The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Where PR Is Mightier Than The Sword

The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: How PR is Mightier than the Sword

The conflict is moving irrevocably towards the importance of image over actuality; both Hamas and the Israeli government know this, and continue to make the most of it

The 'Free Gaza' cafe in Rashidieh refugee camp, the most southern Palestinian camp close to the Israeli border

Julia Macfarlane

Thursday 6 December 2012 

Every Thursday through Twitter the Israeli Defence Forces publish a tweet detailing their involvement, on that particular day, in goods transfers to the Gaza Strip. Today's ran as follows: "@IDFSpokesperson: Yesterday we facilitated the transfer 324 trucks with 8,985 tons of goods and gas into Gaza, including 270 tons of fruit."

It's a bizarre feature of a conflict that has become almost as much about PR as pitched warfare.

Last week after the Israeli government retaliated to defeat at the UN General Assembly vote on Palestinian non-member statehood by announcing 3,000 new settlements near East Jerusalem, British Foreign Secretary William Hague expressed concern with the damage plans would do to Israel’s image. “They would undermine Israel’s international reputation and create doubts over its commitment to achieving peace with the Palestinians.” Hague’s comment hits home the increasing relevance of public relations when it comes to conflict. Having the moral high ground is one of the most important weapons in a government’s arsenal, and makes all the difference with the international watchdog of the UN - which has the power to condemn you, or to vindicate you in the muddy waters of modern warfare. Where new age spin comes in to play, is to legitimize armed conflict or to appeal to mass opinion.

The recent conflict between Gaza's Hamas and Israel bore all the hallmarks of PR spinning, political theatre. Elliot Abrams, Senior fellow with the Council on Foreign Relations theorized recently that Hamas instigated the conflict for PR purposes: “First, the PA in the West Bank was at centre stage with its UN membership initiative. Hamas seemed marginal while this diplomatic effort was playing out. With this war Hamas has once again grabbed centre stage.” 

Positive reaction to Hamas’ role in the conflict was widespread amongst Gazan Palestinians, even more so after Netanyahu decided against a ground invasion despite general Israeli opinion in favour of sending troops into the Strip.

Fruzsina Eördögh wrote in Slate last month: “The attacks on Gaza have become a war of words, pictures, and video as much as an actual war of missiles, “martyrs,” and dead children.” Hamas leapt upon the widespread coverage of civilian deaths in Gaza, with the Al Qassem Brigades harnessing the power of social media via Twitter to rally supporters; offering pictures of dead civilians littering the streets; insulting the IDF and uploading posters and slogans to heat up the online conversation.

 Following the ceasefire, Hamas encouraged widespread celebration, slating the negotiations as a ‘victory’ they had won; a feat of pr spin having lost their top military commander Ahmad al-Jabari, as well as suffering substantial damage to their infrastructure including the destruction of the Gaza Interior Ministry. While that claim is of course debateable, the surge in popularity Hamas enjoyed following the clashes, is not. Demonization of Zionists – and Israelis and Jews by extention – is rife in Hamas’ rhetoric and just another part of the spin.

PR spin however may also found across the border. Quoted in Vanity Fair, Gonen Ginat of Israel Hayom, spoke of “Netanyahu’s conviction that, at their core, many problems, both his and Israel’s, are really matters of hasbara: Hebrew for public relations.” 

Israel has been accused of employing spin by those who see disparity between the repeated mantras of the need to defend with observations that the state possesses the fourth finest army and defence capabilities in the world – and is widely acknowledged to secretly possess nuclear weapons. Added to the destructive military campaigns of the IDF, which are often dubbed with deceptively benign names such as ‘Operation Summer Rain’ in 2006 where tanks blitzed through the streets and warplanes bombed infrastructure, causing failure of the sewage system. Power plants were also bombed, cutting power to hospitals overrun with more than 200 civilian casualties and more than a thousand injured.

Noam Chomsky in his ‘Chronicles of Dissent’ suggests, however controversially, that the Israeli state consciously manipulates the historical persecution of the Jews to promote its own interests. 

While that may or may not be a fair assumption to make – after all, Israel is all too often at the brunt of hate speech and existential threats from groups such as Hamas, Hezbollah and the Iranian regime – some have argued that Netanyahu’s bellicose rhetoric and the Israeli culture of fear which it propagates does nothing to combat its relations with those governments it lies in conflict with.

