Abstract
In light of the crucial role public diplomacy plays in shaping perspectives around the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, this research paper assesses the Palestinian public diplomacy practised by both governmental and non-governmental actors. The article firstly showcases public diplomacy in context and its importance for Palestinians. Then, the article sheds light on the most common characteristics of the Palestinian public diplomacy programmes. Finally, the paper discusses the drawbacks and challenges of improving public diplomacy, and suggests practical steps to improve Palestine’s stand in the international realm.
Introduction
Since the beginning of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Palestinians have clearly struggled in the face of the Israeli occupation. In fact, Palestinians have mostly capitulated to the Israelis in the everlasting negotiations as they failed to align with Israel on multiple aspects including politics, the economy, diplomacy and the media (Barak, 2005; New York Times News Service, 2018). In particular, the Palestinian leadership has failed to counter the strong Israeli media 1 from the early stages of the conflict for various reasons, including weak financial capabilities and restrictions enforced first by the British Mandate and then by the Israeli Authority, which continues to control and monitor communication services in the Palestinian territories (UNESCO, 2014). More importantly, the Palestinian administration was unable to confront the Israeli media during the early stages of the conflict because the Israeli media was well established, organised and widespread throughout the Western countries. It had built an international network of supportive institutions and opinion leaders after the Holocaust; meanwhile, the Palestinian media was mostly local and included only tens of local newspapers and one radio station (Alasaa, 2020).
Thus, while Israel at that time had a more organised international communications programme, through which they were able to shape supportive public opinion in the international community, the Palestinian administration and civil society were in disorder. In fact, the Palestinian government has only recently begun to pay more attention to public diplomacy for reasons related to globalisation and new media.
Critically, the current diversification and widespread use of news sources and communication platforms are providing the Palestinian government with new opportunities to connect with the international community and counter the Israeli media despite facing economic and political struggles. For instance, social media has largely been responsible for shifting international public opinion towards greater sympathy for the Palestinians, despite the efforts of the Israeli media (Abunimah, 2013). Nevertheless, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is becoming a battle over international communication and media: the struggle is no longer about whose rights are predominant, rather, it is about who is better able to convince the international community of their story.
In light of this information, this article provides an overview of Palestinian public diplomacy through the analysis of government and non-government Palestinian public diplomacy initiatives. Furthermore, the paper aims to substantiate the argument that although Palestinian public diplomacy is currently weak due to financial and political obstacles, it has great potential to counter the Israeli media, change attitudes and build international support in solidarity with the Palestinian people. To demonstrate this, the article will first shed light on public diplomacy in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and then examine several public diplomacy programmes carried out by Palestinian governmental and non-governmental organisations. Finally, the article will discuss the challenges facing Palestinian public diplomacy.
Public diplomacy in context
While diplomacy, in its traditional sense, is defined as the state-to-state exchange of activities, including the development of official relations, aimed at achieving foreign policy goals, ‘public’ diplomacy refers to multidirectional communications such as cultural exchange programmes, educational programmes and sports events aimed at cultivating a nation’s image and changing the attitudes and opinions of a ‘receiving’ country (Dutta-Bergman, 2006; Simonin, 2008; USC Center on Public Diplomacy, 2018). Importantly, public diplomacy seeks to promote a country’s positive image in order to facilitate the development of mutual understanding, increase the potential for political action and enhance the country’s soft power (Adesina, 2017; Buhmann and Ingenhoff, 2015; Nye, 2004; Vickers, 2004; Wang, 2006).
Notably, the field of public diplomacy has grown significantly in the last few decades due to the development of information technology, which has contributed to the expansion of global communications (Cull, 2010). Social media and mobile communications have led to the creation of a specialised field focusing on online diplomatic communications called ‘digital diplomacy’. Digital diplomacy can greatly impact public perceptions and opinions as its scope exceeds that of traditional communication methods and includes user-generated content, 2 blogging and inexpensive social media tools, all of which offer more authentic content (or are believed to do so by viewers; Westcott, 2008). In this regard, it is critical to point out that government apparatuses are no longer the only means for implementing public diplomacy. The democratisation of information has empowered non-state actors and elevated their role and legitimacy in international politics. In fact, non-state actors such as educational institutions, travel agencies and international corporations have the ability and the necessary resources to reach and influence international audiences (Melissen, 2013). Critically, non-state actors are also more influential than state actors in some cases as they are seen as unbiased in comparison to governmental actors. For this reason, many governments are currently seeking to collaborate with non-state actors in order to succeed in building a positive national image.
