December 29

“Don't f*** with Jews? Sounds a lot like bring it on.”

--New Republic reader alexmh, commenting on Martin Peretz’s article, "Do Not F*ck With The Jews" regarding events in Gaza

"I will play music and celebrate what the Israeli air force is doing."

--Words spoken by Ofer Shmerling, an Israeli civil defence official, speaking on Al Jazeera about Gaza

"’If somebody was sending rockets into my house, where my two daughters sleep at night, I'm going to do everything in my power to stop that,’ Obama told reporters in Sderot, a small city on the edge of Gaza that has been attacked repeatedly by rocket fire. ‘And I would expect Israelis to do the same thing.’"

--Barack Obama, during a visit to Israel in July

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American Culturati: Musings from the Cultural Officers

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Can Israel win the 'soft power' war in Gaza? - Gerald M. Steinberg, Jerusalem Post: “[I]n a long war to regain the moral high ground that Israel lost by default, and in the face of a very intensive and professional Arab attacks … [,] efforts require a much wider and highly professional strategy of public diplomacy, involving all of the major officials and government offices.”

Analysis: Don't forget the Iranian connection - David Horovitz, Jerusalem Post: “Many signs … suggest that Israel is making an effort, albeit not wholly successful, to improve on the abject public diplomacy of the 2006 war. What is not yet clear, by contrast, is whether the official spokespeople have internalized the necessity to highlight Iran in their message to the world - Iran, the state champion and major enabler of Hamas's terror-state in Gaza.”

Olmert asks Netanyahu to help explain Israel’s Gaza war - Forecast Highs: “Just heard that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met today with opposition leader Likud MK Binyamin Netanyahu and updated him on the security situation, as is required by law. The Prime Minister’s Office also reports that Olmert asked Netanyahu to step up and help in Israel’s public diplomacy efforts during this round of fighting with Hamas in Gaza.”

Please help Israel win the online public diplomacy battle – Shimson 9: News and Views from Israel: “After years of rockets, Israel decided restraint is not an option anymore. To support Israel in its war with Hamas, Giyus is stepping up its Facebook activitles. We’ll be using our Facebook page to post Facebook related actions supporing Israel’s actions against Hamas.”

Palestinian propaganda machine in high gear: Hamas calls Israeli strikes "Holocaust" – Jihad Watch

Anti-Israel and anti-semitic propaganda in overdrive - the elder of ziyon

MORE ON GAZA EVENTS BELOW

Ma's 'truce' diplomacy risks Taiwan's future – Editorial, Taiwan News: “[A] wider door [could have opened] for the enhancement of Taiwan's international profile and dignity through constructive public diplomacy that highlighted our democratic achievements and progressive humanitarian foreign assistance embodying the vitality of our civil society, all backed by active presidential diplomacy."

But the window of opportunity for such a path is closing.”

Taiwan party labels 'panda diplomacy' propaganda – AP: "Legislative aides from Taiwan's pro-independence opposition donned panda suits Wednesday, part of a public relations effort by anti-China lawmakers to paint the mainland's panda gift as a stalking horse for its pro-unification agenda. Beijing has given gifts of pandas to make friends and increase its influence in countries including the United States and the former Soviet Union for more than five decades."

Colombia’s wish list for 2009 – Felipe Estefan, Colombia Report: "In a globalized world in which communications and media messages transcend the confines of national borders, Colombia must use every day of the new year working on public diplomacy efforts that will allow it to positively influence the country’s image around the world."

Jobs in Libya: British Embassy Senior Trade & Investment Officer (Oil & Gas) - Job Vacancy Career: “The British Embassy – Our Mission Statement … [includes to] [g]ive an accurate picture of British Government policies and of the UK’s social and cultural diversity, through active public diplomacy, working closely with the British Council in Tripoli.”

Contributors - Mind & Mood Healthy Guide: “When Teresa Herrmann is not writing about public diplomacy efforts she is editing Hey, Be Us!, the crass culture site she co-founded in 2008.”

RELATED ITEMS

No Bailout for the Arts? - Michael Kaiser, Washington Post: While government bailouts are being offered or considered for financial institutions, the auto industry, homeowners, and so many other needy and worthy sectors, one group is quickly and rather quietly falling apart: our nation's arts organizations. As we try to rebuild America's image abroad, we are losing our most potent goodwill ambassadors.

U.S. slow to meet needs, refugees say: Despite substantial American contributions, displaced Iraqis' needs dwarf all efforts to aid them - Matthew Hay Brown, Baltimore Sun

EU's propaganda budget beats Coke's global advertising cash, Bruno Waterfield, Gulf News: The European Union is spending £2 billion (Dh10.71 billion) every year on a "propaganda" budget that is bigger than Coca-Cola's total worldwide advertising account.

Going down the EU Tube: Brussels videos shunned – Robert Watts and Georgia Warren, Times, London: The European Union’s answer to YouTube, the internet video sharing phenomenon, has backfired, with audiences shunning many of the clips intended to promote pet subjects in Brussels.

Critiques of television coverage of the Gaza fighting - Kim Andrew Elliott Discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy

The Politics of the Gaza Massacre; Forget Hamas – it's all about the home front – Justin Raimondo, Antiwar.com: The real focal point of the Israeli assault isn't Gaza -- it's Washington, D.C. The whole point of this exercise in futility -- which will not create a single iota of security for Israel, will not topple Hamas, and will not prove any more successful than the second Lebanese war -- is to set the terms by which the Israelis will deal with the incoming U.S. president.

