If
any one has ever posted a critical comment to a
web site about the State of Israel and especially
the IDF's behavior towards the Palestinian or Lebanese
people, and then found yourself under a torrent
of abuse from correspondents who are reacting towards
you as if you were Osama bin Laden's right hand
man, then they might be interested in a
web site that was mentioned recently on the Slugger
O'Toole web site. Whether the site was set up
by the Israeli State, or one of the many front organizations
it sponsors around the world it is difficult to
say, but undoubtedly its sole purpose is to combat
the influence of Israel's opponents on the internet
and in the wider media. It even provides a handy
toolbar which can be downloaded so one can be up
to date with the latest IDF incursion into Arab
lands and will provide the spin needed to excuse
such behavior.
The
site giyus.org is a first as far as I'm aware, as
it is not there simply to circulate information
about Israel's occupation of the West Bank and its
current war on the Lebanese people, but it is also
designed as an instant rebuttal tool. In today's
world in which 24 hour cable news channels are hungry
for ever more sources of news and information, not
least from the internet, governments are ever searching
for ways to manipulate the content that reaches
our homes via our TV and computer screens.
Thus the Internet has become an important target
for those who wish to censor and manipulate what
we get to watch and read, for whilst it rarely sets
the agenda, it can set the pace of reporting and
at times can and does set the tone of the mass media's
reportage. For example, the results of a CNN or
BBC opinion poll would in all probability be broadcast
on their nightly news program. In the case of the
BBC, it may also be broadcast on BBC World Service
and their local Radio and TV networks. So one would
be naive not to believe that any government, being
the secretive beasts most of them are, would like
to have the means to influence the said opinion
poll in their favor, the more so in wartime.
The
Israeli web site giyus.org is a vehicle which enables
Israel to do just this, plus to make sure its supporters
stay on message, no matter which part of the world
they live in, plus making sure when putting the
case for whatever provocation or military adventure
Israel is currently engaged in, their supporters
do not flay about all over the place making it all
the easier for their political opponents to challenge
them. In this it is an extension of the
Excalibur computer system which worked so well for
New Labour in the 1997 and subsequent General Elections.
This program originated with the Clinton Democrats
in the USA and was designed to analyze and flag
up all incoming news and critical comment, so that
an almost instant rebuttal or straw man argument
could be put out before any real damage could be
done to the campaign of their candidate.
Like
all the most effective web sites and hi-tech machinery,
giyus.org is both highly sophisticated and yet simplistic,
as it mainly sticks to a small number of core positions
to justify the occupation of the West Bank or the
Israeli war on Lebanon. They clearly feel information
overload will only confuse their core supporters
and those non aligned people they wish to win over.
So giyus bangs away at things that strike a cord
with most of us via humanities common decency. Terrorists
are bad, defending hearth and home is good, Iran's
dreadful human rights record is a disgrace, the
refusal of the Lebanese government to disarm Hizbullah
means Israel must do it for them, if only the Arab
street would stop opposing the occupation of the
West Bank and Israel's continued military incursion
into Gaza and southern Lebanon, then all would be
well, etc, etc.
On
the surface the line giyus propagates may seem reasonable
to those who have little knowledge about the region
and its history, but if one takes the time to search
out the truth, and it is there at the click of the
google search button, then the giyus line is revealed
as having more holes in it that a large slice of
Swiss cheese. But that is why Israel demands of
its supporters via giyus that they stick to their
agenda rigidly. For if they move beyond its confines,
it leaves them open to participating in rational
argument about who is exactly occupying whose land;
that democracy is about accepting the results of
elections even when people you hate are elected
to office; and it is not logical or reasonable to
demand your opponents support UN resolutions when
you yourself refuse to abide by a shed load of the
said same UN resolutions.
However,
as anyone knows who has had the unpleasant experience
of having had any any dealings with pro Zionist
fanatics on the internet, they refuse to engage
in democratic debate. Instead, they follow the giyus
plan and rant and rave at their opponents as if
we are sub humans and blanket all of us who oppose
an Israel that occupies other people's land against
UN
resolutions like 242 as being supporters of
terrorists, who are unworthy of civilized debate.
If anyone doubts this I suggest they go to internet
sites like the Guardians Comment is Free and read
the intensity and hostility those who are working
from a giyus script display to all who disagree
with them.
Finally
now that giyus.org has come into the public eye,
it is worth analyzing just how close the language
used by President GW Bush and his satrap doormat
Tony Blair is to that which this web site encourages.
They, like giyus, call all who refuses to bow to
US hegemony in the region terrorists, they continuously
blame Iran and Syria for inflaming the region by
arming and supporting Hizbullah, whilst the governments
which they lead have poured billions of dollars
of high tech weaponry into Israel. They, like guyis,
wish for an International force, preferable Nato,
which will police Lebanon against the wishes of
a majority of its people—and this only months
after Bush and Blair themselves condemned Syria's
presence in Lebanon, with the threat of sanctions
if it did not withdraw, for doing the very same
thing.
