Summary
The Israeli government’s image campaign, launched in 2005, that uses culture and art to present Israel as relevant, modern and enlightened while avoiding discussion of the conflict — in Nissim Ben-Sheetrit’s words, culture as a hasbara tool of the first rank (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions: The Global Struggle for Palestinian Rights, PDF p.124-126).
Details
- The campaign was agreed by the directors of Israel’s three most powerful ministries; Forward reported a plan to improve Israel’s image “by downplaying religion and avoiding any discussion of the conflict with the Palestinians” (PDF p.125).
- Nissim Ben-Sheetrit, a former deputy director general, on its 2005 launch: “We are seeing culture as a hasbara [propaganda] tool of the first rank, and I do not differentiate between hasbara and culture.” (PDF p.125)
- Arye Mekel, deputy director general for cultural affairs: “We will send well-known novelists and writers overseas, theater companies, exhibits. This way you show Israel’s prettier face, so we are not thought of purely in the context of war.” (PDF p.125-126)
- State funding contracts oblige artists as “service providers” to promote “the policy interests of the State of Israel via culture and art, including contributing to creating a positive image for Israel” (PDF p.126).
- Projects not officially part of the campaign may serve the same objectives; PACBI held the Other Israel Film Festival’s self-description to be “a form of whitewashing Israel’s colonial and apartheid reality, regardless of intentions” (PDF p.124-125).
Related pages
Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions: The Global Struggle for Palestinian Rights, Cultural boycott, PACBI, Delegitimization