Cyberspace and Propaganda

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æAbstractæ

Already90yearsagoinhistory,WoodrowWilsonwenttotheParisPeaceConference(18JanuH ary1919)tonegotiatetheTreatyofVersaillesafterWWI,heorderedhispostmasterHgeneraltoasH sumecontroloveralltransatlanticcablelinesinordertocensorthenewsfromEurope.

Thecatalystandvehicleindomesticwarfareandguerillacombat(notthecause)hasalwaysbeen technologicalrevolution.Today,atleastsincetheAlQaidaattacksat9/11,technologyisprofoundly affectingthesovereigntyofgovernments,theworldeconomy,andmilitarystrategy.Withoutdoubt, information has often made the difference between victory and defeat. As a consequence, any efH fortsofgovernmentsincrisisdiplomacytostopothersfrominterferinginitsaffairs,israpidlyerodH ing.

ExperiencingthecurrentweaknessofInternationalRelations,UnitedNationsandEuropeanUnH ion,theethnic,political,andreligiousdiversityintheGazahasgivenastrongfoundationtothemiliH tant wings of Hamas inside the Gaza strip. Hamas not only conducts militant wings, but also runs extensive social networks. Whether in New York, Washington D.C., Berlin or Jerusalem: politicians aredependedonwhattheyreadintheirintelligencereports.JournalismcorrespondentsfindthemH selvesinasystemofembeddedjournalismbothbytheIsraeligovernmentandPalestinianHamas, whichrestrictthemtoshownomorethancensorednews.

Finally, behind the individual’s eyeglasses in Europe and the US, every citizen is touched from whatheintermediateseesonlineinhislivingroom.EventhebigproblemofIRturnsoutinGaza’s livingrooms:Theviewersofpropagandaaremorelikelytovotewiththeirremotecontrolsthanby furtherreasoning.Sinceitsfoundationthecyberspaceenablesextendedpersonalandorganizational interactionsthroughmanypolitical,religiousandeconomicalbordersintheWorld.

NoneHstateactorslikemilitantsplintergroupsofHamasmighttakeoverthenegotiationpower. The internet may become known as the strongest force in IR. Through the upraise of the internet, selfHdetermined online communities and prominent social networks like Youtube, Facebook, and Second Life, but also thousands of independent blogs and openHsourceHservers have emancipated millionsofwebdevelopersandbloggers.

Beingavictimofvictims,itcannotbeeasytonegotiateanypeacesolutionforGazaonaneutral levelwithbothIsraelisandPalestinians.ThegrowinguseandmanipulationofmoderncommunicaH tionsbyterroristorganizationsonmorethan5.000militantwebsites,onlineforums,andchatrooms servingterroristsandtheirsupporters,urgesIR.Themilitantorganizationsandgroupscomefromall cornersoftheglobe.

Themedia'sinfluenceonIRhasgrownduringthewarsinKosovo,Somalia,Afghanistan,and Iraq.Yetthe2006clashinLebanonbetweenIsraelandtheHezbollahrepresentsaquantitativeleap. Twoparties,IsraelandtheHamasshouldbargainwitheachotherononecaseofpeaceandmany moreissuesraisedbynoneHstateactors,embeddedmediaandpropaganda.TheinefficientdiplomaH cybetweenIsraelisandPalestiniansisduetoarguingonpositionsonlyinsteadofciviliansinterests.

RegardingthoseissuesinIRbargaining,IwouldrecommendinternationalmediatorsandparH tiestobeasmostspecificandpreciseastheycan,providingconcretedetailsandhardfactswithout anydoubtonterroristpropagandaandgovernmentmodifiedinformation.VisHàHvis,thesoftfactors ofcivilians,IDF,andHamasfightersshouldresultintoamorecredibleandopenmindedfoundationH hopefullyonceagaincomingbacktonegotiationverysoon.

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I.Introduction

In2004and2006theauthoraltogethertravelledformorethan7monthsinIsraelandthePalesH tinianterritoriesincludingthehotHspotsofthemilitantHamaslikeHebron,NablusandRamallah.As a freelancing journalist and correspondent to German media I have witnessed mental accidents, physicalmassacresbydistance,andsuicidebombs,andmediamisinformationonboththeIsraeliand Palestinianside.