In an article in the Guardian, Jewish writer Seth Freedman says that the Israeli obsession with its own security is causing national paranoia of a fear that makes integration with their neighbours more or less impossible. “By continuing to provoke and bully [the Palestinians], they create what they fear. Another generation branded Amalekites: another reason for Israelis to circle the wagons, batten down the hatches and convince themselves that it is simply their lot to be eternally hated and reviled.

 He adds: “It’s also understandable that the government encourages and promotes such fairy tales in order to garner support for their never-ending policies of irredentism and subjugation.”

While this is no suggestion that both Palestinians and Israelis are not able to see beyond the spin of their respective leaders, it is something to be considered as yet another forestalling to the actual conflict at hand. Only when the governments in this region relinquish their obsession with public opinion will they ever put a stop to this never-ending destructive cycle, and continue with what they must do – return to dialogue, and negotiation.

Original article for the Independent

The Independent: Why we should pay more attention to Lebanon's "Little Palestine"

JULIA MACFARLANE

Friday 30 November 2012

Why we should pay more attention to Lebanon's 'Little Palestine'

The Palestinians in Lebanon are fixated on the cause of their homeland

Palestinians around the world woke up today to news that the United Nations General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to recognise the Territories as an observer state. But for those Palestinian refugees awaking in Lebanon, the joy was particularly acute: they can now hope that developments on the international stage may one day lead to their being able take their place in a sovereign state.

Palestinian patriotism is strong here, despite being forged on foreign soil. “I think if I had actually been allowed to visit Palestine, and see it with my own eyes, I would not love it and long for it as much as I do now”, says Salah Hamseh, just outside Beirut's Shatila refugee camp. Hamseh sums up the deep-rooted patriotism that runs through the camps in Lebanon.

Across these urban warrens of densely packed houses it is hard to escape the visual bombardment of patriotic symbols as you wind your way across the streets. Each available space serves its purpose whether as a canvas to graffiti of the omnipresent Arafat, revolutionary lyrics painted on walls, posters of martyrs or ribbons strewn across the narrow gaps in the tapering streets in the red, white, black and green of the Palestinian flag. In the streets of Bourj el Barajneh camp last night, residents took to the streets with joy and a furious pride in their newfound recognition. “This is big, very big for us,” shouted an elderly woman over the bagpipes and snare drums played with gusto by a group of Palestinian boy scouts. She had been dancing the Dubke or traditional dance with such youthful vigour that her headscarf was in disarray. “This is proof that the world is not against us.”

Scars

The loyalty of the refugees to their homeland is a force of increasingly relevant consequence. In 1982 when the presence of the PLO led Israel to invade Lebanon’s southern frontiers, it left deep fault lines of conflict still running today; an Israeli stamp in one’s passport will prevent you from entering the country. Not that Israel is alone in bearing the brunt of animosity when the Lebanese consider the civil war that ravaged the country; resentment of Palestinian refugees is acutely felt, more so when spats of violence erupt around the camps where unlicensed weapons circulate freely, and often end up in the hands of youngsters.

According to the United Nations, more than half of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon are under the age of 25, and just under two thirds are unemployed.  As one refugee working as a school teacher in Nahr el Bared camp said: “Here you either have two choices, you work with UNRWA in the camp, in one of their schools or medical centres, or you find work with one of the mafias in the camps. That is why there is so much tension – you have all these young men and boys, testosterone all over the place, with no jobs and nothing to do but obsess over liberating your country.”

At a time when the Lebanese government is gripped in its own withering crisis, and fears are mounting of the country being pulled into neighbouring Syria’s civil war, there has been little speculation on the effects of the Israeli-Palestinian feud from within. Unlike Palestinians in the territories who live alongside Israelis – those displaced to Lebanon don't integrate, leaving them to vilify the absent enemy without interruption or contradiction. Here, hopes and desires for a two-state solution are lacking. An official from Fatah living in Beirut, who asked not to be identified, said during the recent hostilities in Israel, “everyone wanted to support Hamas by fighting the Israelis. It was all anyone was talking about.”