With regard to non-state actors in public diplomacy, Ozkan (2015) describes universities and educational institutions as ‘cultural implementers’ that can convey the national message of a country through various activities such as seminars and conferences in addition to scholarly reports, analyses, publications, educational exchange programmes and scholarships. Additionally, tourism is considered to be among the most effective public diplomacy tactics since it leads to intercultural encounters. L’Etang et al. (2016) note, ‘engagement with tourism is a “lived experience” and not a static one, thus opening up opportunities for fantasy and play, and for life-changing experiences (physical, emotional and intellectual—all of which may influence the self-identity of the tourist)’ (p. 73). Furthermore, corporations can be very influential and can greatly enhance a country’s national reputation, even if unintentionally (White, 2015). Finally, literature on the role of non-state actors has demonstrated the efficiency of including sports diplomacy alongside the work of non-profit organisations and corporations in order to enhance public diplomacy (Curtin and Gaither, 2007; McClory, 2017; White, 2015).
Public diplomacy has currently become a necessity and a field of competition for countries aiming to succeed in the international realm because of its widespread reach and its ability to shape public perceptions and attitudes across the world. This is why countries such as Canada, the USA and Australia put significant energy and investment into public diplomacy programmes that integrate various sectors and implementers such as sports, non-profit organisations, corporations and educational institutions as a means to achieve greater leverage in the international sphere (DFAT, 2016; Kim, 2016; Magen and Lapid, 2018; Morgan et al., 1991; Pedersen et al., 2006; Zhang, 2013). Nevertheless, it is almost impossible for any public diplomacy programme to succeed without, in the first place, having established common ground between the government and the publics it is targeting through its programmes. In other words, without mutual understanding and acceptance between the government and the publics, people would be unlikely to accept any public diplomacy programme. More importantly, public diplomacy programmes will be ineffective if they are not based on appropriate discourse and methods of persuasion in addition to the effective use of communication technology in order to appeal to the targeted publics. For instance, in 2018, the Israeli government hired public relations firms that helped launch two important campaigns: the first was ‘Rebrand Israel’, which aimed to dub Israel as the land of achievements, and the second was the ‘Telaviv Pride’ campaign to appeal to LGBT rights upon winning the Eurovision contest in 2018 (BDS, 2019; Haaretz, 2018).
Within the context of this analysis, Palestinian public diplomacy cannot succeed and counter such campaigns without the following: first, relations between the Palestine government and the international community must be established based on mutual values; second, the Palestinian government must develop a competent workforce in the field of media and communications; and, finally, the Palestinian government must have the necessary technological and communication capabilities. These three points will be used as measures to assess Palestinian public diplomacy later in this paper.
The current state of Palestinian public diplomacy
Palestinians today are working towards improving their international communications through various sectors despite continuous Israeli violations against Palestinian journalists (Mada, 2015). In fact, Palestinian governmental and non-governmental organisations are seeking opportunities to communicate with the international community using various means from traditional communications to inexpensive digital tools. The following sections of the paper will present and discuss several examples of current Palestinian public diplomacy.
Public diplomacy efforts of the Palestinian Authority
As the Palestinian National Authority (PA) is the current Palestinian governing body and directs the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the public diplomacy efforts of the PA will be investigated in this section. The main priority of Palestine’s public diplomacy programmes, as stated by the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is to foster solidarity with Palestine through several means. The Palestinian government seeks to achieve this goal mainly through its Palestinian International Cooperation Agency (PICA), which is the only official government tool for Palestine’s public diplomacy.