Inmyresearch,conductedbothjournalisticallyonHsideandacademicallywithdatabases,Ihave focused this paper on resources in the English language. Obviously, there is a great amount of arH ticles,booksandinternetpages,beingpublishedinHebrew,Arabic,andGermanaswell.Inthisessay I have mainly monitored the latest online news brought on recognized topHmedia with a bold apH proachlikeAlJazeeraandBBCNewsontelevision,TIMES,TheEconomistandTheNewYorkTimes, as well as Ha’aretz and The Jerusalem Post representing Israel’s biggest leftH and rightHcentered newspapers.

Inasum,nobodyreallycanjudgethecomplexwarhistoryintheMiddleEastsinceIsrael’sindeH pendence1948.AsIhavemetlotsofstudentsandprofessorsbothattheJewishHIsraeliside 1 inTel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa, and IslamicHPalestinian universities 2 in Ramallah and Bethlehem on the other side, I do have sympathy with the individual situations many Israeli and Palestinian families havegonethroughsofar.Clearly,themajorityonbothsideswishesforpeace. 3 ButsincetheoutH breakofthesecondintifada2000andtheupHcominginternetpropaganda,thediplomaticrelationH shipsbetweenGazaandRamallah,WashingtonD.C.andJerusalemhavebeendeeplyspoiled.

During my time in Israel 2004, the German KonradHAdenauerHFoundation organized a meeting of Palestinian and Israeli news correspondents located at a neutral place in Atalya, Turkey. It turned out, that both sides have to deal with propaganda by the radical party Hamas and the stealth PR conducted by the Israeli government Knesset. The Palestinian journalists confessed that they are sometimesphysicallyforcedtoreHwritethetruth.However,afterthedeathofthePLOleadingJassir Arrafat, their discontent in Gaza seemed to beat their loyalty with the Palestinian territories. 4 This littleinterHmediapeaceprogresstookplaceinHbetweentheSecondIntifada,theLebanonwar2006 andthemilitaryconflictinGaza2008/09.

II. Assessment

1. SituationäMainproblemsoftherelationshipbetweenHamasandIsraeligovernment.

Inthiscase,thecurrentGazaconflictandIsraelisecurityfenceingeneralmightshowtheweakH ness of International Relations (IR), United Nations (UN) and European Union (EU). Probably, Gaza reminds international crises diplomacy of the fact that 60 years of civil war have totally estranged people from another. This ethnic, political, and religious division has given a strong foundation to militants inside Gaza (compared to moderate civilians in early 80’s) and their radical supporters worldwidetoattacktheirenemiesmostefficientlybothinrealityandtheCyberspacebypropaganda.

1 OTTE,JanThomas,ArchäologeninIsraelsWüste.„Dasschweisstunszusammen“,in:DerSpiegel,8November 2006:Hamburg,http://www.spiegel.de/unispiegel/studium/0,1518,443805,00.html.

2 OTTE,JanThomas,(K)EinbisschenFrieden.Nahost:KoexistenzohneBerührungspunkte,in:Audimax,31OctoH ber2008:Nürnberg,http://www.audimax.de/de/uniHleben/newsHartikel/article/321/keinH

3 OTTE,JanThomas,MauernimLandundindenKöpfen.IsraelisundPalästinenser:KoexistenzohneBerühH rungspunkte,in:ruprecht,Vol.95,Heidelberg:3May2005,http://texte.ruprecht.de/zeigartikel.php?id=1377.

4 SAHM,Ulrich,JournalistentreffeninAntalya.WorkshopmitpalästinensischenundisraelischenJournalisten,in: KonradHAdenauerHStiftunge.V.,Veranstaltungsbeiträge,Israel,15September2004.

http://www.kas.de/wf/de/33.5327.

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The Hamas 5 , a Palestinian Sunni Islamist paramilitary organization and major political party in Gaza holds the majority of seats in the 2006 elected legislative council 6 of the Palestinian National Authority. Besides Hamas propaganda 7 , dishonorable known for the effect of its suicide attacks on IsraeliciviliansmainlyagainstJerusalemandTelAviv.

