Settlements and the English language

Gregg Carlstrom | July 15, 2009 1:28 PM | 1 | recommend (0) |   |      

Newsweek has details on how a Republican pollster in the United States is helping The Israel Project sell Americans on Israeli settlements.

How do you sell the American public on the idea that Israel has the right to maintain or even expand Jewish settlements in the West Bank? Be positive. Turn the issue away from settlements and toward peace. Invoke ethnic cleansing.

Obviously, rumors of the Israel lobby's demise are greatly exaggerated.

But I actually think Luntz's verbal gymnastics are a symptom of a larger problem: Public discussion about the settlements -- in government, in the media -- is horribly muddled.

As George Orwell memorably put it, "[Language] becomes ugly and inaccurate because our thoughts are foolish, but the slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts."

So we talk of "illegal outposts" in the West Bank, rarely stopping to note that all of the settlements are illegal under international law. We fret about "ethnic cleansing," as if it's genocidal to force a few young settlers to leave Gush Etzion because they can't build new houses there. We make no mention of the millions of Palestinians who have been forced from the territories, and from Israel proper, over the last sixty years.

Even the term "settlements" is something of a misnomer, conjuring up images of Israelis bravely staking their claim to the untamed, uninhabited wilds of the West Bank (a "land without a people," even).

On a related note, this blog has a lengthy document released this winter by The Israel Project. It explains how supporters should "sell" the Gaza war (h/t Saba Imtiaz). One of their top strategies? Keep repeating the phrase "Israel wants peace."

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Categories: Israel & Palestine

Tags: Frank Luntz, Israeli settlements, The Israel Project

1 Comment

Saba Imtiaz — July 15, 2009 1:41 PM

Gregg - the manual is definitely worth a thorough read. Their 'suggestions' mirror what the official Israeli and American stance was during the Gaza war: ready-made soundbites for spokespeople to defend atrocities.

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