Joseph Goebbels once said, “Propaganda works best when those who are being manipulated are confident they are acting on their free will.” It does not augur well that there are people who demand that others should be barred from taking trips to Israel for either fact-finding missions, leisure or business.
The hatred against Israel or Jewish people should not undermine our logic and intellect. It is immaterial to demonise or vilify people who want to see with their own eyes the claims made against Israel by its nemesis. Why should we expect people to believe stories they are told by people who have probably never been to the Middle East region?
In any war situation, propaganda is weaponized to help shape thinking and perception for past, present, and future purposes. It is important to formulate the political thought of people about political events, which may not necessarily be a true account of events. It is for this reason that it becomes important for lawmakers, researchers, journalists, academics, and other opinion-makers to embark on fact-finding missions in order to satisfy themselves with regard to the secondary data that they receive from other sources, impartial or not.
As someone who spent almost a year studying in Israel’s Ben Gurion University of the Negev (BGU), I can detect what is true from what is not. I know when a lie is being perpetuated to fulfil a political goal, especially in South Africa, an important country in Africa. It is for this reason that I applaud everyone who’s been to Israel to see for themselves what is going on in that part of the world. Being in the Middle East region is a life-changing event, as it changes how you perceive life in general. Like Africa, it is also riddled with multiple conflicts but being there instils a love for peace. It makes you honour and respect peace.
There is no wrongdoing on the part of South Africa’s Members of Parliament (MPs) who decided to visit Israel/Palestine to see what they have read or heard over the long decade of conflict between Israel and Palestine. We should encourage many others to go and witness for themselves if what is being preached by the Israeli nemesis is to be believed or not.
We are living in an age of misinformation that is peddled to advance a particular political cause, while neglecting and overlooking the actual accounts of events. One of the mass media theories, known as framing, explains how media can be used to shape how audiences understand and interpret events.
Role of the media
We are continuing to see how media are being used and abused in the Israel-Palestine conflict, which escalates tensions between the two groups by identifying the “victim” while isolating the “bad guy”. The role of the media in the war is much bigger than we might think. The media’s role goes further than reporting the news events. They are also entrusted with the role of conflict management and post-conflict reconstruction (a nation-building project). They should not be used to inflame and instigate unnecessary tensions in a war situation.
There is a hullabaloo created by Israeli critics on the recent visit of some of the South African MPs to Israel. These individuals would prefer the country to treat these honourable members like criminals who offended the state by visiting another country. How is that even possible?
It is important to remember that the ANC did not win the last general elections, and that the current government is made up of more than 10 political parties with different policies when it comes to the Israel-Palestine impasse and other political and ideological issues. Unlike the ANC, these parties are not fixed on hatred towards Israel.
Diversity of views
They hold different perspectives, and we should allow and enable diversity of ideas to thrive as a precondition of democracy. The ANC cannot and does not have the right to tell other parties what political beliefs to uphold. These are independent parties.
It is time for people to realise that the ANC’s hostility towards Israel does not represent all views in South Africa. It remains the government policy for as long as the ANC is in power, and that will change once they are out of the Union Buildings, which is a likely possibility soon. We are not empty vessels to be told what to think and what to believe. In a democracy, people are entitled to their political thoughts, beliefs, and opinions. No views shall be imposed upon people. This can only happen under a dictatorship..
The views of the writer are not necessarily the views of the Daily Friend or the IRR.
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