Advocating for Israel on Campus

(Advanced Techniques)
1. Who, Where and What?
Advocacy isn’t therapy, we don’t do it to feel better; we do it to win. What you communicate about Israel must be
based on what your audience needs to hear, not what you want to say. There is seldom such a thing as a “universal”
statement or response when discussing Israel; rather the message must be modulated for the audience and situation
you are advocating within.
As you will be aware, the Canadian environment offers very specific challenges. Let’ look at how these general
principles apply to the specific, campus situation in that country.

1.1. Who?
Be clear who your audience is. Not everyone is open to persuasion, and not everyone needs persuasion. Generally,
you are advocating for the unconvinced.
Find out as much as you can about that segment of your audience, and try and make your messages relevant for them.

1.2. Where?
The context of the interaction is important. What works in one situation will not work in another. Outside an awards
ceremony where Yasir Arafat is being honored as “Humanitarian of the Year”, it may be reasonable to chant slogans
(amongst other actions). In a discussion in a quasi-academic environment it will not usually appear reasonable, even
if it is justified.
A nuanced and discursive presentation of Israel’s present dilemmas might be impressive in a one-on-one
conversation. It will be quoted out of context in a news report, even if the reporter is not malicious.
A brief statement in a classroom can be interminably long on television.
In personal, one-on-one, interactions, students can easily perceive an overly didactic style as “browbeating”.

1.3. What?
The style and content of messages are as important as the context. How should the messages be presented?

How “pro-Israel” should you be?

When does it make sense to be passionate and unapologetic, and when to appear more “objective” and “even
handed”?

Only Authenticity can justify passion.

The rape victim is seldom berated for her lack of objectivity. The parents of Rachel Corey cannot be attacked
for their anger over their daughter’s death. The mother of Kobey Mandel cannot be urged to be more objective.
Note, this has nothing to do with the justice of the case, but with the perception of justification. In general, if

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 Advocating for Israel on Campus (Advanced Techniques)

passion can be portrayed as justified, it is usually acceptable. However, if the passion isn’t perceived as justified,
it will be counter productive.

How far should your message be from the position already held by your
audience?
Addressing a group of socialists on the need to support Israel, because that’s the patriotic thing to do, is unlikely
to achieve success! However, quoting Trotsky, or Fidel Castro could impress them.
The general rule is that, if you are a credible source to your audience, you can usually succeed with effective
messages, even if they are far from the audience’s current position. If you are less credible, go for messages
closer to their current position.

How do you achieve credibility?

The ultimate credibility comes from witnessing an event oneself (seeing is believing). If your interlocutors can’t
be made to see events in Israel themselves, then your personal experiences are the next best thing. Authenticity
translates to credibility.
All of the above approaches will only work if you are disciplined as leaders and as a group. In any given context,
decide on your message and stick to it.

2. The problem of complexity

Ask yourself what you know about the treatment of the ethnic Chinese in Malaysia, or the lengthy civil war in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo? Probably not much. If I were tell you that, in the former, the ethnic Chinese are
officially discriminated against, and in the latter over two million civilians have been killed, you might be appalled,
interested or immediately start thinking about the world’s hypocrisy when chastising Israel. It is doubtful that even
many worldly, educated, listeners will ask for much more information. Most would feel satisfied that now they know
the most important things about the countries in question. But of course, on reflection, the situation is obviously
more complex than can be summed up in two facts.
Audiences respond to this un-addressed complexity in two ways:

a) They will say that the complexity is irrelevant, and hold firm to their position.

Or,

b) They will reject the possibility of making a judgment, since the issue is complex.

