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The US secretary of state traveled to Israel this week to visit an unprecedented Jewish settlement in the West Bank. Walking through the area, he also visited the Golan Heights. The message of Mike Pompeo’s action has a strong message: it legitimizes the invasion of the Palestinian territories and the Syrian-occupied plateau in 1967. Pompeo said a year earlier that the settlements did not violate international law. With this, the Trump administration harshly faced the Obama presidency, which was still moving away from Israel’s expansionist aspirations.
In 2017, Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. And on this week’s visit, Pompeo voiced his support for Israeli territorial policy in a simple but forceful statement. He said it would be appropriate to write “made in Israel” or “Israeli product” on products made in Jewish settlements in the West Bank and then exported to the United States.
This would eliminate the distinction between settlements considered internationally occupied territories and internationally recognized Israeli territories. The difference may gradually fade from global public consciousness over time.
Association game
It doesn’t really matter what we call it, as we associate it by name, which influences how we see something and what thoughts we associate with it. If the American president mentions Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, sooner or later it will establish itself in the public consciousness, no matter what the UN says. This effect can also be achieved with a product label, only the process is reversed. If we read about a Made in Israel product, and are even satisfied with the product, no one will care if the item was manufactured in a plant built in a deodorized home for Palestinian families. The Israeli product, made by Israelis, comes from Israel.
Countless reports have come to light of the exploitation of workers in coffee and cocoa plantations or even in Chinese textile factories and factories in Bangladesh, but it does not spar the imagination of the vast majority of end users. Made in XY, we accept that the product comes from the designated location, and it is irrelevant what characterizes the conditions under which the product was manufactured. Many European countries are critical of the regime of Russian President Vladimir Putin, but they still buy Russian oil and natural gas from him.
Corn or shellfish
For the Jewish state in the XX. Areas occupied in the 16th century are classified by the UN as an occupied zone, while a significant proportion of Israelis consider the area to be their homeland.
However, this phenomenon is universal.
Karabakh, eastern Ukraine
If we think of the Nagorno-Karabakh war, which ended in November, we can witness two opposite aspects. Armenians call Nagorno-Karabakh the Price and prove with historical documents that the area is part of their homeland. But Azerbaijan sees the region as its own territory, as does the international community, and the occupation has established itself in the public consciousness. In the war, the Armenians protected the ancient land and the Azeris liberated their territories. In both cases, the appointment has a legitimizing effect on the acts.
Simplified:
- from the Armenian point of view: defense = good, attack = bad;
- from the Azeri point of view: occupation = bad, liberation = good.
What we call is a fairly effective political tool. It can change the mindset of entire societies if, through one appointment at a time, they strive to associate people with what serves their political interests.
In the war in eastern Ukraine, the opposing parties reported the same events in a completely different way, in which well-used keywords played a key role. While Moscow and dissidents have described the protests in Kiev that led to the conflict as rebellion and unrest, Kiev mentions a revolution. The government that erupted after subsequent events was branded a junta by pro-Russian insurgents in eastern Ukraine and a Ukrainian armed force by fascists. The last word also affects the Russian mind: they immediately think of World War II, especially the brutal battles against Nazi Germany, often Russian – fascist, and its henchmen.
And fascism is paired with being an enemy to defeat. Ukraine, for its part, also took advantage of the opportunities offered by the association, and in the first years of the conflict described the armed struggle as an anti-terrorist operation, then the separatist territories as occupied territories and the war as a Russian aggression.
It’s like looking at clouds
Stigmatizing a person, group or idea, whether positive or negative, can instantly build a political force and influence public opinion and thus gain authority to take controversial action.
Uyghurok, Hong Kong, BLM
Only recently have there been a number of examples that can be interpreted in various ways.
Is the establishment of Uyghur re-education camps part of integration into Chinese society and of a policy to prevent terrorism or cultural genocide?
Is the Hong Kong series of protests part of a democratic movement or a foreign-backed riot against China’s sovereignty?
Has a genocide or anti-terrorist clean-up operation been carried out against the Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar?
Does Black Lives Matter (BLM) fit into the American civil rights movement or is it a violent manifestation of an extremist Marxist ideology?
Has Russia occupied Crimea or reconnected in accordance with the will of the people?
Have anti-regime terrorists or insurgents been bombed in Aleppo to occupy the city?
Do they want to overthrow power in Belarus on behalf of Western agents, or is there popular resistance to a repressive regime?
Are the Kurds of northern Syria Marxist terrorists or a threat to national security?
Is the Azerbaijani Ramil Safarov an ax murderer or a national hero?
Is the beheading of people a murder with an extreme record or is it a holy jihad?
Are civilians dying in a drone strike, or enemy soldiers, perhaps terrorists?
(Cover image: Palestinians make clothes in Israel. Photo: Abid Katib / Getty Images)
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