'Delegitimization war' heats up between Israel, Palestine
Both Israel and the Palestinians are preoccupied by delegitimization campaigns and negative propaganda instead of focusing on dialogue.
In today’s Middle East, diplomacy has been replaced by propaganda. The region is witnessing mutual Arab-Israeli delegitimization campaigns. In the Rio Olympic Games, when an Egyptian judoka competed and lost to an Israeli (Aug. 12), he refused to shake hands and was later chastised by the Egyptian media and on social networks for losing to an Israeli. This stems from the view that Israel is an illegitimate entity; a view that most Egyptians have not divorced even after the 1979 peace treaty. In parallel, there is the Palestinian-sponsored boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement, which calls upon Western public opinion to boycott Israel and Israeli goods. This movement has active branches in many European countries.
In Israel, there is an informal delegitimization campaign of Palestinians guided by the Benjamin Netanyahu government. Meetings with Palestinian leaders are characterized as treason. Palestinian legitimate national aspirations are defined as an existential threat to Israel. International public relations campaigns waged by the Israeli Foreign Ministry define the Palestinian Authority (PA) as a rejectionist, violent entity.
Instead of engaging each other around the negotiation table, both sides are active in a continuous effort to delegitimize the other side, both within their own societies and internationally. A senior PLO official told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that the Arab delegitimization campaigns of Israel are justified. “Israel can’t expect to get away with brutal occupation policies and enjoy international or regional popularity,” he said. The Palestinian aim in these campaigns is to galvanize Western public opinion for Palestinian statehood, 50 years after the beginning of the occupation. The official told Al-Monitor that many prominent European politicians, academics and businesspeople have joined the BDS movement.
That being said, it is clear the main purpose of these campaigns is to gain popularity within Palestinian public opinion as well as public opinion in the Arab world.
