"Perception = Reality" The IDF not communicating what really happened caused them great harm it seems.
Had a lot of the photos and proof been disseminated to the world media, it might have diffused some of the rage that sprang from the "massacre". -Ben > > ------------------- > > Ha'aretz - Article > > Back to Jenin > > By Ze'ev Schiff > > > > What was the spark that set off the rumors about a massacre in > > Jenin's refugee camp? It's been weeks since the controversy broke > > out during the hard battle the IDF conducted there during Operation > > Defensive Shield, and now two stories have come up that might be > > able to shed some light on how the rumors spread. > > > > At one point in the fighting, the army used loudspeakers calling on > > all the men between the ages of 16 and 50 to turn themselves in. > > Many came out and were sent to Kafr Salem for questioning. Some of > > those questioned were sent for further questioning to Shin Bet > > facilities, while the rest were not allowed to go back to the city, > > where the battle continued. They were transferred to mosques in the > > villages of Rumna and Zabuba and the northern West Bank. Their > > families did not receive word from them or about them, and rumors > > began to fly that they had been executed. > > > > At the same time, another story developed. Toward the end of the > > fighting, the army sent three large refrigerator trucks into the > > city. Reservists decided to sleep in them for their air > > conditioning. Some Palestinians saw dozens of covered bodies lying > > in the trucks and rumors spread the Jews had filled trucks full of > > Palestinian bodies. > > > > Some Palestinians went to the Civil Administration to ask. When it > > turned out the rumors of executions were baseless, the myth of the > > Jenin massacre evaporated on its own. But Palestinian Minister Saeb > > Erekat continued lying, though he lowered the number of dead from > > three thousand to five hundred. At the same time the Arab and > > European media began writing about a massacre. Some described > > monstrous Israeli war crimes that Israel was trying to cover up for > > two weeks. Others compared Israel to the Qaeda and Taliban. None has > > since retracted the mendacious claims nor tried to find out how they > > were misled. > > > > Many of these details came out during a conference held by the > > Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies on Israel's media strategies, > > with the Jenin episode used as an example. Lt. Col. Fuad Halhal of > > Shfaram told the most fascinating story, about serving as the Civil > > Administration officer in Jenin. Previously he had been in Tul Karm > > and Hebron. He illustrated his talk with photographs, including > > meetings with International Red Cross and Red Crescent > > representatives, who were surprised to see the pictures after they > > claimed the meetings never took place. > > > > After 13 soldiers were killed in Jenin, there was indeed a tendency > > on the part of some soldiers to be quick on the trigger. > > Nonetheless, even during the combat and explosions there were > > efforts made to assist the civilian population, including supplying > > food, oxygen canisters and an Israeli generator to the Palestinian > > hospital, the transfer of 83 patients from that hospital to Israeli > > hospitals, sending technicians from the Jerusalem Electric Company > > to fix damaged lines in Jenin, repairs to the drinking water pipes, > > and repairs to a well that ceased to function. This was all > > documented, and sometimes photographed by Lt. Col. Halhal. > > > > A representative from the Foreign Ministry, Gideon Meir, said he was > > hearing all this for the first time and that during the fighting > > none of this reached the communications department he heads at the > > Foreign Ministry. In other words, a strange blockage took place in > > the Israeli public relations pipeline. The information was there, > > but it was stuck, in one of the bureaucratic channels. Sometimes it > > was because the pubic relations arms were in competition. That fact > > is also mentioned in a report issued by the Jaffee Center. Despite > > years of preaching to the army that it has to change its basic > > assessments to include the public relations element and to deal with > > it as an element as critical as the weather, the enemy's positions > > or the topography, it has not been done to this day. The case of the > > massacre that never was in Jenin is a good example of the mud that > > can stick to Israel even when it wins the battle while suffering > > many casualties. > > > > � Copyright 2002 Ha`aretz. All rights reserved > > ______________________________________________________________________ Structure your ColdFusion code with Fusebox. Get the official book at http://www.fusionauthority.com/bkinfo.cfm Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/index.cfm?sidebar=lists