Established in 2016, PICA promotes its vision of ‘a resilient world united by solidarity through development’ (PICA, 2021). Thus, PICA aims to change the attitudes of international publics in foreign countries, an approach that is widely used by governments to enhance their public diplomacy programmes (Tuch, 1990). On the ground, the agency’s method of achieving its goal of solidarity depends on mobilising qualified Palestinian human resources in different sectors to offer development and technical assistance for Southern or developing countries as well as Northern and Western countries. Significantly, PICA relies on strategic partnerships and agreements with Palestinian institutions to guarantee continuous mobilisation. PICA also works to expand its partnerships with international organisations such as the United Nations Office for South–South Cooperation and public diplomacy agencies such as the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA; PICA, 2021). For example, PICA and TIKA established a strategic partnership in 2021 to implement a variety of programmes serving the sustainable development goals (SDGs) of the United Nations. In the last few years, PICA has also launched various collaborative programmes focusing on health, agriculture and engineering in countries such as Senegal and the Republic of Nicaragua; in particular, PICA has launched a medical programme aimed at transferring knowledge about spinal surgery to the Ministry of Health in Nicaragua as a step towards enhancing the health and well-being SDG. Additionally, PICA has signed an agreement with the United Nations Volunteers programme to enhance the process of delivering SDGs by implementing the UN’s principles and development agenda to aid humanitarian efforts and cultivate peace. It is clear that PICA aims to emphasise Palestine’s role in achieving SDGs as a way to gain solidarity and support while also expressing gratitude to ally countries.
Thus, PICA’s programmes include medical and humanitarian relief programmes, agricultural projects and technical cooperation, all of which contribute to enhancing solidarity with Palestine. All the programmes carried out by PICA aim to foster a sense of cohesion between Palestinian delegations and audiences in the receiving countries. Another example of such a programme is the 2018 PICA Relief Mission to support Indonesia after it was hit by a deadly tsunami; the Palestinian mission provided supplies such as tents, food aid and medical aid (PICA, 2019). The significance of such missions and programmes is illustrated by their humanitarian impact, which helps to promote a positive image of Palestine. Nonetheless, as PICA provides only cooperation and aid programmes, the organisation is limited in its scope for impact. The delegations and missions mobilised by PICA emphasise solidarity and support; however, they do not thoroughly reflect Palestinian identity, culture or narratives. Therefore, relying on PICA as the only governmental tool for public diplomacy is not sufficient for the establishment of an integrated strategy that implements cultural, educational and sports programmes.
In addition to PICA’s programmes, it is important to shed light on the public diplomacy communications carried out by the Department of Bilateral Affairs, which is part of the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The department works to sustain relations between Palestine and its counterparts and oversees the traditional diplomatic responsibilities of Palestinian representatives, such as the drafting of official letters. Moreover, the department practises unsystematic public diplomacy efforts aimed at the establishment of better understanding between Palestinians and the people of other countries (Palestine Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2019). For example, a series of social media pages titled ‘Palestine in “a country”’ (such as the ‘Palestine in India’ Facebook page) 3 have been used to disseminate messages that emphasise shared perspectives between the two nations. The ‘Palestine in the UK’ Facebook page, 4 which is the official page for the Palestinian mission in the UK and is utilised to communicate with the British community as well as the Palestinian community, hosts cultural events such as musicals and Dabkeh performances 5 to promote and share the Palestinian identity with the international community. It is critical to point out, however, that not all of these pages have a large number of followers or high engagement rates, meaning that the reach of the messages is fairly small, and even for those pages with a larger audience, there are few reactions or comments. In contrast, Facebook pages run by the Israeli government have greater engagement rates. For instance, the number of followers on the ‘Israel in India’ Facebook page exceeds the number of followers on the ‘Palestine in India’ page by almost 98,000. 6
In addition to the public diplomacy programmes carried out by the Palestine Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Palestinian government practises an unsystematic form of public diplomacy through other ministries by participating in global conferences, initiatives and events. In particular, the government invests in the sports sector through its Ministry of Youth and Sports, which supports youth participation in Palestinian sports by various means, including raising awareness about the importance of sports participation, empowering national teams and enhancing the organisation of and participation in regional and international conferences. More importantly, the ministry seeks to establish strategic partnerships with international sports and athletics organisations and associations in order to achieve the respectable representation of Palestinian youth. For example, the Palestinian Football Association is a member of FIFA, representing Palestine and participating in tournaments such as the 2021 Asian Cup Competition (AFC Asian Cup, 2019).
The significance of Palestinian sports teams’ participation in international tournaments and conferences lies in the fact that sports is an international language through which people are inspired and affected; therefore, the participation of the Palestinian government in these international events is vital to Palestinian public diplomacy efforts aimed at solidarity (Murray, 2016).
