Overview
Instructions were posted to a Hamas forum regarding the terminology that should be used in the media. According to the instructions, media workers should avoid the use of terminology that indicates a recognition of the existence of Israel (the “Zionist entity”); care should taken to designate all sites attacked by Israel as “civilian targets” and not as military targets; the cities in Israel which are attacked should be referred to as occupied Palestinian territories, and not as cities; and there is no such thing as “the residents of Israel’s south” because [the Israelis] are thieves who took the Palestinian lands by force.
- The instructions clearly reflect the lies Hamas uses in the propaganda which accompanies the rounds of escalation and the extreme violence used against Israel. The instructions are put into practice by Hamas-affiliated spokesmen who deal, among others, with Western correspondents stationed in the Gaza Strip and the Western media. The objective is to defame and discredit Israel by falsely representing it as indiscriminately killing civilians; to delegitimize Israel’s responses to Hamas’ rocket fire (with the false claim that Israeli’s responses are directed against civilian targets); and at the same time to legitimize the rocket fire of the Palestinian terrorist organizations at Israeli cities (called “occupied Palestinian lands,” i.e., territories which can be attacked with rockets and other weapons).
The wording of the instructions and the circumstances of their publication
- During the most recent round of escalation instructions regarding the terminology to be used were posted to the Hamas forum Shabakat Filastin Lilhiwar (Paldf.net). The instructions were posted by a user calling himself 4th Eng, who has contributed the forum since 2013. He does not give his personal opinion but passes along instructions, “reminder to members,” indicating that he is a forum manager. The instructions were circulated as part of a discussion about “media awareness.” They were given during a program about the news and a political discussion entitled “Monitoring the events and recent developments in the Palestinians lands and the results of artillery fire at Tel Aviv [sic], Monday, March 25, 2019.” The instructions were posted at 19:35 while the Israeli Air Force was attacking terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip in response to the rocket fire that hit a home in a community in the Coastal Plain (north of Tel Aviv). The following is a translation of the instructions:
Reminder to members [i.e., forum members]:
- When you claim that the Zionist response is not appropriate for a state, by implication you recognize the [Zionist] entity as a state.
- There are no civilian and military targets in the Gaza Strip, all the sites the enemy [i.e., Israel] attacks are civilian. The enemy is the aggressor and an occupier, while the resistance defends its people and its right.
- The resistance [i.e., Hamas and the other terrorist organizations] attacks our [Palestinian] occupied lands and not Israeli cities.
- There is no such thing as “the residents of the south” [quotation marks in the original], because they are thieves [who took the Palestinian lands by force] and will remain thieves.
The instructions as they appeared on the Hamas forum during the most recent round of escalation (Paldf.net, March 25, 2019).
The upper part of the forum page where the instructions appeared (#media_awareness).
