by Elaine Durbach
NJJN Bureau Chief/Central

April 23, 2009

Participants dissected Palestinian propaganda and demanded “just the facts on Israel” at a pro-Israel advocacy event held April 19 at the JCC of Central New Jersey.

Hosted by the Israel Support Committee of four local synagogues and the American Jewish Committee’s NJ area, the event was billed as an exploration of the contrasting Palestinian and Israel visions of peace.

Most of the close to 30 people present sought tips on how to counteract pro-Palestinian propaganda with — and a number of speakers said it outright — propaganda that favors Israel.

Israel Support Committee chair Conrad Nadell launched the program at the Scotch Plains JCC with a video made by the American Task Force for Palestine.

The upbeat film laid out in very simple terms the geography, history, demographics, economics, and current political parameters of the Middle East. It purported to show the disparity between the relative affluence of Israel and the poverty in the Palestinian territories. And it outlined the peace proposals under consideration when it was made in 2005, shortly before Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza.

The final point was how majorities on both sides favor a two-state solution, and how the United States would benefit from such a resolution of the conflict.

Hardly a controversial message either in Israel or the United States, but when Nadell invited the audience to point out omissions and errors, hands shot up. Audience members pointed to the lack of any reference to Arab extremists, and a line saying that prior to the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel “claimed” its Arab neighbors were poised to attack.

Nadell rebuffed the doubt of the threat to Israel seemingly implied by that line and cited belligerent statements from Arab leaders quoted in the media at the time. Ferne Hassan, representing the AJC, showed a pre-Six-Day War cartoon of Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser kicking a caricatured Israeli into the Gulf of Aqaba.

“The distortions are very subtle,” Nadell said. “That’s why their propaganda is so effective.”

Hassan said that to counteract material like the Task Force documentary, her AJC office spent two years compiling a PowerPoint presentation to be shown by a live commentator. “We didn’t have the money to do a video like theirs,” she claimed.

As with so many dueling viewpoints on the Mideast conflict, the AJC presentation laid out many of the same background facts as the documentary, but emphasized different points. Those included the fact that Jews have always lived in the region, that they accepted a far smaller slice of land than was initially promised them, that Israel has repeatedly made peace overtures, and that its own population includes a complex mixture of nationalities, religions, and races — a picture of tolerance in stark contrast to its neighbors. It also touched on Hamas, Hizbullah, and Iran’s refusal to accept Israel’s existence.

Hassan’s presentation ended with a shot of a wide-eyed Palestinian toddler dressed up as a suicide bomber. The indoctrination of children “is just one piece of the challenge,” Hassan concluded.

There was some disagreement during the course of the evening. One woman argued that acknowledging points in the Palestinians’ favor strengthens the chance for understanding, while another vociferously opposed any such concession. But all were agreed on the need to have pro-Israel facts — like its diminutive size and the numerous peace offers it has made — at one’s fingertips.

The Israel Support Committee includes Congregation Beth Israel of Scotch Plains, Temple Beth-El Mekor Chayim of Cranford, Temple Beth O’r/Beth Torah of Clark, and Temple Emanu-El of Westfield.

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