not which side of the border their on when it happens.

9:12 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

fack he's right!

9:18 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thank you anonym, that is exactly the point that no one's getting. If the world were more focussed on the humanitarian aspect: that the single most important thing is to save the civilians from suffering (on both sides) wouldn't an immediate cease-fire be the most essential step?? they can talk about their political conditions and arguments AFTER the cease-fire.

10:50 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hezbollah only needs to say "we will disarm and let our government run the country" and a cease fire would be instant.

This internet thing kind of reminds me of when the U.S., and I am American, was putting false articles in newspapers in Iraq. Almost all news sources are biased, bu8t I would like to keep the internet as honest as possible...I believe it is the honesty of the internet that draws everyone here. I think almost ALL governments HATE the fact they have trouble controlling what we see and read online.

2:53 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

you must be facking kidding me. fack!

5:29 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

tool , what is 'facking' and 'fack' mean in plain english?
:-)

5:44 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

fack u!

9:36 PM  
Blogger Richard said...

Whoa is that pathetic! They're fulfilling their "patriotic duty" by voting in online polls for Israel? And that's "very satisfying?" Hmmm.

No wonder the Israeli "hasbarah" (PR or propaganda in Hebrew) is faring so poorly. You can't create very effective propaganda when your own side produces so much horrific bad press for you to combat.

I'm an American Jew who, believe it or not, believes that Israel COULD BE a peace-loving nation & holds out hope that this may happen sometime in the future. I have two sites which oppose the current war, Tikun Olam, my blog; and Israel Palestine Blogs, a blog aggregator of 30 Israeli, Palestinian, Lebanese, & Diaspora Arab & Jewish peace blogs.

I invite yr readers to visit when or if they have the chance.

10:15 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hello, I will translate this posting also into German and you will find it (latest after weekend) on my blog.

2:45 AM  

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