Non-governmental public diplomacy
Local Palestinian non-governmental public diplomacy
There is evidently only one non-governmental organisation specialising in public diplomacy in Palestine, the Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy (PIPD). As the organisation’s goal is to communicate the Palestinian story to the world, it focuses on various aspects of life in Palestine; the content the organisation shares on its website and social media pages includes videos of Palestinian women athletes and pictures of Palestinian heritage along with the stories and testimonials of victims under the Israeli occupation. It is very important to note that the organisation’s programmes, as opposed to governmental programmes, rely on the Web and social media as their main platforms. 7
For instance, the PIPD is currently leading a crowd-sourced online campaign entitled #MyPalestine, which encourages audiences mainly on Facebook and Instagram to share photos of Palestine in order to generate image content that reflects Palestine, its nature, culture and people. The PIPD, in turn, is reposting the photos and has said that it will reward winning photographers by featuring them in galleries around the world. Another programme implemented by the PIPD is the Model United Nations, which aims to build college students’ capacities and help them gain a better understanding of international issues and become better representatives for Palestine (PIPD, 2019). In conclusion, the PIPD tries to publicise the human and cultural face of Palestine by presenting different stories with different backgrounds to its visitors.
Significantly, other non-governmental organisations, particularly arts and music organisations, enhance Palestinian public diplomacy through their work. For instance, the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music participates in many international musical performances abroad, through which they represent and promote Palestinian music and culture (Edward Said National Conservatory of Music, 2019).
International pro-Palestinian, non-governmental public diplomacy
There are a significant number of international non-governmental organisations and movements that focus on fostering Palestinian solidarity in the international community, including the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement, known as the BDS. The BDS, which is involved in several programmes including economic, educational and cultural boycott campaigns to support Palestinian rights, has succeeded in increasing pro-Palestinian sentiment around the world in the last few decades. In 2013, in the Netherlands, for example, many companies, such as the Water Dutch Company, cancelled a cooperation agreement with Mekorot, Israel’s water utility (Visser, 2014). In another case, the BDS has succeeded in promoting Palestinian solidarity among Palestinian workers through the Palestinian Trade Union Coalition, which works on campaigns against the Histadrut, the Israeli trade union (BDS, 2020).
Additionally, the BDS convinced several universities around the world to cut ties with Israeli universities. In 2011, for instance, the University of Johannesburg cut ties with the Ben-Gurion University (BDS, 2020). Furthermore, the BDS has supported the efforts of student unions in North America and Europe to participate in the boycott movement by committing to cease the sale of Israeli products and by leading pro-Palestinian solidarity campaigns (BDS, 2020). Lastly, the BDS has encouraged cultural workers and organisations to cancel funding and events that involve cooperation with Israel. Notably, high profile artists such as Vanessa Paradis and Snoop Dogg cancelled events in Israel in support of the movement (BDS, 2020). The BDS increases the visibility of its achievements and messages by sharing them with its widespread international community and by using social media to intensify its communicative impact.
Notably, the BDS movement largely depends on partnering with non-Palestinian association and groups such as the Teachers Union of Ireland, Federation of Francophone Students in Belgium (FEF) and the National Union of Students (NUS) in the UK (BDS, 2020) in order to assure leverage in its campaigns and expand its impact. For example, in its 2019 ‘No to Eurovision Pink Washing’ campaign, hundreds of organisations, including LGBT ones, joined the campaign calling to boycott the 2019 Eurovision after an Israeli LGBT won the contest in 2018 (BDS, 2019). In this regard, it is important to point out that in various Western countries such as the UK, pro-Palestinian sentiment is rising while the Israeli Hasbara is ‘dying’ (Gilboa, 2006; The Economist, 2014; Weiss, 2018), which explains the responsiveness of non-Palestinian groups. This said, the efforts of the BDS and similar organisations are achieving success and expanding due to the existing supportive climate.
In addition to the BDS movement, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) is another pro-Palestinian non-governmental organisation based in the United States and led by students. The organisation leads campaigns in universities around the world to end the Israeli occupation, recognise the fundamental rights of Arab-Palestinians in Israel, and promote the rights of Palestinian refugees (Students for Justice in Palestine [SJP], 2020). The organisation has achieved many victories in its efforts on various US university campuses, including a divestment resolution at Colombia University and a Manchester University boycott of the Sabra brand of hummus, which is owned by an American firm that supports the Golani Brigade of the Israeli armed forces (SJP, 2020).
