If there is one thing that pro-Israel activists can learn from their adversaries, it is how to effectively convey their message and engage in outreach to other groups within American society. Unfortunately, as we speak, too often pro-Israel activists are too much on the defensive, not enough on the offensive, and fail to reach out to potential allies. They prefer to respond to the accusations made by the other side, rather than make claims of their own.
For example, when I worked as content manager for United With Israel, a hasbara organization with over two million followers on facebook, the organization decided to take a stance against the nomination of Chuck Hagel to the position of US Secretary of Defense. At that time, I proposed that the organization should try to reach out to feminists due to his opposition to abortion even in cases of rape, Democrats that opposed his nomination because he is a Republican, and gay rights activists who were disturbed that he opposed the appointment of an ambassador to Luxemberg merely because of his sexual orientation.
Naturally, pro-Israel activists had their own reasons for being opposed to his nomination. Abraham Foxman of the Anti-Defemation League stated, “Chuck Hagel would not be the first, second, or third choice for the American Jewish community’s friends of Israel. His record relating to Israel and the U.S.-Israel relationship is, at best, disturbing, and at worst, very troubling. The sentiments he’s expressed about the Jewish lobby border on anti-Semitism in the genre of Professors John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt and former President Jimmy Carter.”
However, United With Israel decided not to reach out to disenchanted Democrats, gay rights activists, and enraged feminists, preferring instead to stick only to their own pro-Israel interests. Their behavior was systematic of failed Israeli hasbara tactics, which in the end resulted in Hagel’s nomination to be US Secretary of Defense. The pro-Israel interests were not sufficient to defeat Hagel’s nomination. For such a campaign to be successful, pro-Israel activists needed to reach out to the gay rights community, feminists, and the outraged Democrats.
Pro-Israel activists need to understand that they don’t have to have their interests always coincide with other interest groups in order to collaborate with them to achieve a common purpose.
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from the article:
A Suggestion to Pro-Israel Activists
Therefore, I would like to suggest that pro-Israel activists should attack the legitimacy of their opponents and reach out to potential allies. In pro-Israel events, pro-Israel Muslim speakers, such as Mudar Zahran, Qanta Ahmed, Kasim Hafeez, or a pro-Israel Arab IDF soldier should be brought in. Pro-Israel Muslims can get away with saying things Jews can’t and are often more persuasive. Pro-Israel activists should bring in speakers to discuss gay rights and women’s rights in Israel compared to the Palestinian Authority. Special emphasis should be put on human rights abuses within the Palestinian Authority and the greater Arab world. We ourselves from our own initiative should call countries like Lebanon apartheid states for their treatment of the Palestinians.
Perhaps pro-Israel students can also hold a joint event with African American students on Jewish contributions to the Civil Rights Movement. AIPAC should continue doing more to reach out to the African American and Hispanic communities. Other Jewish American Zionist groups should do likewise and perhaps special pro-Israel tours can be organized for the gay rights, feminist, labor union, and significant American minority groups’ communities. These are the types of events that could successfully make people sitting on the fence support the State of Israel, as they are both on the offensive and engage in outreach.
