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The Times July 28, 2006
Israel backed by army of cyber-soldiers
>From Yonit Farago in Jerusalem
WHILE Israel fights Hezbollah with tanks and aircraft, its supporters are campaigning on the internet.
Israel's Government has thrown its weight behind efforts by supporters to counter what it believes to be negative bias and a tide of pro-Arab propaganda. The Foreign Ministry has ordered trainee diplomats to track websites and chatrooms so that networks of US and European groups with hundreds of thousands of Jewish activists can place supportive messages.
In the past week nearly 5,000 members of the World Union of Jewish Students (WUJS) have downloaded special "megaphone" software that alerts them to anti-Israeli chatrooms or internet polls to enable them to post contrary viewpoints. A student team in Jerusalem combs the web in a host of different languages to flag the sites so that those who have signed up can influence an opinion survey or the course of a debate.
Jonny Cline, of the international student group, said that Jewish students and youth groups with their understanding of the web environment were ideally placed to present another side to the debate.
"We're saying to these people that if Israel is being bashed, don't ignore it, change it," Mr Cline said. "A poll like CNN's takes just a few seconds to vote in, but if thousands take part the outcome will be changed. What's vital is that the international face of the conflict is balanced."
Doron Barkat, 29, in Jerusalem, spends long nights trawling the web to try to swing the debate Israel's way. "When I see internet polls for or against Israel I send out a mailing list to vote for Israel," he said. "It can be that after 15 minutes there will be 400 votes for Israel.
"It's very satisfying. There are also forums where Lebanese and Israelis talk."
Israel's Foreign Ministry must avoid direct involvement with the campaign but is in contact with international Jewish and evangelical Christian groups, distributing internet information packs.
Amir Gissin, the Israeli Foreign Ministry's public relations director, said: "The internet's become a leading tool for news, shaping the world view of millions. Our problem is the foreign media shows Lebanese suffering, but not Israeli. We're bypassing that filter by distributing pictures showing how northern Israelis suffer from Katyusha rocket attacks."
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http://mparent7777.livejournal.com/10638822.html
Israel's Foreign Ministry provides Free Internet Tool to online activists
I was wondering about more comments coming in from pro-war Israelis. I wonder if this is why.
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Arjan El Fassed, The Electronic Intifada, 26 July 2006...
The following letter was sent by Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs to a variety of pro-Israel organisations, so-called 'hasbara'-groups and other supporters of Israel.
Dear friends,
Many of us recognize the importance of the Internet as the new battleground for Israel's image. It's time to do it better, and coordinate our on-line efforts on behalf of Israel. An Israeli software company have developed a free, safe and useful tool for us - the Internet Megaphone.
Please go to www.giyus.org, download the Megaphone, and you will receive daily updates with instant links to important internet polls, problematic articles that require a talk back, etc.
We need 100,000 Megaphone users to make a difference. So, please distribute this mail to all Israel's supporters.
Do it now. For Israel.
Amir Gissin
Director Public Affairs (Hasbara) Department
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Jerusalem
Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs understands that today's conflicts are won by public opinion. They mobilize pro-Israel activists to be active and voice "Israel's side to the world." The Megaphone desktop tool, built by Giyus, which means "mobilization", sends desktop alerts on key articles on Israel and surveys, online polls where activists could click on the button to support Israel and click alerts to easily voice pro-Israel opinions.
The tool tracks down online articles and polls that members should act upon. After installing the tool, members receive alerts on those articles. With this tool Israel's Foreign Ministry obviously thought it would help Israel's fight in cyberspace. However, having used this tool, for others, it is quit useful as well. There is also a weblog and a forum.
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http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/7/30/15644/9175
Is DailyKos under assault from the Israeli Foreign Ministry?
by IgnoramusMaximus
Sun Jul 30, 2006 at 12:06:44 PM PDT
While watching what is happening here and other places on the internet, I came across this Times article.
Israel's Government has thrown its weight behind efforts by supporters to counter what it believes to be negative bias and a tide of pro-Arab propaganda. The Foreign Ministry has ordered trainee diplomats to track websites and chatrooms so that networks of US and European groups with hundreds of thousands of Jewish activists can place supportive messages.
In the past week nearly 5,000 members of the World Union of Jewish Students (WUJS) have downloaded special "megaphone" software that alerts them to anti-Israeli chatrooms or internet polls to enable them to post contrary viewpoints. A student team in Jerusalem combs the web in a host of different languages to flag the sites so that those who have signed up can influence an opinion survey or the course of a debate.
* IgnoramusMaximus's diary :: ::
*
This would certainly explain some of the happenings around here. Some pro-Israeli posters on DailyKos have posted literaly thousands of messages in the last few days, some of them (you know who you are) in excess of 600 each.
This makes me wonder if DailyKos has indeed become a battlefield in the latest Israeli/Arab war, with some participants being actual combatants who are formally commanded by the governments of their respective nations or poltical forces.
If someone is paid for, and has an ability to dedicate all his/her waking hours to posting of massive volumes of messages with an aim to drown the other side's opinions in the flood, how are we to preserve free exchange of opinions here? Is our ability to discuss and analyse becoming the latest "collateral damage" in this war?
And what are we to do about it? How are the rest of us to deal with this?
I hope this mini-diary will provoke some serious discussion of what we are to do about this and what precautions can be taken to lessen the impact of such "cyber-warriors" being unleashed on us by various sides.
********************************************
"Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe simply because it has been handed down for many generations. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumoured by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is written in Holy Scriptures. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of teachers, elders or wise men. Believe only after careful observation and analysis, when you find that it agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all. Then accept it and live up to it."
The Buddha, on Belief, from the Kalama Sutra.
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