Captive audience

As air strikes continued to batter Gaza, the twelve camps of Lebanon were conducting coordinated protests and demonstrations in solidarity with Hamas, whom the US and other Western governments regard as a terrorist organisation. Even revolution-themed merchandise was quick to circulate some of the camps, with purple and navy t-shirts emblazoned with the words “I support the resistance of Gaza against the Zionist entity” being handed out for free in Rashidieh camp near the southern border.

The response to calls for activism and demonstrations by many of the popular committees inside the camps has been so effective for the simple reason that the refugees in Lebanon are a captive audience.

Without jobs, without rights to travel, even without rights to owning your own home, there is little for Palestinians in Lebanon to do except dedicate themselves wholly to ‘the cause’.

What the latest developments at the UN may bring are still debated, many have concerns that it may put a spanner in the works of any possible two-state solution. Yesterday’s vote may carve a path towards access to the Security Council, allowing the Territories to bring Israel to an international court over settlement building and perhaps even allow them control over their own airspace and put an end to the Gaza blockade. It might bring the West Bank its own airport, allowing refugees to actually return home without the problems of crossing an Israeli border. While the Israeli frontier for now remains tightly manned with convoys and border patrols, it would still be wise for them, given these developments, to heed the distilling fervour and patriotism swelling in ‘Little Palestine’ to the north.  

The original article is found here

Please visit my page on The Independent

Review of The Times online

The Times published a short review by me on their online site in today's Friday papers (which was a bit of a shock to my father who had picked up the papers at Heathrow on the way back from Singapore, ha!). The Times have printed pieces by me twice now, maybe if I write a couple more times they might get the hint that I'd die to join the team! 

Subscribers can read the article online here at the website, or below is an excerpt:

Julia Macfarlane, a student at St Andrews University, reviews thetimes.co.uk

The main story — a Times exclusive on sex grooming in Blackpool — proved to be a hot topic, garnering more than 50 comments by 9am. Portugal’s impending bailout was the main business story, which was succinctly explained with a nudge of blame at Alistair Darling, noted by (and commented on) by readers. This was accompanied by a useful graphic that laid out the key facts, figures and quotes.

However, the article “Obama’s golf buddy caught in prostitution sting”perhaps did not deserve its prominence on the homepage. The controversy of FCO colonial records proves to be the most controversial and most commented-on topic, and is accompanied by an engaging leading article, “Dust and Denial”. The best-received article was “The hero scouts of Libya”, which was a delight to read. The accompanying photos were outstanding and matched the optimistic tone of the article.

There is a breath of spring air in the Life section, which covers the best exhibitions in Paris, picking not just the flagship Manet exhibition at the d’Orsay but also under-the-radar art niches, such as the tantalising Vodun: African Voodoo exhibition. Once again the royal wedding dominates the view counts, with interpretations of the dream gown generating the most attention and excitement among online readers.

Majestic Macau

Contracted by Macau Tourism Office, from NOW! Bali, July 2010

MAJESTIC MACAU by Julia Macfarlane

As the first and last European colony in China, Macau has a somewhat dichotomous appearance. After five years of Portuguese influence its colonial history is more prominent than Hong Kong, and despite its relatively small size is home to the biggest casino in the world.

Somewhere in the mix between the glamorisation of the gambling industry and its historical European presence lie fantastic squares, Art Deco buildings, cobbled streets, baroque churches and World Heritage Sites. Macau is not just “a slice of the Mediterranean on the South China Coast”, but a kaleidoscope of the world’s corners: a fantastic combustion of Portugal, Shanghai and Las Vegas; urban, historical and provincial.

Because of its bilateral nature of modern and historic, Macau offers a huge array of activity for both day and night to a varied audience. The juxtaposition of different cultures results in a wonderfully creative and eclectic island with many sightseeing offerings for the exploring tourist. Here is a small collection of the island’s most celebrated attractions:

A – Ma Temple

According to legend, the UNESCO site of A-Ma Temple marks the spot where the Portuguese explorers first landed in Macau. After all, Macau’s name is derived from this temple: A-Ma-Gau, or ‘Place of A-Ma’. It is the oldest of the famous Buddha halls in Macau, dating all the way back to the Ming Dynasty in 1488 and lies on the south-western area of the peninsula. A-Ma Temple is dedicated to the seafarers’ goddess, Mazu. The temple is one of the more prominent historical icons of Macau and offers breathtaking views from the top of the hill. Despite being an architectural work of art, it also contains many Chinese artefacts and relics. Be sure to touch the top of the Moon Gate up the hill, for legend has it that doing so will bring good luck in love. Lion dances are performed during weekends, and watch out for the fireworks that are exploded to scare away evil spirits at the arrival of tourists and groups. The Maritime Museum is opposite the temple if you fancy a bigger dose of Macau’s cultural history. Revitalise after your exploring at one of the many Portuguese restaurants nearby.

Senado Square

A short distance away from A-Ma to the north-east is Senado Square - or “Senator’s Square” – it is the urban heart of Macau and has been for many centuries. This colourful square, with a mosaic instead of pavement, is an unmissable part of Macau. A characteristic union of East-meets-West charm, Senado Square has been said to be one of the globally renowned “café-society” squares; areas ideal for visitors and locals alike to sit at a table and watch the world go by over a cup of coffee. It is pedestrianised from the main road to St Dominic’s Church and as far as the ruins of St Paul’s, making it a perfectly explorable area to wander in, unbothered by traffic. Framed by neoclassical architecture, it is one of the most typically Mediterranean parts of the city. The square is also a World Heritage Site, as the historic centre of Macau. Nearby is the renowned Leal Senado Building, which is seen as the most quintessential example of Portuguese architecture in the East. Nowadays it is used as an exhibition venue, including the Exhibition of Macau Artists every December. Nearby you can also find St Dominic’s Church, the Holy House of Mercy and Sam Kai Vui Kun Temple.

Sam Kai Vui Kun Temple

Also known as Kuan Tai Temple, this site is close to the centre of Senado Square and was originally a meeting point for merchants. Over the years, its recognition as a sacred place has been gradually restored and is no longer used for commercial purposes. Kuan Tai Temple is the venue for the famous and wonderfully-named Feast of the Drunken Dragon. The feast takes place on the eighth day of the fourth month of the lunar calendar and attracts visitors from around the world, especially photographers, to Sam Kai Vui Kun to watch the famous drunken dragon dance. The Feast of Kuan Tai is held on the thirteenth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar, on which occasion you may be able to catch performances of Chinese opera, which take place in specially constructed bamboo huts outside the temple.

Coloane Island

Head South towards the reclusive Coloane Island, where you can find the most accurate examples of colonial life in Macau. This area has been the least touched by the thrust of the gambling industry, and you will find uninhabited coves, craggy cliffs, yawning sea caves and densely forested hills, where legend has it, pirates would set up base to commandeer rich cargo ships. Coloane is journalist Mark Beales’ favourite place to see Macau as it would have been before modernisation, specifically with its archaic cobbled streets and quaint fishing boats. Nowadays it attracts many an outdoor-explorer with its abundance of hiking trails and sandy beaches.

Eating Out

Macanese food is a marvellous combination of Portuguese and Chinese food. While there are a relatively small number of restaurants in Macau, its wonderful cuisine is a well-kept secret. Think traditional Chinese ingredients such as fresh seafood and tropical vegetables mixed with the pungent spices of the lost Portuguese Empire, extending to South America. Litoral on the Rua do Almirante Sérgio arguably serves the best Macanese food thanks to its highly secret family recipes, although it is quite expensive. If you have a small budget, Mark Beales recommends heading towards the vendors by the ruins of St Peter’s, where you can pick up wonderful snack bites of typical Macanese cuisine. Taipa Village on the island is a busy and colourful sector, and is where you will find the famous Rua de Cunha, or “Food Street”, where an array of multinational restaurants attempt to woo the passing visitor with bright displays and traditional representations of their respective country’s cuisine.

Recommended Walking Trails: If you have the time to spare, a pre-planned walk or hike is the best way to see Macau’s many cultural sites of interest. Much of Macau’s centre is pedestrianised, and so you can explore at your own pace and pause to explore different places in detail.

