Jan 15, 2009

With the holocaust-like Israeli onslaught in Gaza entering its fourth week, and with thousands of Palestinian civilians mercilessly killed and maimed by the Israeli war machine while hundreds others still buried under rubble, Israel is planning a public relations campaign aimed at "making the world forget the bad images" from Gaza very soon.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry this week contacted an American PR firm requesting a "detailed PR plan" that would enhance Israel’s image following the Gaza blitz .

Some military experts have compared the rampant havoc wreaked on Gaza with conditions in the German City of Dresden following the devastating aerial bombings by the Royal Air Force (RAF) in the closing weeks of the Second World War.

According to the Israeli press, the Israeli Foreign Ministry Hasbara (propaganda) department has created a special task force to prepare for the aftermath of the Israeli blitz in Gaza.

The Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz said the task force would be charged with repairing damage to Israel’s image.

"The working assumption is that Israel has suffered a blow to its image in the West in the wake of heavy civilian casualties in the Strip."

Palestinian activists and human rights organizations operating in occupied Palestine have released gruesome images of hundreds of badly mutilated children killed or maimed by the continuing Israeli aerial bombing and artillery bombardment of residential areas.

Palestinian officials have described the ongoing Israeli offensive as a real holocaust.

"What Israel is doing to the Palestinians in Gaza is a real holocaust. Israel is murdering civilians en mass, destroying homes, mosques and public institutions," said Ismael Haniya, the Prime Minister of the Hamas government during a speech on Tuesday.

On Thursday, Palestinian hospital sources of more than 1100 Palestinians, mostly children and other innocent civilians, killed and over 5000 people injured, many critically, as a result of the wanton bombings by Israeli F-16 fighters.

Israel has been using excessively disproportionate fire power, including Bunker buster bombs and White Phosphor shells, against a totally defenseless civilian population.

The Israeli paper said Israeli officials were worried that "negative sentiment" toward Israel would grow the moment the full picture of the Israeli blitz emerged.

Israeli hasbara officials have recommended several steps aimed at enhancing Israel’s image, including the intensive involvement of the Israeli army in facilitating the transfer of food and medicine to the bombed-out inhabitants of Gaza.

One Israeli press officer reportedly recommended the employment of the so-called " candy tactic" as an "image booster." The "candy tactic" takes the form of filming Israeli soldiers while giving candies to Palestinian kids, especially after the perpetration of an especially-terrible massacre.

Non the less, Israeli sources admit that no matter how effective Israeli hasbara efforts could be, the shocking reality on the ground in Gaza will be proven indelible.

This is why the Israeli foreign ministry is suggesting that the Jewish state embark on a reactivated peace process with the Palestinian Authority (PA).