Jewish is bad for P.R. http://blogs.jta.org/ENTRY_PERMALINK_HERE/jewish-is-bad-for-pr/ A leading pro-Israel advocacy has produced an internal manual suggesting that invoking the terms “Jewish state” or “Zionist state” could end up hurting Israel in the realm of public opinion. en-us aeden@jta.org Copyright 2009 2009-07-15T;19:14:00-05:00 Comment by Daniel Tauber Daniel.Tauber@gmail.com It may be that Jewish is bad for PR, but an advocate who is pro-Israel and pro-Jewish (the two are really synonyms) should work to change that, not resign themselves to that problem and pretend it’s not a problem in the first place. Zionists have to argue that: (a) being Jewish is not a religious identity, but a national identity. This is obviously hard for many Jews /Zionists to swallow because of dual identity issues. (b) the State of Israel was established to be a Jewish state - as both a restoration of the Jewish nation (not mere members of a religion) to their country and political sovereignty and independence and as a haven for this persecuted people (who were persecuted because they existed as a homeless nation for so long). Without this basis for pro-Israel advocacy, there is no reason for Israel to exist on what non-Zionists believe was Arab land first. There is no reason for Israel not to give all Arabs within its military control citizenship. There is no reason for Israel to exist instead of a democratic Palestine. This is why Israel’s existence as a Jewish state, is so important, and has been since the founding of the State (see Israel’s Declaration of Independence). Telling young Jewish students not to talk about the Jewish identity of the state is either anti-Zionistic or just a lack of understanding about what the conflict is all about. It may be that Jewish is bad for PR, but an advocate who is pro-Israel and pro-Jewish (the two are really synonyms) should work to change that, not resign themselves to that problem and pretend it’s not a problem in the first place.

Zionists have to argue that: (a) being Jewish is not a religious identity, but a national identity. This is obviously hard for many Jews /Zionists to swallow because of dual identity issues. (b) the State of Israel was established to be a Jewish state - as both a restoration of the Jewish nation (not mere members of a religion) to their country and political sovereignty and independence and as a haven for this persecuted people (who were persecuted because they existed as a homeless nation for so long).

Without this basis for pro-Israel advocacy, there is no reason for Israel to exist on what non-Zionists believe was Arab land first. There is no reason for Israel not to give all Arabs within its military control citizenship. There is no reason for Israel to exist instead of a democratic Palestine. This is why Israel’s existence as a Jewish state, is so important, and has been since the founding of the State (see Israel’s Declaration of Independence).

Telling young Jewish students not to talk about the Jewish identity of the state is either anti-Zionistic or just a lack of understanding about what the conflict is all about.

]]> 2012-05-24T;14:04:00-05:00 Comment by ASC asc@njjewishnews.com John Q.: “what pray tell does he recommend as a replacement word?” To be fair to Luntz, who may be the best known of the “Republicans “ who developed “the use of carefully crafted sound bites that appeal to people’s emotions as opposed to speaking to “boring” facts,” the entire 116-page guide features the replacement language he suggests. One of his techniques is to avoid topics that are counter-rpoductive, like religion. That may gall a true Zionist, but his point is not to have Israel advocates speak from their heart, but to give them the tools to win hearts and minds. I would suggest that Obama was undertaking a very similar exercise in his Cairo speech. Yes, there were about a dozen things Israel’s supporters wish he had said, and a dozen things they wished he hadn’t, but his goal wasn’t to please them or convey a candid picture of his own views on the Mideast or Israel. His goal was to use “words tht work,” in Luntz’s phrase, to gain Arab cooperation. Similarly, Luntz wasn’t assigned to write a Zionist catechism, but a p.r. strategy document. John Q.:

“what pray tell does he recommend as a replacement word?”

To be fair to Luntz, who may be the best known of the “Republicans “ who developed “the use of carefully crafted sound bites that appeal to people’s emotions as opposed to speaking to “boring” facts,” the entire 116-page guide features the replacement language he suggests. One of his techniques is to avoid topics that are counter-rpoductive, like religion. That may gall a true Zionist, but his point is not to have Israel advocates speak from their heart, but to give them the tools to win hearts and minds.

I would suggest that Obama was undertaking a very similar exercise in his Cairo speech. Yes, there were about a dozen things Israel’s supporters wish he had said, and a dozen things they wished he hadn’t, but his goal wasn’t to please them or convey a candid picture of his own views on the Mideast or Israel. His goal was to use “words tht work,” in Luntz’s phrase, to gain Arab cooperation. Similarly, Luntz wasn’t assigned to write a Zionist catechism, but a p.r. strategy document.

