Israel has fought seven official wars and many military operations to protect its citizens and borders since 1948. But one of the biggest battles in the last decade is the fight for her rights and existence in the Holy Land. And that battle has only increased with the advent of social media.

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During World War II, the public had to wait days or weeks or even years to find out what the real story was behind the war. They watched newsreels in movie theatres.  Then television came along with live/satellite television, then Internet, and then social media. With each development there has been the opportunity to get more information to more people faster but not without its drawbacks.

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Facts are often manipulated to give a distorted picture and rumours are disseminated easily through the Internet and social media. People often don’t take time to delve into the background of a story.

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We live in an age where propaganda is often placed on an equal footing as truth and anyone and everyone can push his agenda, religion, beliefs through “media” – from the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement to ISIS.

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BDS is a movement that is gaining traction especially in Europe, using the imagery and lingo of Apartheid South Africa basically to tarnish and delegitimise the Jewish State.  They are in favor of the “right of return” for Palestinian “refugees” to Israel and a “one state” solution.  That would mean the quick end, through non-military means of the modern state of Israel/the Jewish State.

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One expert explained the public relations battle in regards to BDS.  He said that most Israelis believe if Israel can just get the facts out then people will see that Israel is doing the right thing.

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“While we [Israel] try to explain our position and use facts, they [the Palestinians] do branding and this is a completely different field.  When they shoot [rockets] from Gaza we said ‘well they started [it]’ and they shout, ‘apartheid, apartheid’.  There is a mismatch between our strategies and the responses and that’s our problem. We don’t understand the battlefield,” he said.

“We’re the Google generation,” a Christian girl in her 20s said. Because young people can Google and get a quick answer they think they know the story.  But they’re often lacking the background to understand the full picture.  And Israel is a prime example. If you don’t have background of the Bible or at least a historical perspective you could easily think that Israel as the bad guy.

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This is the battle for truth in the hearts and minds of people that Israel and really the world is facing – right is called wrong and wrong (sin) is called right and if one dares to call wrong, wrong, then it’s doubly wrong!