(Tlatest update on the role of the Information Ministry can be found here)
I’m somewhat of a fool for excruciatingly bad Hasbara videos, but this one surely takes the cake:
From this video, we learn “Israel” is massively paranoid, even somewhat hysterical, believing edited second-hand evidence from biased sources (IDF spokesman’s video from the flotilla), suspicious of people trying to help her and storming out of treatment – so far so true. Apart from making rather poorly judged use of the experience of real women with real trauma, the July 1st video is also ridiculously sexist; beginning with the cheap camera-pan up the actress’s legs and ending with the fact it was first posted on Youtube a day earlier, under the title “Sex with the Psychologist”.
Is this for real? Your guess is as good as mine. This is so embarrassingly counterproductive one feels it simply has to be satire. But then again, so is our foreign policy.
Update: The actress is Tel Aviv based Aimee Neistat. Neistat confirmed to +972 it was her in the video, but declined to say who was behind it, and offered no comment on whether this was a government project. However, +972 was able to confirm through a source with knowledge of the actress’ engagement that the gig was indeed described at the time as a Hasbara video commissioned by the government. It’s unclear whether this was specifically the Information Ministry – we’ll confirm as soon as we get their response.
Update II: This “grass roots” campaign has a Facebook page, as well. Very popular.
Update III: The Information Ministry released its somewhat oblique comment on the issue. Read it here.
July 6, 2011
7:53 am
This comment has been edited – please do not use sexist terms on our site
Does that really work as a marketing strategy for Jewish people?
You know, there are so many negative connections I could make at this point…but I won’t.
Why would Israel want to be known with such symbolism?
July 6, 2011
9:01 am
Well now, that’s really persuasive. Our Public Diplomacy Ministry’s work or is there other talent like this out there?
July 6, 2011
9:21 am
If we start to boycott all these hasbarganda videos will we get punished by the Knesset?
July 6, 2011
9:26 am
they need an American social media adviser… i didn’t even get the humor(?) in this video and this is not the strategy Israel needs with the image it has.
July 6, 2011
9:41 am
The woman sounds like she’s from Melbourne, not Tel Aviv.
July 6, 2011
9:43 am
God, why this movie is so poorly done! In many ways.
July 6, 2011
9:46 am
Its designed for the teenager world. They just forgot to give her a smart phone.
July 6, 2011
10:05 am
What part of “David Saranga” do you guys not understand?
July 6, 2011
10:59 am
[...] אישרה את עובדת השתתפות עבור מגזין 972+ (שם פורסם במקור הפוסט באנגלית), אבל סירבה לומר מי עומד מאחורי העניין, או לאשר או [...]
July 6, 2011
12:38 pm
Fail. The only thing I’m getting from this video,
This comment has been edited – please do not use sexist terms on our site
Good luck with all that.
July 6, 2011
1:27 pm
Lol…who is the paranoid? …
July 6, 2011
2:34 pm
In any event, unless he wants to get in her pants, I don’t understand why this guy’s working so hard. Up her dosage and move on to the next patient.
July 6, 2011
2:35 pm
This really confused me. While I am completley for anything Israel. While I hate the Flotillas. What was the point in this. The message is unclear and makes us look bad. We need to be careful with videos like this.
If we wanted to show how the pictures disturb us (israelis) then it could be a good idea if done properly.
This was not and almost as upsetting as anti israeli propoganda.
Please can someone explain what good this could do?
July 6, 2011
4:20 pm
Seriously, satire is dead.
July 6, 2011
5:05 pm
I agree that this video is sexist. But isn’t it also sexist to call the woman “hysterical,” which is an incredibly gendered insult used to discredit women when they are emotional or passionate about something?
What I find interesting about this video is how different the portrayal of Israel is here than in earlier Zionist mythology. As opposed to the muscular, masculine “New Jews” and Sabras, the embodiment of the state of Israel is a woman who is put in a position of weakness. The camera encourages the viewer to objectify her by practically giving us a peek up her dress. It is made to appear as if she’s in therapy after a sexual assault, until the big reveal at the end. Rather than masculinizing the Jewish state, it is the flotilla activists–and by extension, the Palestinians, who possess a certain violent, aggressive masculinity.
July 6, 2011
5:45 pm
For the sake of comparison, here’s a genuinely traumatized girl: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tW1-_JmXQt0
July 6, 2011
7:11 pm
I thought it was funny.
July 6, 2011
11:42 pm
I’m no psychologist, but I would say this video is symptomatic of a very sick, disturbed national psyche.
It’s almost as though the video was written and directed by a former night club bouncer!
July 6, 2011
11:54 pm
Is this another Caroline Glick Production? It reeks of “old Chicago”. Think Al Capone and the boys.
P.S. Nightclub is one word, and I should have used scripted instead of written.
July 7, 2011
1:58 am
for real?
July 7, 2011
12:16 pm
Hmmmmm. Is this deliberately ironic by someone in the Information Ministry who knows that his superiors won’t get that it makes Israel look ridiculous?
July 7, 2011
5:45 pm
So foolish its impossible to even label it “hasbara” with a straight face! I’m still laughing. The girl might not be a bad actress
if she had some decent material to accompany
a good storyline.