A detailed guide is available in PDF format at the Macau Government’s Tourism Website:

http://www.macautourism.gov.mo/en/discovering/suggested_tour.php

My last article for NOW! Bali - Ayana Resort Review, Bali

Haven on the Indian Ocean

Text and Photos by Julia Cecilia Macfarlane

Being named as the No.1 Spa in the world by the publication that created the “lifestyle magazine” genre is no mean feat. So, when my attention was drawn to the Ayana Resort in Bali, I realised that winning the top spot in the Condé Nast Traveller Readers’ Awards 2010 was a pretty good indication that it was a good choice for a weekend getaway.

What makes any Balinese Spa set apart from the rest is its Balinese backdrop to begin with. What we have is a tropical, idyllic paradise that is unique among so many other postcard-perfect islands because of its culture, history and the local people, who are always integral to a tourist’s experience. The concepts of wellbeing and relaxation are practices elsewhere in the world, but in Bali they are fundamental rituals that go hand-in-hand with their Hindu customs and affinity with nature.  

  The ocean proves to be most integrated in to Ayana’s award-winning Thermes Marins Spa. Ayana is home to the world’s largest aquatonic pool, containing 7,000,000 litres of seawater direct from the Indian Ocean. The sea minerals in the fresh seawater, combined with the integration of complex technology in the form of perfectly positioned water pumps and underwater jets, provide a remarkable healing process for the body – rather like a cross between a Jacuzzi and an underwater massage. The pool itself is of varied layout and has different ‘stations’, where the jets and pumps are carefully designed and positioned to therapeutically work with different muscles. You swim and walk through each of these stations to complete the healing process. The underwater jets massaging the different muscles in the body range from some tickling the soles of the feet to other which positively pummel your back.

The spa’s thalassotherapy treatments also harness the healing properties of the sea to incredible effect. The Sea Breeze treatment is a 50-minute process comprised of massage therapy and utilisation of warmed seawater jets upon a heated bed. Starting from the toes and working around and upwards, my therapist Ukir worked with an aromatic, oil-based sea balm made of rosemary, seaweed and lavender. She explained that the massage technique was one geared towards improving circulation by relieving aching muscles and stimulating blood flow through varied and interesting techniques of applying pressure. Ukir was very knowledgeable about the products she was using and the methods she applied, and before my treatment began she gave me a concise explanation of how the process and product worked without prompting. What was so interesting about this particular treatment was the effect of the seawater machine. Water drums rhythmically on to your skin (hard, soft, medium – the choice is yours) and has an effect of relaxing the muscles, so that when the therapist works her way around the body you have a heightened sensitivity and so the treatment goes deeper and the relaxation after-effect lasts longer. The seawater is purified with added antioxidants and retains its naturally occurring vitamins. Keep your mouth closed or you might taste a trickle of salty seawater during the treatment! The Sea Breeze massage finishes with a facial using a rose-scented cleanser and a refreshing toner, complete with a final cup of ginger and lemongrass tea (which you can buy at the spa shop).

 

The resort itself is of a curious but beautiful layout. Corridors are all open-air; I didn’t see a single glass window throughout my stay apart from in my room. How the staff manage to keep tjik-tjaks and mosquitoes at bay is simply unfathomable to me! But what this does is reinforce the theme of the resort: relaxation and rejuvenation through the healing power of nature, as embodied in their ‘Tree of Life’ logo – that only when man lives in communion with nature will the universe attain harmony. For most visitors to the spa who come from urban environments, the Ayana provides what we most crave: luxury and renewal down to the most basic elements, surrounded by nature and raw materials, cleansing us from overexposure to synthetic objects and environments. Pure cotton sheets to lie in, cool marble to walk on, sturdy wood to retreat behind and the fragrant Balinese breeze that is free to drift in and out of the open-air corridors. The resort has its own scent, I noticed. It is a mix between orange-blossom, cempaka flowers and a lilac powder smell that becomes familiar to you as you spend time in the resort; it welcomes you back from your day of sight-seeing, and wakens you gently in the morning, mixed with the crisp Indian Ocean breeze.

 The hotel itself is curiously quiet without lacking activity. As I began each day with breakfast in the Club Room I heard, above the muted murmur of other guests at nearby tables, the splatter of a nearby fountain, the snipping of the caping-wearing staff trimming the lawns by hand, the lazy roll of waves in the distance and the twittering swallows overhead.