Leaders Lie, Civilians Die, and Lessons of History are Ignored - Robert Fisk, Independent, UK/Common Dreams: It's not clear how many of the Gaza dead are civilians, but the response of the Bush administration reaffirms for Arabs what they have known for decades: however they struggle against their antagonists, the West will take Israel's side.

Sistani Calls for Action on Behalf of Gaza; Third Day of Bombardment; Gaza Hospitals Overwhelmed – Juan Cole, Informed Comment: Thoughts on the Middle East, History, and Religion: By refusing to negotiate with Hamas, Israel and the United States leave only a military option on the table.

A Hundred Eyes for an Eye - Norman Solomon, Common Dreams: What's going on in Gaza right now is not just an eye for an eye. It's a hundred eyes for an eye. And the current slaughter is not only an ongoing Israeli war crime. It has an accomplice named Uncle Sam.

Gaza: The Logic of Colonial Power: As so often, the term 'terrorism' has proved a rhetorical smokescreen under cover of which the strong crush the weak - Nir Rosen, Guardian, UK/ Common Dreams: The persistence of the Palestine problem is the main motive for every anti-American militant in the Arab world and beyond. But now the Bush administration has added Iraq and Afghanistan as additional grievances. America has lost its influence on the Arab masses, even if it can still apply pressure on Arab regimes. But reformists and elites in the Arab world want nothing to do with America.

'A new spiral of despair' – Editorial, San Francisco Chronicle: No one could have expected Israel to sit by passively as Hamas marked the end of a six-month truce by firing rockets into Israeli territory. Israel had a compelling need to take action to defend itself. Still, the scale and destruction of Israel's weekend aerial bombardment of Hamas targets in Gaza stunned and inflamed the Arab world and beyond.

Needed in Gaza: US inspectors, peacekeepers, and aid workers: We must stop lecturing – and start helping - Timothy Rieger, Christian Science Monitor

No Comment and No Leadership From Obama - Joshua Frank, Antiwar.com: If Barack Obama does indeed support the bloodshed inflicted upon innocent Palestinians by the Israeli military, there should be no celebration on Inauguration Day 2009, only mass protest against a Middle East foreign policy that must change in order to begin a legitimate peace process in the region.

Obama Should Engage Now for Middle East Peace - John Nichols, Nation/Common Dreams

Al Qaeda is More of a U.S. Propaganda Campaign than a Real Organization – Pak Alert Press

What to Do About the Torturers? - David Cole, New York Review of Books: America's experiment with torture presents the Obama administration with one of its most difficult challenges: how should the nation account for the abuses that have occurred in the past, what are the appropriate remedies, and how can we ensure that such abuses not happen again? We may know many of the facts already, but absent a reckoning for those responsible for torture and cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment -- our own federal government -- the healing cannot begin.

The War on Terror Has Not Gone Away: Despite economic woes, this is no time to let our guard down - Thane Rosenbaum, Wall Street Journal: One thing is for certain: our Founding Fathers never contemplated al Qaeda. As we all board the bailout bandwagon, let us not forget what other countries have painfully remembered: Global terrorism has not disappeared.

What Iran Wants - Ray Takeyh, Washington Post: What does Iran want? Today, an ascendant Iran views negotiations with the United States as a means of consolidating its gains and achieving American recognition of its regional status.

Dead Wrong? After 30 years, it may be time to take Iran’s threats seriously - Clifford D. May, National Review

‘Firm and Patient’ - Editorial, New York Times: As Mr. Bush suggested, Mr. Obama must be firm and patient as he takes on the challenge of persuading Pyongyang to give up its weapons and stop selling nuclear technology and know-how.


Pipeline politics in Ukraine - Editorial, Boston Globe: The Obama administration should set out to completely recast relations with Russia. Once the Kremlin no longer fears the Bush administration's attempt to absorb Ukraine into NATO, Russian leaders will have no excuse for using energy supplies to apply geopolitical pressure.

Gorbachev's model for Obama - James Carroll, Boston Globe: Gorbachev dismantled of the military occupation of Eastern Europe. Is it too much to expect Barack Obama to change history as well?

As if Things Weren't Bad Enough, Russian Professor Predicts End of U.S.: In Moscow, Igor Panarin's Forecasts Are All the Rage; America 'Disintegrates' in 2010 - Andrew Osborn, Wall Street Journal: Around the end of June 2010, or early July, he says, the U.S. will break into six pieces -- with Alaska reverting to Russian control. Mr. Panarin's apocalyptic vision "reflects a very pronounced degree of anti-Americanism in Russia today," says Vladimir Pozner, a prominent TV journalist in Russia. "It's much stronger than it was in the Soviet Union." SEE ALSO

Madness in Moscow - James Hackett, Washington Times: In a stream of reports from Moscow the leaders and their generals threaten war and boast of their growing military power. Their excuse is the imagined threat that the United States might launch a nuclear attack on Russia. This is paranoia if not outright madness.

Provoking Russia - Muammar Gaddafi, Boston Globe: Once again, the West's policy toward Russia and its addiction to interfering in the affairs of other countries is having dangerous effects on the rest of the world. Muammar Gaddafi, the leader of the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, recently returned from a state visit to the Russian Federation.

Don't let Nicaragua's Ortega become a Mugabe: The West must use leverage to prevent bloody confrontation - Kevin Casas-Zamora, Christian Science Monitor

AMERICANA

Headlines from The Huffington Post (December 29):

Man Who Campaigned To Protect Sharks Is Snatched By Great White

NPR Reporter Laid Off While Reporting Layoffs

An Environmental Lawyer's Chemical War On Cancer