The only exception to this rule is when there is social pressure to accept a particular position. Once, apartheid in
South Africa was one of those issues. No level of ignorance could justify a failure to condemn that racist system.
Israel, without justification, has become another. Hence, in some circles, discussion about Israel can lead to a pre-
determined, negative conclusion, even if it is not justified by the arguments offered, or even if the arguments are
refuted. This social convention of perceiving Israel as the problem can create a context in which the more we discuss
Israel, the more it is condemned. Perhaps the best strategy in such a situation is to enlarge the discussion to the
wider, and objectively more significant issues of the Middle East. Ironically, we – the ones who are concerned about
Israel – must often try and limit discussion about it!
But beware; many “sophisticated” people like to appear nuanced, even if they are not. In order to get them to
acknowledge a simple truth, you must often “throw them a bone” of complexity (“no one’s claiming Israel’s
perfect…”, “certainly there have been isolated instances of abuse by Israeli troops – I know that because the abusers
have been brought to trial in Israel.”). Be careful how far you go with this; remember, the communication objective
is to convey a simple truth (“No one’s claiming Israel’s perfect… but it is a functioning democracy with a free press
and an independent judiciary”. “Certainly there have been isolated instances of abuse by Israeli troops – I know that

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because the abusers have been brought to trial in Israel. The Palestinian Arabs, in contrast, extol and lionize their
human rights abusers and war criminals”).

3. Positive v. Negative Messages

Many people in western democracies express dismay at what they perceive as the consistently negative tone of
political advertising. Yet, research shows that the volume of positive advertising sometimes exceeds the negative.
Nonetheless, it is the negative ones that are recalled. The inescapable conclusion is that negative messages are the
most memorable, and therefore the most effective.
Nonetheless, it is always important to present positive messages about Israel (international co-operation, ethnic
diversity, contribution to high-tech etc.), but one would not normally expect these messages to win an argument. If
you look at the successes of the “bad guys”, you will see that they have not been achieved by talking about
Palestinian art, but rather by viciously attacking Israel!

4. Form v. Content
Some students seem to object to the form of some messages, as much as they do to the content. Messages that are
strident in tone will sometimes be rejected, regardless of their veracity. Messages that are presented in a moderate
tone are more acceptable to this audience.

5. Long Term v. Short Term

Some very important recent research has revealed some of the messages concerning Israel that are measurably
effective. Most of you will be aware that one element of this research calls for the constant repetition of the word
“peace”. When peace seems a distant dream, many feel uncomfortable with mouthing a term that they feel is, at best
meaningless, and at worst, already the property of the “other side”. Some would rather speak of what they see as the
root causes of why there is on peace (rejectionism, culture of violence, dhimitude etc.). Yet the research shows that
such messages are often ineffective.
The successful advocate must distinguish between long and short-term advocacy goals. No one can doubt that the
prescribed “Luntz” approach is immediately effective. However, no research has yet been done on the long-term
effects of changing the parameters of discourse on the Middle East. Thirty years ago, the parameters of debate on the
Middle East were very different. The assertion that “Zionism=Racism” was met with amusement when it wasn’t met
with scorn. Part of what changed parameters was the long-term commitment by Arab advocates, to press what were,
at the time, unpopular messages. It is important to view the pro-Israel campaign as a long-term effort. Where do we
want the debate to be ten, twenty, or even fifty years from now? We have to start now to spread these messages,
even if they are unpopular today in the hope that they will, in the long-term, change the parameters of the
debate.
However, in order to get into the long term, we must pass through the short and medium terms, and these require
different messages. It is important that messages designed for these three different time frames do not interfere with
each other, and that the various stages of the campaign dovetail.
In effect, there will be parallel information campaigns going on, with the emphasis being on the short-term
campaigns. In time, emphasis should shift to the mid-term messages, and finally to the long-term ones. The perceived
face of the community should present the current message; people who are seen as being individuals representing
only themselves should present the “up and coming” messages.

5.1. Short term messages

 Israelis are just like citizens of your country (only different).
 Israel is a democracy (like your country).
 Israel has freedom of the press (like your country).

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 Israel has an independent judiciary (like your country).

 Israel has freedom of religion (like your country).
 Israel wants peace (like your country), and has already given up land for it (unlike your
country).
 Israel is threatened by atrocious acts of terror (maybe like or unlike your country).

