Over 100,000 Views for YouTube Video Where Deputy FM Ayalon Explains „The Truth About the West Bank” and Responds to Palestinian Condemnation

The video can be
viewed at www.youtube.com/dannyayalon

Last week, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Danny Ayalon released a video describing the history of the Israeli Palestinian  conflict in a concise easy to follow video on YouTube. The video explains where the terms „West Bank”, „occupied territories” and „67 Borders” originated and how they are incorrectly used and applied. The video has already been viewed by over 100,000 worldwide.

Ayalon explains that the idea behind the video is to
disseminate Israel’s long-standing but neglected
position, in an innovative way, to combat the Palestinian attempt to have a
unilaterally-declared state recognized. In addition, when direct negotiations
will restart the historical context should be well known to the interested
public to provide a greater understanding of the current situation.

„For too many years, our public diplomacy has been
mainly based on a ‘peace narrative’, where Israeli officials talk about how much
we are willing to concede for peace, while the Palestinian public diplomacy is
all about supposed rights and international law,” Ayalon said. „While we do all
we can do promote peace, it is time for Israel to return to a ‘rights-based
diplomacy’ and talk about the facts, rights, history and international law which
are little known but give a dramatically different viewpoint to what is
currently accepted.”

„Israel’s case is harder to make in an
era where context, background and history are less important than an image or a
headline. Social media in general and YouTube in particular are major
battlegrounds in the clash of narratives and public diplomacy. It is vital that
a strong rights-based Israeli presence is seen and heard, especially for the
YouTube demographics who are more interested in easy to digest
explanations.”

Following the release of the video, the Palestinian
Authority put out an official press release condemning the video claiming that
it was a „cynical and falsified account of history and international law”. Chief
Palestinian negotiator Dr. Saeb Erakat demanded an official explanation for the
video. In reaction to the condemnation, Ayalon said: „For too long the
Palestinian narrative of international law and rights has gone unchallenged and
this over the top reaction to a public diplomacy video proves that they are
acting like spoilt children who have had their way for too long. They are unable
to challenge a single fact in the video and have completely avoided a legitimate
and honest discussion on the issues.”

In the press release, Erekat claims that
Israel was accepted to the United
Nations on the basis of UN General Assembly Resolution 181. „This false claims
shows that Erekat misconstrues international law and its system proving exactly
how misguided the Palestinian attempt to have their unilaterally declared state
recognized at the United Nations really is. Israel was
admitted as a full United Nations member in 1949 by United Nations General
Assembly Resolution 273, after a recommendation by the Security Council, because
it met the criteria of statehood and signed armistice agreements with our
neighbors, something the Palestinians should bear in mind before they further
their confrontational and damaging plan towards
September.”

„I challenge any of the Palestinian Authority political
leadership to an open debate on all the issues ahead of
September.”

The video produced in English includes translations in
numerous languages including Arabic, Spanish, French, Russian and German. The
video will also be shown in hundreds of schools and educational centers
worldwide as part of their curriculum on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The video was produced for the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs in cooperation with StandWithUs, an international organization dedicated
to Israel education worldwide, by
filmmaker Shlomo Blass of Rogatka Ltd, and directed by internationally-renowned
director Ashley Lazarus.

Deputy Foreign Minister Ayalon has an extremely
successful record in the social media with tens of thousands of followers across
the globe. He has consistently been recognized as one of the leading politicians
globally utilizing social media, by, amongst others, Foreign Policy and Dimpool,
a web-based diplomatic analysis center.

www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/06/20/the_fp_twitterati_100

www.dimpool.com/dimpool-analysis/2011/05/the-most-succesful-politicians-on-the-internet-top-4/