ButHamasalsorunsextensivesocialnetworks.OnemightassumethatHamashospitals,educaH tion stipends, libraries and other services throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip might be inH tendedtorecruitnewmembersthatcommitthemselvesgettingterrorists.Principally,theircharter ontheinternet 8 callsfortherecapturingoftheStateofIsraelanditsreplacementwithaPalestinian Islamicstateintermsof“throwingtheJewsintotheMediterraneanSea” 9 .

SinceIsrael’ssevenHdaysHwar1967,agreatamountofmassmediaandpropagandahasentered IR:TheIran'sShiiterevolutionin1979,theCatholicChurch'sroleinthe“thirdwave”ofdemocratizaH tion,andfinallythe9/11attacks.Theyallareexamplesonhowmediajournalistshaveempowered themselvesasafourthpowerintheWesterndemocraticsystem,whilenoneHstateactors,terrorist formations, and religious fundamentalists like Al Qaida and Hamas have become very popular by spreadingtheirvideosontheinternet.TheseincludepoliticalandreligiousfundamentalisthatemesH sagesandkidnappinginnocentcivilians,inordertothreatenthestateofIsrael.

RecognizedTVstations,mainlythebreakingnewsonBBCandAlJazeera,andnewspaperlikeThe New York Times and many Arab and Israeli magazines multiply those messages. Clearly, there is a muchbiggerthreatforcrisesdiplomacyfrommassmediathanitsopportunitiestorestorefreedom ofspeechandpeace.Thosephenomena“allillustratedjusthowimportantaglobalforcereligionhas become” 10 . The really new toolset and framework of international warfare and crises diplomacy is foundontheinternet,whichspreadsimages,audiofilesandvideosworldwide.Especiallyinasociety inGaza,wheremanypeoplecontinuetobeilliterate,thelesseducatedaremorelikelytobeeasily convincedbypropaganda.CombinedwithastrongsanctionpolicyofIsraeligovernmentandanagH gressiveregimeoftheHamas,veryfewpeopleareleft,consuminginternationalrecognizedmedia. Whetherin NewYork,WashingtonD.C.,Berlinor Jerusalem: politiciansaredependedon what they read in their intelligence reports. Journalism correspondents find themselves in a system of embeddedjournalismbothbytheIsraeligovernmentandPalestinianHamas,whichrestrictthemto shownomorethancensorednews.Andfinally,behindtheindividual’seyeglassesinEuropeandthe US,everycitizenistouchedfromwhatheintermediateseesonlineinhislivingroom.Eventhebig problem of IR turns out in Gaza’s living rooms: The viewers of propaganda are more likely to vote withtheirremotecontrolsthanbyfurtherreasoning.Atleastsincetheperiodafter9/11,“terrorism andwarhavedominatedinternationalpolitics,andquestionsaboutthenatureofglobalizationhave beensidelined” 11 .

5 HamasinPalestinianHJordanHSyrianArabicmeans"IslamicResistanceMovement".

6 BBCNEWS,Hamassweepstoelectionvictory,26January2006,London.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4650788.stm.

7 GELVIN,James,TheIsraelHPalestineConflict.OneHundredYearsofWar,CambridgeUniversityPress,2005,221. 8 E.g.HamasTVthatsendpropagandalikepromotingterrorismamongstchildrenorthe“HamasMouse”, teachingtoblametheJews:PMWVideoArchives,Hamasinitsownwords,25March,2007. http://www.pmw.org.il/tvHhamas.htm.

9 Inindependentstreetpoll,conductedbetween2004and2006,itwasfoundthatmorethan90percentofthe wholeIsraeliHArabpopulationinEastHJerusalem,IsraelandWestBankdirectlyandindirectlysupporttheHaH masinGaza.

10 FARR,Thomas,DiplomacyinanAgeofFaith.ReligiousFreedomandNationalSecurity,in:ForeignAffairs,Vol. 87,Iss.2,NewYork:Mar/Apr2008,110.

11 GREEN,Duncan;GRIFFITH,Matthew,Globalizationanditsdiscontents,in:InternationalAffairs,Volume78, Number1,Oxford:January2002,64.