5.2. Medium term messages

 It’s the Arab/Israel conflict, not the Israel/Palestine conflict.
 Israel isn’t the problem in the Middle East; it’s the solution (democracy, rule of law,
women’s rights etc.)
 Israel is the “canary in the mine shaft”; the dangers it has faced are the dangers that the
West faces today, and will face in the future.
 If Israel falls, we all fall. Even your country won’t be safe.
 Focus on massive abuse of human rights in Arab world.

5.3. Long term messages

 Focus on massive abuse of human rights in Arab world.
 Islamism is the problem.
 Examples of dhimitude.

6. Responding
Responding to an accusation – whether in an interview, a debate, or a political campaign – is always problematic.
You run the risk of being trapped inside the conceptual frame of your accuser. A factually correct response to his
specific point may not be enough to overturn the impression created by the accusation. A joke from the “good old
days” of the Soviet Union illustrates this point.

Having declared that half the members of the Politburo are fools, a Jewish dissident is arrested for the
crime of insulting public officials. In court he announces his contrition, and offers to retract his
statement. The court agrees to release him on this condition, and he solemnly affirms that half the
members of the Politburo are not fools!

On the other hand, simply refusing to respond to an accusation can leave you appearing guilty without a defense, or
evasive.
How should one avoid this trap?

7. Techniques of response
An effective response is one that changes the conceptual frame of the discussion. There are three basic techniques of
response.

7.1. Refuting
Quoting a notoriously unreliable source.
 The Islamist who quotes information from a neo-Nazi website,
 can be confronted with this fact and accused of being in league with antisemites.
Supplying information that must be false by definition.

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 A Jewish anti-Zionist says that Ariel Sharon was a member of the “terrorist Stern Gang” during
Israel’s war of Independence, and therefore is a terrorist himself.
 However, Ariel Sharon joined the Hagganah at the age of 14 in 1942. During the 1948 War of
Independence, he commanded an infantry company in the Alexandroni Brigade. So the
accusation cannot be true.
Supplying information that can be refuted from a widely accepted source.
 A leftist claims that, “America's support of Israel is the reason that terrorists hijacked four
airplanes and attacked the World Trade Center and Pentagon on September 11, 2001.”
 “Osama bin Laden made his explosions and then started talking about the Palestinians. He never
talked about them before.” — Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Newsweek, (October 29,
2001).
Supplying information that is self contradictory, or contradicts some other declaration from the same or allied
source.
 A Palestinian Authority spokesman claims that Israel’s restrictions on Palestinians are holding
millions of Palestinians in an airtight prison. Further restrictions are not justified since they are
immoral, and couldn’t stop suicide bombers anyway.
 He can’t have it both ways. Israel can’t be both stopping anyone from moving, and be letting
suicide bombers walk around at will!

8. Blocking
If you cannot answer a question, you can say so, justify your refusal, and go on to discuss something else.
 A campus activist details an horrific account of an Israeli soldier’s abuse of a Palestinian Arab in
“the West Bank, last month”, and demands that you condemn it.
 You cannot respond to this point, since you have no information on the specific event. But you
can say that in the few instances that Israeli soldiers have abused their position (some isolated
examples of petty theft in Jenin in May 2002) they have been punished for it.

9. Bridging
If you can briefly respond to a specific accusation, and then convincingly go on to address a different, more
compelling issue, you have succeeded in changing the conceptual frame in the most effective way.
 A Jewish critic of Israel asserts that it is Israel’s “occupation of Palestinian land” that is the
cause of the conflict.
 Well, Israel’s presence in the disputed territories can’t be the cause of the conflict. If they were,
why was there a conflict before Her presence in the territories? No the real issue is Arab
rejectionism of Israel.

N.B. This handout is intended only as an aide memoir for participants in a workshop designed by David
Olesker. The statements made in it do not stand alone, and indeed if read as such, would give a false
impression of a complex subject.
David Olesker is the founder and Director of J•C•C•A•T the Jerusalem Center for Communications and
Advocacy Training. It is a non-partisan organization specializing in training advocates for Israel.

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