israel
As the news of the Flotilla started its advance through the world, very little information was coming from Israel. It was in the late evening hours of Sunday, May 30th, and Monday was Memorial Day Holiday in the United States. The Flotilla left on its break-the-blockade-or-die mission a week earlier, on or about the 24th of May. It was a surreal feeling - would there be any response as America was in a long holiday weekend?
Israel announced Thursday that it will loosen its blockade of the Gaza Strip and allow more goods to enter the territory. The decision came in response to international pressure on Israel to end its siege of the strip following an Israeli raid on a Turkish aid ship that left nine activists dead.
Russia's leading independent media company, today announced the launch of the CTC-International channel in Israel... Anton Kudryashov, Chief Executive Officer of CTC Media, commented: "The launch of CTC-International in Israel is in line with our international expansion strategy and follows the introduction of the channel in the U.S. at the end of last year..."
When it comes to the mechanics of the Israeli PR campaign, it seems that they will win a positive outcome. With this strategy the Israeli government could win some support from leaders as well. Yet when it comes to the language of the PR campaign, Israel isn`t on the side of the winners. There are a few problems in the Israeli PR language.
In the most open conflict in months between the left-leaning Israel group J Street and the traditional pro-Israel powerhouse AIPAC, the liberal group is asking members of Congress not to sign a letter backed by AIPAC that supports the Israeli side of the Gaza flotilla incident.
It's easy to exagerrate the extent of Israel's diplomatic isolation, and you can count on that to happen every time an incident like the Gaza flotilla occurs. But what is indisputable is that since at least the Lebanon War of 2006, the Israeli strategic braintrust has prioritized maintaining absolute liberty of action over massaging international opinion.
A “flotilla” including 72 ships from Turkey and 16 other countries converged on Israel on Tuesday, but this time the country is welcoming them with open arms for a yacht rally instead of a challenge to break the sea embargo on Hamas-controlled Gaza.
Before watching Australia’s first World Cup game against Germany, 240 Australian students gathered Sunday for a three-day conference to prepare them for conversations about Israel back home. StandWithUs International, a nonprofit Israeli organization, has joined with a series of Australian Jewish groups to give students facts that will better equip them to defend Israel on their campuses.