Project David Thoughts

So, I figure I should try to do this blogging thing with some regularity. This is kind of hard, since for the past 5 days I've been in Boston at Project David, an Israel advocacy seminar. At the seminar, I had some interesting and thought provoking discussions on the topic of Hasbara, which means explanation in Hebrew.* Is it ethical to manipulate people to believe in your views - not by lying to them, but simply by only including the facts that serve your cause? The answer is no. Does it become ethical when you know that the other side is doing the same? Perhaps, if you can assume that whoever is reading your distorted facts is also reading the other side's distorted facts and will be able to figure out that the truth lies somewhere in the middle. You can never really assume that though, so the second question becomes irrelevant.

This became an issue at Project David - it's goal is to educate people about the Israeli-Arab (as opposed to Israeli-Palestinian) conflict. Being a pro-Israel organization however, it only represented the pro-Israel side. Is this a problem, since the project does not hide the fact that it is pro-Israel? Furthermore, they had a subtle right-wing bias - is it ethical of them to claim they are apolitical (beyond supporting Israel's right to exist) when that bias exists?

Many would claim that spinning facts is an inevitable part of politics. In a sense, winning elections is about spinning facts to make it look like your vision of the future is the right one, supported by history, and that the choices you've made have been proven right by time. But politics are inherently unethical. Maybe that's why there's so much corruption across the world. People who choose to enter politics must be people willing to violate ethics in order to achieve power - if not, they know they will not succeed. Until we change the nature of politics in current democracies (or, more often the case, democratic republics) we will not see a change in the selfishness of our politicians. But would such a change help - or is what we need a change in the nature of man and his quest for power - and is a change in nature be possible?

No country is perfect. The best way to advocate for Israel is to tell the truth about Israel - both the good and the bad. The best hasbara is to change the realities inside Israel so that one does not feel pressure to omit certain facts in order to advocate successfully. (Note: This is not a call to Americans to meddle in Israeli politics. One Talansky is more than enough.) I would argue this not only from an ethical standpoint, but even from a practical pragmatic standpoint:

1. If you make Israel seem perfect, you lose credibility. People realize one thing you imply (perfection) must be false, so they don't believe the other things you say.

2. Better people hear the facts that make Israel look bad from the mouth of someone who loves Israel, is knowledgeable, and can explain the complexity of the situation, than from the mouth of someone who hates it or is simply ignorant or both.

* Let me take this opportunity to plug Hebrew as a rich language with excellent literature that is worth studying. It is impossible to understand a culture without understanding the language, so one can't understand Israel without speaking Hebrew. One can't understand the Israeli-Palestinian conflict without speak Hebrew and Arabic - which is why I really want to learn Arabic. (I know basic words like shukran and khaif-halek, etc.) Also, Arabic poetry sounds really pretty.