Mistakes in Israel's Narrative

Clarissa

Dec 1

Israel is grievously mishandling the fight for the public opinion in the aftermath of October 7th. All these photos of hostages, parades of women in bloody pants imitating rape victims, pouting about pro-Palestinian protests - it's all a mistake. Israel chose to position itself as a victim, and that's not going to work.

Here's why.

First of all, Israel isn't pathetic. This whole pretending to be Anne Frank schtick is unconvincing because today's Jews aren't Anne Frank. Israel isn't pitiful. It has Mossad, world's best medicine, nuclear weapons, and the garden it created in the desert. Chances that Israelis will out-victim Palestinians are non-existent. You can't project an image of strength and excellence for 75 years and then expect everybody to see you as piteous and abject.

Another problem is that competing with Palestinians in what concerns the victim count is an exercise in futility. Life has different value in the two cultures. Palestinians can come up with a thousand dead to each Israeli victim of October 7 on the spot. They will roll out every dead, wounded, dispossessed and upset since 1948, and there's nothing to respond to that.

So what would be a good alternative?

There's an easy answer that was provided fairly recently by the United States.

Remember 9/11? A lot more victims than during October 7. But did Americans paper the capitals of major cities with photos of the dead? Stage shows with people throwing themselves out of windows? Ask the world to pity them? Collect footage from anti-American protests around the world and pout over it? Ask to be counted as an oppressed minority overseas?

No, of course not. Because nobody will ever pity the United States of America. It's not going to happen. The price of being the superpower, the superstar, the leader, the achiever is that nobody will pity you even in your very pitiful moments. When you suffer, you can't suffer like a victim. You have to do it like a superstar, a champion, a winner. You can't beg for compassion.

Remember the position that the US took pretty much immediately after 9/11? The narrative was "we are fighting terrorism. We are saving the world from terrorism." That's what Israel should have done. "We love Palestinians, Palestinians are great, we are helping them to free themselves from terrorism." This should be a conversation about terrorism. And the pro-Hamas bastards know that this is the killer narrative. They go nuts whenever you mention the word "terrorism." Don't compete with Palestinians in the victim status. Be their kind, compassionate protector.

I'm not saying don't go into Gaza and blow the Hamas evildoers to smithereens no matter what the cost. I'm saying do all that but change the narrative. I can't look at these "Jewish students hiding in a college library from a bunch of campus protesters" debacles anymore. They make me want to go re-watch movies about successful Mossad operations for images of Jews who are good at something.