Sunday, July 06, 2014
Elder of ZiyonHasbara is the term used to describe Israel's tragicomic efforts at public diplomacy, that is to say, attempting to convince the world that it's not the Nazi-Apartheid state. Israel has had very few successes on that front. While most of humanity collectively yawns at the latest development in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, those who do care about the conflict tend to be biased in favour of the photogenic locals. Hasbara, in the meantime, is still being associated with cherry tomatoes and drip irrigation. As Melanie Philips once put it so eloquently, Hasbara is a joke.
Regardless of its effectiveness, among anti-Zionists the word Hasbara was predictably seized upon as a synonym for propaganda. (See +972, Electronic Intifada and other classic hate sites). But it isn't limited to anti-Zionist circles either. If you use Google Translate, you'll receive "propaganda" as one of the results. And if you look at Wikipedia's definition:
"Hasbara means "explanation", and is also a euphemism for propaganda."
Since Wikipedia and Google Translate agree on this subject (not to mention other, more reputable sources), it seems like a universally accepted fact. But is this truly the case?
Part of the confusion appears to stem from the different ways the word "propaganda" is used in the academia and in the wide public. In the academia it seems to have a broader meaning, related to all forms of communication aimed at influencing the public perception, such as advertising and public relations. Certainly, those activities share much in common with Hasbara. However, this isn't the way the word is generally used by the masses. Nation branding, the practice of building and managing a country's reputation, is not automatically labeled as propaganda. That is because people don't think about advertisements for New Zealand's pastoral scenery when they speak of propaganda. They think of lies, gross oversimplifications and totalitarian regimes.
Although Wikipedia tells us that propaganda was originally a neutral term, nowadays it is used almost solely with negative connotations, and is strongly associated with manipulation, distortion and jingoism. I don't believe that the precise literary definition of "propaganda" is important, in this case. The way people use the word matters far more. People's view of the word is that it describes the spread of false information for the sake of promoting a blind belief in a certain ideology, or blind support of a regime.
In Hebrew, two words are used to translate propaganda. One is "propaganda" (פרופוגנדה), borrowed from English and sharing the strong negative connotations. The second is "taamula" (תעמולה), a word that comes from the root a-m-l (ע-מ-ל), which means labor. The original meaning of the word was about making an effort to spread an idea. It doesn't carry the same pejorative connotation of propaganda. Taamula can be used both in a negative context (Nazi taamula - Nazi propaganda), and a neutral one (electoral taamula - electoral campaigns, medical taamula - marketing of medical devices).
Rarely is Hasbara used as a synonym of propaganda, or of taamula. If you talk to a native Hebrew speaker of "Nazi Hasbara" or "electoral Hasbara", you are likely to be misunderstood. The term Hasbara simply doesn't translate well to propaganda. It can only mean Israeli propaganda.
Whether Israeli public diplomacy constitutes propaganda is a subject open to debate. That is not the question that concerns me. I'm interested in crucially different matter - the meaning of the word. To clarify the distinction, take for example the word "abortion". If someone says, "abortion is murder", he is merely stating his opinion, with which others may disagree. But if he says, "the word abortion means murder", he is stating a (supposedly) objective fact.
To find a word's meaning, one has to look at its root and the context in which it's commonly used. The word Hasbara literally means "explaining", and thus carries almost the opposite connotations of propaganda. A person who explains himself isn't telling the listener what to think. He doesn't want the listener just to agree with him, but to understand him as well. And that desire for understanding implies that he treats the other person as creature with a brain, capable of independent judgment. It is therefore not surprising that those who oppose the use of the term argue against its apologetic overtone.
Besides being used as a name for Israeli public diplomacy, Hasbara is mainly used in connection to information and education. The phrase "education and Hasbara", i.e. consciousness raising, is used regularly. There are Hasbara conferences on the subjects of fire prevention, employment programs, ageing and disability services, the rights of Holocaust survivors, etc. Hasbara campaigns about road safety, anorexia, recycling and veganism also occur periodically. The Israeli ministry of environment has many "education and Hasbara" centres all over the country.
Instances in which Hasbara is used as a euphemism for propaganda can be found. However, almost all cases will be by people who happen to believe that Israeli public diplomacy is propaganda. They are entitled to keep that opinion, but that's all it is in the end - just an opinion. As I hope I've demonstrated, Hasbara isn't used as a synonym for propaganda in any other context. It's not the plain meaning of the word. By claiming the contrary, the opinion of certain people (Hasbara is propaganda) has turned into a fact (the word Hasbara means propaganda).
No wonder Hasbara hasn't been very successful.