]]> 2012-05-24T;14:04:00-05:00 Comment by Jack Shattuck depapabear@yahoo.com JTS’ e-mailed summary of this report by J-Street refers to them as “A leading pro-Israel advocacy group”.  This is hardly the case as they are one of the most leftist-leaning Jewish organizations which hardly stands up for Israel’s rights or Israeli government policies..  You want a real pro-Israel advocacy group?  Look at Z Street (ziostreet.wordpress.com/) for a pro-Zionist perspective. JTS’ e-mailed summary of this report by J-Street refers to them as
“A leading pro-Israel advocacy group”.  This is hardly the case as they are one of the most leftist-leaning Jewish organizations which hardly stands up for Israel’s rights or Israeli government policies..  You want a real pro-Israel advocacy group?  Look at Z Street (ziostreet.wordpress.com/) for a pro-Zionist perspective.

]]> 2012-05-24T;14:04:00-05:00 Comment by John Q. Public kerry.berger@gmail.com If it is recommended by Republican pollster Frank Luntz not to refer to Israel as a “Jewish State” or “Zionist State”, then what pray tell does he recommend as a replacement word?  Half of the problem with pundits and pollsters is that why they can sometimes clearly identify problems they sure cannot come up with solutions.  So we end up with a nation of “expert” critics who inflame and distort problems instead of being part of the answer.  To give the Republicans credit, they were the first to develop the use of carefully crafted sound bites that appeal to people’s emotions as opposed to speaking to “boring” facts.  Obama’s campaign managers were astute to pick up on that.  In fact, for quite some time, I have long felt that calling people anti-Semites (even if they are) is no longer effective, just as pointing to the Holocaust and the death of 6 million people doesn’t resonate today.  People are so de-sensitized to the horrors of war and death due to TV and overuse of the same responses that the physical numbers that represent actual people are incomprehensible.  I can remember a political science professor who once talked about the theoretical death toll from a tactical nuclear exchange—something like 30 million people.  I had to raise my hand and ask him, did he know how many pages of typing paper it would take to fill with the letter “X” to reach one million?  My point is simply this.  We need new tools to confront the prejudice that exists towards Jews.  The ADL’s handbook “Confronting Anti-Semitism: Myths...Facts...” is a great example of “how to respond” and be effective, but more work on this needs to be done, and I strongly believe that further research following the pattern of the report entitled, “Message Handbook for Progressives from Left to Center: Voices for Progress Report” by Westen Strategies & Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research could become a means for improving the PR as well as countering the negative propaganda that we still face here and abroad.  Anyway, food for thought and debate. If it is recommended by Republican pollster Frank Luntz not to refer to Israel as a “Jewish State” or “Zionist State”, then what pray tell does he recommend as a replacement word?  Half of the problem with pundits and pollsters is that why they can sometimes clearly identify problems they sure cannot come up with solutions.  So we end up with a nation of “expert” critics who inflame and distort problems instead of being part of the answer.  To give the Republicans credit, they were the first to develop the use of carefully crafted sound bites that appeal to people’s emotions as opposed to speaking to “boring” facts.  Obama’s campaign managers were astute to pick up on that.  In fact, for quite some time, I have long felt that calling people anti-Semites (even if they are) is no longer effective, just as pointing to the Holocaust and the death of 6 million people doesn’t resonate today.  People are so de-sensitized to the horrors of war and death due to TV and overuse of the same responses that the physical numbers that represent actual people are incomprehensible.  I can remember a political science professor who once talked about the theoretical death toll from a tactical nuclear exchange—something like 30 million people.  I had to raise my hand and ask him, did he know how many pages of typing paper it would take to fill with the letter “X” to reach one million?  My point is simply this.  We need new tools to confront the prejudice that exists towards Jews.  The ADL’s handbook “Confronting Anti-Semitism: Myths...Facts...” is a great example of “how to respond” and be effective, but more work on this needs to be done, and I strongly believe that further research following the pattern of the report entitled, “Message Handbook for Progressives from Left to Center: Voices for Progress Report” by Westen Strategies & Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research could become a means for improving the PR as well as countering the negative propaganda that we still face here and abroad.  Anyway, food for thought and debate.

]]> 2012-05-24T;14:04:00-05:00