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Facing political Islam, David Hoffman says, that the Western world influences inevitably break through traditional Muslim culture by film, satellite television, international radio broadcasts, and theCyberspace.Gazacitizensmightstarttonoticetheshortfallsoftheirstatemedia'sstodgy,strictly censoredbystealthPRandpropaganda.Thecommunicationsrevolution,beginningintheendofthe 90’s, has given diplomacy a greater publicity, “exposing the onceHsecret work of diplomats to the globalfishbowloflife”inthetwentyHfirstcentury.

Moreover,manynoneHstateactorshavejoinedIR.BesidespopularnonHgovernmentalorganizaH tions(NGOs)likeAmnestyInternational,evenindependentbloggershavefoundthemassmediaasa powerfultooltosupporttheirtroops.ReHbuildingthesmallGazastripintheCyberspace,highHtech businesses, weapon industry lobbyists, investigative independent journalists, and Internet activists communicatethroughonlinecommunitieslinkedaroundthewholeworld.TheeraofmasscommuH nications,embeddedjournalism,propagandaandelectronicintifada,hasgivenastrongfoundation tothefactthat(only)thepublicmatters:“The‘street’isapotentforceandcanundermineeventhe bestHcraftedpeaceagreement” 12 .

2. AnalysisäTheissuesofmassmediaintheIsraeliHPalestinianconflict.

AsthewaronterrorismmovesbeyondAfghanistan,IraqandIran,theupHcomingObamaadminH istrationcouldextendtheUSmediaassistanceprogramfromEasternEuropetotheMiddleEast.The consumptionofinternationalbroadcastingintheGazastripiscriticalimportanttothesuccessofIR. ThereforetheUnitedStatesmightbeabletosupportthemarketgrowth,legitimacyandeducation forindependentregionalnewspapers,domesticradioandtelevisionchannelsandlocalInternetserH viceproviders. 13

Since its foundations in the late 60’s, the cyberspace enables extended personal and organizaH tionalinteractionsthroughmanypolitical,religiousandeconomicalbordersintheWorld.AtleastinH betweenmembercountriesoftheOrganizationforEconomicCooperationandDevelopment(OECD), theWorldWideWebhasbecomealocusformanytraditionalinfrastructures.InBeyondPublicDipH lomacy,DavidHoffmannnotonlyidentifiesthebankingandfinancesector,butalsoemergencyserH vices,energydelivery,andmanytransportationandmilitarysystems:“thesecomputercommunicaH tionsnetworksaretheunderlyingtechnologicalbasesthatwillenableanyandallvisionsoftheinH formationsociety” 14 .

AsquicksidesnoteonthevulnerabilityofmodernIT,morethanninetypercentofmilitarytrafH fic 15 istransactedviapubliccomputers.Ithasalreadyhappenedmanytimes,thattheserversfrom USpentagonortheIsraelidefensedepartmentarethetargettovirusesandTrojans.StephenLukasik categorizesthevulnerablecyberspaceintothreedifferentkindsoffailure:“complexity,accident,and hostileintent”.

Consequently, assurance or securities had not been the primary consideration for a long time. The USA and Israel should take more efforts in protecting themselves against virus attacks in the onlinesecuritysystemsoftheirnationaldefensedepartmentsinWashingtonD.C.andJerusalem.But

12 HOFFMAN,David,“BeyondPublicDiplomacy”,in:ForeignAffairs,Vol.81,No.2,NewYork:March/April2002, 83.

13 Ibid.,95.

14 LUKASIK,Stephen;GOODMAN,Seymour,etc.,ProtectingCriticalInfrastructuresAgainstCyberHAttack,in:AdelH phiPapers359,London:2003,5.

15 WRISTON,Walter,Bits,Bytes,andDiplomacy.Thethirdtechnologicalrevolution,in:ForeignAffairs,SeptemH ber/October1997,PalmCoast,179.

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takingtheactionstakenplaceintheGazastripsincetheinvasionofIsraelidefenseforces(IDF)into Gazacityon28December2008 16 .

