Time to write A New Story

It really was a no-win situation from the outset. What do you do with a flotilla of ships carrying activists bent on bringing humanitarian aid to Gaza, but determined, above all, to score a public relations victory against Israel’s blockade? Turn them away? Then Israel stands accused of preventing humanitarian aid from reaching Gazans, and the parallels with historical episodes like the St. Louis or the Exodus are easily, although spuriously drawn. Offer them the chance to dock at an Israeli port? Then they probably refuse, and, if forced, the parallels with historical episodes like the St. Louis or the Exodus again are easily, and again, spuriously drawn. Allow them in? Then the blockade is broken, running the risk of armaments entering the territory, and Israeli civilians being put in danger. Risk face-to-face confrontation? Then people are killed, Israel stands accused of bungling operations and using disproportionate force, the UN goes into overdrive, and a raft of international condemnation comes sailing in, docking happily at every major media portal and outlet across the world.

You have to admire the organisers of the flotilla for that. The purpose of the exercise was only ostensibly to bring humanitarian aid to Gazans; it was really designed to score a public relations victory by telling a story. And the story is a compelling one: the innocent Gazan people need humanitarian aid which the guilty Israelis have been refusing to give them. So the innocent, well-meaning social activists tried to break the blockade and bring the aid themselves, and in response they were met with extreme Israeli brutality which resulted in several fatalities. It’s a great headline-grabbing story, and it achieves perfect full-colour black and white results: Gaza = oppressed, denied, victim; Israel = violent, inhumane, murderer. Viewed from a certain perspective, this whole episode was a brilliantly scripted reality TV show, which ensured that, however the story unfolded, the result was in the bag from the moment the flotilla set sail.

This time, at least, Israel was prepared. They knew about the flotilla weeks in advance, so they had plenty of time to plan. And plan they clearly did. They played through the various scenarios, and were determined not to lose the PR battle. They filmed an Israeli Naval officer addressing a ship and offering to let it dock in Ashdod. They filmed the Israeli troops as they landed on the ships, and quickly released the footage of them being quite viciously attacked. They had footage from the air, footage from the sea, they added explanatory subtitles in English, and got it out to the waiting international media within hours. But, in spite of all this, the condemnation kept coming.

On Facebook, Israel’s supporters also went quickly into overdrive. Armed with Israel’s film footage (quickly available on YouTube), they shared it with friends, found new footage on MEMRI TV, wrote articles and blogs, shared insights, passed comments, etc., all of which was designed to quickly re-write the narrative. But, in spite of all this, the condemnation kept coming.

Why? Why is it that, whatever Israel does, it is condemned? Even when the footage seems to be crystal clear, it makes no difference. They attacked us, yet we are criticized for trying to defend ourselves???

The condemnation keeps coming because of the power of The Story. The dominant narrative surrounding the Palestinians, Gaza, humanitarian aid, occupation, check points, human rights abuses, has Israel clearly cast as the bad guy. That casting is certainly not without some justification. The Israeli response to the threat posed by the flotilla may well have been inappropriate and disproportionate. That it was bungled is completely self-evident. The Israeli actions in Operation Cast Lead in 2008-9 could be similarly criticized. But there are two sides involved in this conflict, and its rights and wrongs are far from being black and white. It remains complex and nuanced, and neither party has justice exclusively on its side. Quite simply, it’s messier than that.

But Israel’s consistent mistake is to try to fight back against The Story. Every time the conflict escalates, the same pattern emerges. The pictures quickly tell The Story. The Story makes it perfectly clear who is in the right and it isn’t Israel. So immediately, the Israeli government, the military, social and political commentators, not to mention the army of Facebook activists, go into reactive defensive mode, trying to tell a different story. And each time they fail because The Story won the battle from the first moment it was told.

Perhaps it is time to change tactics. Instead of reacting to events and going into defensive mode to try to fight back against The Story, maybe it’s time to go into proactive and attacking mode and write The New Story. Maybe it’s time to take our fate into our own hands. Maybe it’s time to stop feeling powerless, and to create our own new sources of power. Maybe it’s time to put an end to the endless condemnation that seems to come with greater and greater force from every corner of the globe. (Blimey, that almost reads like a speech from the First Zionist Congress...)

I suggest taking the offensive on three fronts. First, there is a PR battle to be won. But it won’t be won by simply trying to defend ourselves against The Story. We need to actively create The New Story. We need to write our own script, and create ways to make it live and breathe on an international scale. The villains in The New Story should not be difficult to construct: in general, the world isn’t exactly fond of Islamic extremists, and there are, after all, one or two living in our backyard. And it’s not as if we don’t have a few good men of our own. It’s just that we can’t afford to wait for earthquakes in Haiti to unveil them; we have to put them in front of the camera as often as possible, in motion pictures that are of our own making, not in response to those made by others.

Second, and far more importantly, we need to go on the moral offensive. Going into attacking mode needn’t only involve helicopter gunships, M-16s and rubber bullets. It could also draw on Judaism’s moral imperatives. There are probably countless ways to take the moral high ground, and I have no doubt that others could come up with better ideas than this, but how about a vast international effort – involving Jews in the Diaspora and Israel working in partnership with as many Palestinians as possible – to rebuild Gaza? How about joining together to construct new homes, schools, hospitals, community centres and industries in the area, in order to change the face of the region? How about turning a conflict based on "us" and "them" into a cooperative venture based on "us"? Idealistic nonsense? Perhaps, but I seem to remember that’s what they called Zionism a hundred or so years ago too.

Come to think of it, maybe an effort of this type would end up becoming The New Story. Maybe it would demonstrate that Israelis and Diaspora Jews can in fact come together with the Palestinian people to undertake a massive project to solve the century-old conflict. Maybe it would generate a totally different set of headlines in the international media. Maybe it would alter the discourse at the United Nations. Maybe it would sideline Hamas and reveal its members to be the bigoted extremists that at least some of them are (particularly if they try to undermine the efforts). Maybe it would bring new cause to the Jewish world, and help to foster a renewed sense of energy and collective spirit in the Jewish people. Maybe it would create opportunities for genuine dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians, Jews and Muslims, and create an unprecedented sense of understanding and mutual respect. Maybe it - or a similar type of project - is worth a try, if only to attempt to engineer a shift from Israeli reactive powerlessness to proactive power.

Oh yes – I nearly forgot. The third front. Look, I know Israel didn’t qualify, and even though the USA did, most Americans barely noticed, but I want to suggest that we all watch the World Cup this summer. If we do, we are likely to notice that few, if any teams, play with all eleven players in defence. The reason for this is that doing so would result, at best, in a draw (that’s a “tie” if you’re American). The message is clear: you don’t win anything if you only concentrate on defence. That’s why most, if not all teams, dedicate at least a few players to attack as well. That way, they have a fighting chance of actually scoring a goal or two. We Jews may just have something to learn from that. Just a thought.