{"title":"Marketing the Occupation to the Palestinians of the West Bank: Shabak Facebook Pages in Historical Context","authors":"H. Cohen","doi":"10.2979/israelstudies.27.1.01","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT:In recent years, Israel's Security Agency (Shabak) launched a new psychological warfare arena with an Arabic language Facebook page addressed to Palestinians, alongside more precisely targeted pages monitored by regional field officers (the so-called \"Captains\"). The messaging is nearly identical to the kind of propaganda the Zionist media has aimed at Palestinians for over a century: Israel is here to stay, Israel desires co-existence, but those who defy its authority suffer the consequences. The difference is that this time the messages are targeted, personal, illustrated with documentary footage of youths detained, homes demolished, calls for collaborators and informers, and preachy holiday greetings. These Facebook pages have acquired a huge following, but their comments show that the Palestinians are not buying the message. Some signal an interest in the dangled benefits, some respond with a slew of curses, while others use the platform to send political counter-messages. Social media has so far not succeeded in winning over the hearts and minds of Palestinians, though it may discourage them from joining the struggle against the occupation","PeriodicalId":54159,"journal":{"name":"Israel Studies","volume":"27 1","pages":"1 - 34"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7000,"publicationDate":"2021-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"2","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Israel Studies","FirstCategoryId":"90","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.2979/israelstudies.27.1.01","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"AREA STUDIES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 2
Abstract
ABSTRACT:In recent years, Israel's Security Agency (Shabak) launched a new psychological warfare arena with an Arabic language Facebook page addressed to Palestinians, alongside more precisely targeted pages monitored by regional field officers (the so-called "Captains"). The messaging is nearly identical to the kind of propaganda the Zionist media has aimed at Palestinians for over a century: Israel is here to stay, Israel desires co-existence, but those who defy its authority suffer the consequences. The difference is that this time the messages are targeted, personal, illustrated with documentary footage of youths detained, homes demolished, calls for collaborators and informers, and preachy holiday greetings. These Facebook pages have acquired a huge following, but their comments show that the Palestinians are not buying the message. Some signal an interest in the dangled benefits, some respond with a slew of curses, while others use the platform to send political counter-messages. Social media has so far not succeeded in winning over the hearts and minds of Palestinians, though it may discourage them from joining the struggle against the occupation
期刊介绍:
Israel Studies presents multidisciplinary scholarship on Israeli history, politics, society, and culture. Each issue includes essays and reports on matters of broad interest reflecting diverse points of view. Temporal boundaries extend to the pre-state period, although emphasis is on the State of Israel. Due recognition is also given to events and phenomena in diaspora communities as they affect the Israeli state. It is sponsored by the Ben-Gurion Research Institute for the Study of Israel and Zionism at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies at Brandeis University, in affiliation with the Association for Israel Studies.