Finally, Jewish Voice for Peace is another advocacy organisation in the United States that promotes justice, equality and dignity for both Palestinians and Israelis. Significantly, the organisation is an ally of the BDS movement and works towards ending the illegal Israeli occupation in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem; moreover, it promotes a just solution for Palestinian refugees based on principles established in international law (Jewish Voice for Peace, 2020a). The organisation advocates for its beliefs using a variety of tactics, including the use of social media to spread awareness and confront pro-Israeli lobbies who do not share the same vision. For instance, the organisation has a toolkit under the name #skipAipac and encourages its followers to use the same hashtag to combat the biggest pro-Israeli lobby in the United States, AIPAC, which promotes unconditional support for the Israeli government while marginalising Muslims (If Not Now, 2020; Jewish Voice for Peace, 2020b).
Educational public diplomacy
There are a number of very influential Palestinian academics and researchers who have contributed to putting Palestine on the map, such as Edward Said, who founded the field of post-colonial studies and is rather an icon in the field of academia. Another example is Rashid Khalidi, who has also made a significant contribution to the documentation of Palestinian history. In Palestine today, there are 27 universities which host annual international conferences, publish academic material and participate in cultural exchange programmes through which academics have the opportunity to represent Palestine (Ministry of Higher Education, 2019). For instance, for several years, the An-Najah National University has been organising an international camp called Zajel in which the university hosts volunteers from all around the world to deliver workshops for Palestinian students; during their stay, the volunteers learn about Palestinian history, culture and heritage. Last year, An-Najah National University hosted 16 volunteers who stayed in Palestine for 14 days, during which time they visited archaeological and cultural sites around the West Bank in addition to refugee camps in order to gain a complete picture of Palestine’s history, politics and culture (An-Najah National University, 2018).
Moreover, there are 7050 working Palestinian academics in the West Bank and Gaza who contribute to publishing scientific research (Ministry of Higher Education, 2019), which in turn can enhance the image of Palestine in the academic field. For instance, in 2019, Amira Shaheen, a Palestinian researcher in epidemiology, won the OWSD-Elsevier Foundation Awards along with four other scientists (Elsevier, 2019). However, such participation is characterised by disorganisation and the lack of a unified voice. In other words, there is no clear message or agreed upon values among the Palestinian academics who practise intentional or unintentional public diplomacy; thus, these efforts are scattered and ineffective.
In conclusion, the pro-Palestinian public diplomacy efforts and programmes discussed above are characterised by the following:
While both governmental and non-governmental organisations seek to create solidarity through their programmes, there is little focus on Palestinian culture, heritage and values, with the exception of the PIPD, which tries to cultivate the national image of Palestine through social media, specifically their #MyPalestine campaign. This indicates that gaining international solidarity is the main public diplomacy objective for Palestinians. While this is justified, it would be better if governmental and non-governmental organisations also focused on promoting Palestinian identity in all its aspects (culture, language, theology, etc.), since cultivating an attractive image of Palestine could help in the development of the mutual understanding that underlies political and national action.
Overall, there is little utilisation of digital and social media tools by governmental programmes, although non-governmental bodies are more digitally active than governmental bodies.
There is an overall lack of organisation and no evidence of a strategic plan adopted by the Palestinian Authority to enhance public diplomacy. Although plenty of helpful resources exist, the Palestinian government could benefit from coordinating with local and international stakeholders. For instance, there are several Palestinian national sports teams, yet no plan or direction has been provided to enhance sports diplomacy. This is also the case for educational and cultural diplomacy.
There is a lack of integration between the apparatuses involved in implementing public diplomacy. For instance, there is no evidence of any kind of cooperation between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy or any other non-governmental organisation, although these parties could utilise each other’s resources and capabilities to increase the effectiveness of Palestine’s public diplomacy strategy.
It is obvious from the observations above that although both governmental and non-governmental organisations have created decent public diplomacy programmes, they still struggle because of the lack of a cohesive public diplomacy strategy. This can be explained by returning to the three main measures outlined at the beginning of the paper; effective public diplomacy requires mutual understanding and policies, competency in communications and sufficient communications capacity and infrastructure, none of which have been fully established in Palestine’s case. As a result, the main challenges facing the developing of Palestine’s public diplomacy can be defined in terms of these measures.
Challenges and drawbacks of Palestinian public diplomacy
After presenting the current approach and clarifying its weaknesses, it is important to shed light on the main obstacles facing Palestinian public diplomacy in order to understand the reasons for its weaknesses and limitations.
