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Wikipedia says that "hasbara" refers to public relations efforts to disseminate abroad positive information or propaganda about the State of Israel and its actions. An further "While hasbara literally means "explanation", its exact import in its current usage is debated. Gideon Meir has said that there is no "real, precise" translation of the word hasbara in English or any other language, and has characterized it as public diplomacy, an action undertaken by all governments around the world with the growing importance of what Harvard professor Joseph Nye termed soft power. Gary Rosenblatt describes it as "advocacy". … Hasbara has been described as "pro-Israel propaganda" and "the new user-friendly term for Israeli propaganda" but while "propaganda strives to highlight the positive aspects of one side of a conflict, hasbara seeks to explain actions, whether or not they are justified."
I live in a country where newspapers don't report about stabbing, but about Israeli police shooting women and children and where tv stations report that Israel "attacked again" Gaza. The German term "Steine" means "stones". This term is used when rocks and bricks are thrown against Israeli soldiers - with this formulation not only danger is talked down, but journalists also consciously choose the passive form to avoid mentioning who throws rocks. Therefore I think it's about time for hasbara, it's time that Israel tells the other side of the story.
And yes, there are also Jewish Israelis who are violent and I condemn this strongly. I am also sure there are more examples of Jewish violence and also some from the near past. Yet there is something to add: it's a minority of a Jewish minority who is violent. Politics, Rabbis and Israeli society condemn these attacks and I never heard about people distributing sweets. These individuals are not honored as good examples, heroes or martyrs; they don't get monuments or buildings named after them. Police investigates against these criminals and since recently politics and courts use the term "terror attack" also for such crimes. I believe it's about time to tell the world these differences and it's a fact that women wearing a hijab can go shopping in Mamilla or Malcha mall, but religious dressed Jewish women would get problems in some of the eastern parts of Jerusalem (and in Mea Shearim everyone who doesn't belong there can get difficulties). Hasbara in this meaning has not necessarily to do with fake news or whitewashing a story but with showing a more detailed picture - and I am convinced that a solution for the problems of the region can only be reached with these additional pieces of the puzzle.
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