Lukasik characterizes the negative outcome of the internet by “destroy, damage, deny, delay, deceive,disrupt,distort,degrade,disable,divulge,disconnect,anddisguise”.Clearly,notonlyIsraeli andUSgovernmentsarethetargetofdigitalattacks.Millionsofcustomersfoundthemselvesbeing forcedbyviruses,wormsandaggressivespammailwithungovernablesnowballHeffects.Itsbiggest problemisquitelinkedtopropagandaandmisleading,censoredorembeddedjournalism.ComplexiH tyneedstobereducedbyIRtoanextentthatindependentactorsandindividualsbeinginvolvedin themediaindustryareabletoactrationally.

Assumingthatthehypothesis,madebytheUSNationalIntelligenceCouncil(NIC),isquiteright noneHstateactorslikemilitantsplintergroupsofHamasmighttakeoverthenegotiationpower.UnH questionablytherewillbeaconversionofcommercialglobalization,e.g.particularlythedistribution ofinformationtechnologies(IT)intoGazawithitslowpoliticalstabilityandlesseducationalpossibiliH ties. Analyzing IT, the opportunities due to cheaper and more costHefficient connectivity through virtualcommunitiesintheCyberspaceoutweighitsdisadvantages.

Indeed,themainthreatofconductingIRistodealwiththenewdatacomplexityofthousandsof websitesbyindividuals,butfurthermoretonegotiatewithnoneHstateHactors,e.g.electedterrorist regimes like Hamas in Gaza.The NIC anticipates two main developments in IR: First, that political Islamwouldhaveasignificantglobalimpact,“rallyingdisparateethnicandnationalgroupsandperH hapsevencreatinganauthoritythattranscendsnationalboundaries” 17 .

SecondlyitassumesthattheinternetmaybecomeknownasastrongforceinIR.Becauseofpoor economic prospects, less education, low employee perspectives, the influence of fundamentalist religiousteaching,andtheIslamizationoftradeunionsfundingtheHamas,theirfellowswillensure that political Islam remains a major force in the Middle East. 18 Particularly Gaza City as one of the densestsettledcities,butmostisolatedareasintheworld,hashadtofacetheseseriousproblems sincemanyyearsthroughoutbothintifadas,uprisinginthelate1980sandearly1990s. ThetechnologicaldesignofIRischangingdramaticallywithanexceptionalspeed.ThepropaganH datakenplaceinthegreatcurrentwarsinIraq,beginningat20March2003,andAfghanistan,having startedat7October2001,forthefirsttimeinworldhistoryshowedthedestructivepowerofinterH netpropagandatowardsIR.

HamascametopowerinGazaaftertheelectionsin2006subsequentlyseizedcontroloftheterH ritoryof1.5millionpeopleononly45SquareKilometers,oneofthemostpopulatedplacesinthe World.GroupleaderIsmailHaniyehdeclaredinonunofficialpropagandabroadcast,12January2009 thatHamaswillcontinuetofightdespiteIsrael'smilitaryoffensiveintheStrip:"GazawillnotbreakH ourvictoryovertheZionistsisnear,"Haniyehsaidinafieryspeech.Theirfatewouldlayinthehands of Allah, sowhat power could the “sons of Zion” have against him? Haniyeh continued: “Allah will takehisrevengeonthem". 19 TakingashortlookonGeorgeOrwell’snovel,since1984manythingshaveappearedthroughthe internettodayasthe“voice,mademetallicbytheamplifiers,boomedforthanendlesscatalogueof atrocities,massacres,deportations,lootings,raping,tortureofprisoners,bombingofcivilians,lying

16 MITNICK,Joshua,IsraelpoisedtoinvadeGaza,in:TheWashingtonTimes,29December2008. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/dec/29/israelHpoisedHtoHinvadeHgaza.

17 FARR,Thomas,DiplomacyinanAgeofFaith.ReligiousFreedomandNationalSecurity,110. 18 NATIONALINTELLIGENCECouncil’s2020Project,MappingtheGlobalFuture.Report,UniversityPressofthePacifH ic,January2005,WashingtonDC.http://www.dni.gov/nic/NIC_globaltrend2020_es.html.

19 ISSACHAROFF,Avi(Reuters),Hamas.Gazawon'tbreak,victoryoverIsraelisnear,inHa'aretz,12January2009: Jerusalem.www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1054879.html.