Spinning the Golan
Rime Allaf, September 2008
Israel has long enlisted a small army of public relations specialists to create its own version of history and enlist public opinion. It’s time for Syria to do the same.
Israeli soldiers on occupied Golan Heights.
One would think that a well-oiled propaganda machine should need no lessons on how to improve its communication, in a country which for the past sixty years has successfully fooled most of the people, most of the time, and that it would rest on its laurels and leave market research to novices. But even as its selective information, deliberate disinformation and sheer falsehoods continue to flood the international media, as well as the offices of policy and opinion makers worldwide, Israel continues to seek and heed the advice of communication professionals.
With the help of an army of advisors and experts from various backgrounds, not least of which are marketing, communications and public relations flacks, Israel has persisted in developing, adapting and fine tuning its communication strategies to respond to the continuous events which change regional and global situations. When unforeseen events with huge repercussions happen, Israel never fails to consider the possible benefits of a new twist to existing campaigns, and strategies are immediately implemented to this effect. One only needs to recall the vast and ongoing Israeli campaign launched in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, peddling the notion that this was the exact type of terror experienced by Israelis and that Palestinians, like the 9/11 perpetrators, hated “our values” and “way of life”.
The United States, a pioneer in mass marketing methods, tools and plans, has practised such marcom basics for decades. Even when public opinion is already leaning with the government, rolling out a communication and PR campaign makes good business and political sense if only to reinforce a position of strength. Thus, American public opinion was further swayed on the moral necessity to liberate Kuwait with the help of PR giant Hill & Knowlton, whose infamous campaign included an emotional testimony to a congressional hearing by a certain Kuwaiti girl claiming to have seen Iraqi soldiers throwing babies from their incubators (a fabulous tale concocted by the spin doctors and played out by the daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassador to Washington, as was subsequently revealed).
Such campaigns (whether they feature truths, half-truths or outright lies as in the case of the incubators), frequently surface around times of war, but they also emerge when peace talks do. As Damascus and Tel Aviv once again go down that road, the time has come for Syria to unleash its own communication manifesto and attempt to undo the damage that most Arab countries have unintentionally brought to their cause after years of repetitive clichés, patriotic slogans and boring recitations about legal rights which have done nothing to sway international public opinion. Unfortunately for the moment, many in Syria continue to believe that communication is really a moot exercise, arguing the only parties needing convincing are those co-signing the treaty.
Israel clearly believes otherwise and continues to see benefit in dehumanizing the Palestinian people and twisting the essence of the Palestinian cause. In the case of the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, however, it is playing a more subtle game. Gone are the categorical statements about land ownership since biblical times and related religious issues which continue to be the official basis of the appropriation and settlement of Palestine. Instead, there is now a systematic campaign instilling doubt about Syria’s legal ownership of the land and its hidden agenda, a campaign which has yet to be countered convincingly from Damascus.
Indeed, for the past few years the Golan has been described in mainstream media as being “disputed” rather than occupied, as being “one of the most contentious strips of land on the planet” and as having been “captured” during the 1967 war rather than invaded, occupied and settled. More recently still, the campaign has focused on the Syrian population of the Golan, describing the inhabitants as being reluctant to rejoin the country after a peace treaty, preferring to live in Israel where they can lead better and richer lives.
While the Syrian dimension of the Golan is put in doubt at every opportunity, Israel conveys its own ‘facts’ and weaves heartbreaking stories of impending doom for wineries, dineries, spas and even cowboy ranches all established by settlers whose secularisms makes them infinitely more pleasant than their extremist land grabbing kin in the West Bank.
In the past few months, even as peace talks through the good offices of Turkey seem to be progressing, an additional dimension has been added and questions have been posed about the reasons why Syria is engaging in peace talks in the first place. Suggestions have included international pressure, the economy, dwindling oil reserves and the need to break out from isolation – all reasons, apparently, for Syria to be interested in the process, but not in the peace.
The above array of propaganda is to be found in excellent presentation packages which Israel diffuses online, virally and in massive tourism campaigns, the last of which shows an Israeli cowboy riding in “Israel’s most beautiful area, the Golan” and stating: “This is Israel. Who knew?” Certainly not anyone with the briefest background in international law.
The Syrian response to this sustained attack has been practical silence. But ignoring the issue is not an option. Despite its extensive experience in the field, Israel followed the instructions of a PR agency to make the most of the invasion of Iraq, advice found in a leaked document named the Wexner Analysis. It is clear that Syria is in urgent need of its own communication manifesto, along with well-trained marketing and communication professionals, to develop its positioning and targeting tactics.
Spin doctoring should not be the prerogative of Israel and Syria must begin attaching importance to international public opinion if it is to avoid the consistent media campaigns that target its every statement or action, no matter how justified the latter should be. The formulation of a clear communication strategy, and its implementation across the board by capable Syrian spokespeople, is one of the first steps to take in the age of 24-hour news and instant access media.
Public opinion is not the most important matter in Syria’s foreign relations or in its struggle with Israel, but it is one which has been needlessly ignored and which can have a most welcome effect on the coverage of the country. Like all governments in the world, the Syrian one needs to trust the right people to carry out this delicate task.
Rime Allaf is an Associate Fellow at Chatham House.