Unsupportive international relations
Unlike Israel, Palestine does not have strong allies in the international realm, as it does not present the same values and interests as strong, mostly colonialist countries. 8 Since Palestinians have been and still are seen as ‘backward’ and Israelis are seen as ‘civilised’, most Western countries support the Israeli government (Said, 1992). Today, Israel’s strong political and economic network is expanding to influence giant international communications corporations such as Facebook. For example, Israel, through its official governmental representatives, has on multiple occasions filed requests for Facebook to delete and block Palestinian content and users, accusing them of inciting violence. Critically, Facebook agreed to these requests in 95 per cent of the cases (Reuters, 2016). These requests represent only a small part of the work Israel is doing to take down any content on social media that favours the Palestinian cause; in 2015, the Israeli government established a specialised cyber unit to monitor and report Palestinian content (The Office of the State Attorney, 2019). These efforts come alongside the Israeli government’s repeated attempts to divert public opinion away from the Palestinian issue through campaigns and the imposition of further restrictions (Hirsch, 2016; Mohammadi, 2016).
Meanwhile, the internal and external political obstacles that the Palestinian government faces as a result of being under occupation make it difficult to develop a particular, or any, public relations goal with regard to the international community. Public relations are not seen as a priority when compared to any of the political or economic issues that touch the lives of the Palestinians. It is necessary to keep in mind that the implementation of any envisioned communication programme by the Palestinian government or, in fact, any other institution in Palestine depends on the current issues facing the country. A recent example of a Palestinian crisis is the announcement of the ‘Deal of the Century’ by the American administration, which placed a lot of political and financial pressure on the Palestinian government (Patel, 2019). During this time, the Palestinian government could not focus on public diplomacy; rather, it had to enhance its communications with local audiences concerning their political future. However, neglecting public diplomacy because of continuous hindrances will have high costs for the Palestinian government in terms of international public opinion and support.
Lack of competency in the field of communications
As a Third World country, Palestine generally lacks a complete understanding of public relations and communications and does not fully appreciate the importance of public diplomacy. This lack of understanding exists in many Arab countries and can be explained by the lack of professionalism in the Arab world, the shortage of scientific research dedicated to communication studies (Kirat, 2005), and the nature of Arabic culture, which reflects on the practice of public relations. Kirat (2005: 324) notes: Public relations is a reflection of the society in which it operates, it is as well a cultural act. In other words, it is a subsystem that reflects the way the whole society thinks and works. Effective PR needs democracy, needs the respect of the individual and his opinion. Public relations needs political participation and a high level of transparency and respect between the organization and its public. Public relations is based on the role, status and respect of public opinion in society. Unfortunately, a large number of Arab countries do not enjoy democracy, freedom of expression, freedom of the press and a strong public opinion. Effective public relations start with public opinion and concludes with it to evaluate its programs and objectives. There is also a misconception that public relations is a management task. Moreover, while public relations incorporates various tasks such as analyzing markets, managing stakeholder relations, and planning campaigns, Arabic managers generally see public relations as a secondary job or even as confetti used to decorate and illuminate their work. Therefore, a lot of managers do not dedicate much attention to public relations. This problematic misconception is also related to the lack of a competent workforce; in Palestine, there is no particular master’s program or sub-major specialized in public diplomacy (Ministry of Higher Education, 2019). This results in few qualified graduates in the field, while many unqualified practitioners find work in public diplomacy. For this reason, there is limited knowledge of public diplomacy planning, which results in a lack of clear objectives, strategies, tactics, or evaluation measures. Subsequently, there are higher chances for mistakes, failures, and, at times, backlash.
Lack of resources and weak communications infrastructure
With limited financial capabilities, it is very difficult to provide the resources necessary to implement public relations programmes. For those who do not actually work in the public relations industry, it is perhaps very difficult to imagine the expense of the work. For instance, publishing just one video on a social media site can cost around US$2,000, including costs for video production, advertising and sponsors and personnel. Moreover, events or occasions can be expensive due to the protocols and requirements of the occasion, not to mention the cost of resources needed for certain sustainable projects such as scholarships. As previously mentioned, the Palestinian government currently faces one of its worst financial crises; thus, the financial resources available to the Palestinian government have been allocated to priorities such as the families of martyrs, prisoners and governmental employees. Meanwhile, this lack of financial support will limit any opportunity to develop or invest in public diplomacy since most public diplomacy programmes require money and staff as well as multimedia tools, advertising, research and other expenses.
