Public Diplomacy, Israeli Lobby And Al-Hurra TV By Ali Al-Hail

Public Diplomacy, Israeli Lobby And Al-Hurra TV

By Ali Al-Hail

ccun.org, March 19, 2008

Neither did the Bush administration, nor did the EU condemned the Israeli-in cold blood-assassination of five Palestinians in Bethlehem and Sidon last week, in the occupied West Bank. Many argue that, the Israeli government have had them 'brainwashed' that, those assassinated, their hands had been "polluted with Jewish blood".

Had Palestinians assassinated those whose hands had been polluted with Gazans' blood, ten days ago, would the Bush and EU governments have followed the same pattern. The answer is absolutely, NO.

Nearly, a fortnight ago, Israel's "disproportionate access of power", according to Ban Ki Moon, the UN Secretary General massacred in Gaza yet, in another serious of cold blood more than 140 civilians, including more than 40 children, 3 breast-fed babies, women, and elderly. Have the supposedly, 'leader of the free world' and the EU condemned these blatant holocausts? The answer to this question is absolutely, no either.

Thus, what kind of credibility do both the Bush administration and the EU would expect from Arabs and Muslims? How could on earth, any attempt of public diplomacy succeed in varnishing these countries' images across the Arab and Muslim worlds?

The problem has always been that, these Western governments listen too much to their hypnotizers i.e., the Israeli Lobby. Accordingly, doesn't matter, what these countries do as regard to public diplomacy, their efforts would be bound to fail, as long as the Israeli Lobby is, the gatekeeper.

An estimated amount of a billion dollar, have sine 2004 been poured into public diplomacy by the State Department hardly, without tangible outcomes on the ground. Why? Because of these states' credibility increasing, and deepening crisis.

That's arguably, because of the Israeli Lobby's impact on these Western governments' Middle East-bound-decision making. Although, this concern has been expressed by the few studies that, had been able to penetrate in the West, despite the siege by the Israeli Lobby, their impact on the governments were still so incredibly, limited.

One of the Bush administration's agencies of public diplomacy in the Middle East, Baghdad-based-Al-Hurra TV, ignored last week the killing of twelve (12) US soldiers on March 10, 11, and 12. Many observed that, this pattern had worsened the Bush administration credibility, even amongst its targeted audience of Iraq.

While almost entirely, without a single exemption, all media outlets, including the BBC, and the CNN broadcast the fatalities' news, Al-Hurra was concentrating on "how successful, the US surge since Summer, had been in Iraq"! Could they be possibly, more funny?

This example, amongst so many, proves that, public diplomacy has only, been yielding hilariousness. But, no more.

One presumes, as do many that, this is another Israeli Lobby's ill advise to the Bush administration; to withhold fatalities' news. Apparently, to prolong the US occupation of Iraq of course, out of the US tax payer's forehead sweat. Since, we live in the age of open satellite media, someone, somewhere, in the Bush administration, or the Pentagon, or even within the State Department, has to be courageous enough to defy the taboo, and to say: Enough is enough.

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