The power of Israeli public diplomacy
While different pro-Palestinian actors are working towards increasing international solidarity and support for Palestinians, the pro-Israeli media is doing its best to counter them using two main approaches: the first is to enhance Israel’s image in the international realm through sports, culture, food and travel. Among Israel’s most significant programmes in this context is the ‘Brand Israel’ campaign, which aims to promote Israel as modern and relevant to the world. The campaign was approved by Israel’s Foreign Ministry, the prime minister’s office and the Finance Ministry in 2005, and still operates today to promote Israel as a liberal country (Barrows-Friedman, 2019). Israel’s second public diplomacy strategy involves countering the efforts of the BDS and similar organisations. For instance, the Israeli government offers scholarships for students who spread pro-Israeli social media content and combat BDS messages (Lynfield, 2013).
Viewing the above challenges in terms of the measures of effective public diplomacy outlined in the second section of this paper, it is clear that Palestine has not acquired the essential resources, networks and infrastructure to develop effective public diplomacy programmes, which explains its weak practices. However, there are opportunities to improve Palestinian public diplomacy and overcome these challenges.
Opportunities for improving Palestinian public diplomacy
In light of the stated realities and challenges, the following points can help in the development of Palestinian public diplomacy:
Develop a strategic public diplomacy plan with a specific time-frame, a central message and a clear course of action that integrates the efforts of all governmental and non-governmental apparatuses including educational and cultural institutions and corporations to enhance Palestinian public diplomacy and counter Israel’s Hasbara. In particular, the plan should create specialised units with clear organisational structures to guarantee the achievement of two main tasks: the first is to foster solidarity and promote the Palestinian narrative, and the second is to counter anti-Palestinian campaigns. This of course should include working on developing international relations and perhaps working with pressure groups in order to influence the policies of giant social media corporations such as Facebook.
Rely on new social media strategies to spread Palestinian content. For example, user-generated content or grass-roots social media campaigns guarantee a larger field of outreach to a more diverse audience while at the same time being harder to monitor and block on social media sites. This said, it is important to invest in digital media specialists and expertise in Palestine in order to be able to plan and generate such campaigns. Meanwhile, build strategic agreements with international publicists and public relations agencies in order to have better communication leverage on the Web in general and social media sites specifically. Finally, the Palestinian government should consider partnering with pro-Palestinian celebrities and influencers such as Gigi Hadid and DJ Khaled.
Cooperate with the Palestinian private sector to improve the communication sector and enhance Palestinian digital public diplomacy, since the Palestinian government is under continuous financial pressure. Investing in the communications sector can significantly contribute to the promotion of Palestinian content by, first, strengthening the workforce in the field and, second, supporting initiatives to intensify publicity efforts; scholarships and awards can be used as incentives for students and specialists working in the field, as has been done by the Israeli government. Furthermore, the private sector can also contribute by supporting scientific research and offering resources for academic programmes specialising in media and communications.
Invest more in tourism as it is considered among the most effective public diplomacy tactics. Palestine has many historical, religious and natural sites as well as World Heritage Sites, including the Church of the Nativity, the pilgrimage route in Bethlehem, Battir Cultural Landscape of Southern Jerusalem and Al-Khalil Old Town in Hebron, which attract thousands of tourists each year (UNESCO, 2019). Public diplomacy efforts might include, for example, simple items presented to tourists at Palestinian sites, such as giveaways, information sheets and short stories about the Palestinian struggle.
Conclusion
As public diplomacy currently includes multiple actors and programmes, achieving its goals is especially challenging for countries such as Palestine with local and international troubles. However, the Palestinian government must realise that public diplomacy is crucial, especially given the rising importance of international public opinion in politics. At the same time, the Palestinian government can no longer depend on traditional tools to solve conflicts and achieve foreign policy goals; instead, they should shift their efforts towards winning the hearts and minds of people. In other words, they should now rely more on ‘affinity’ or what is described as ‘soft power’.
The dilemma for the Palestinian government is that it faces several problems such as disorganisation and lack of resources along with their country’s complicated political status. Nonetheless, they can benefit from new opportunities that are currently emerging in social networks and other accessible, inexpensive tools in addition to opportunities to collaborate with widespread international, pro-Palestinian non-governmental organisations to improve their public diplomacy.
Footnotes
Funding
The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
