The Propaganda Game – An Illustration

Sir Afilonius Rex

New York, Wednesday 19th August 2026

Today, I am looking at Hasbara.

Hasbara” (public diplomacy) often relies on rhetorical frameworks designed to secure geopolitical support and deflect criticism.

Here is a critical deconstruction of 12 prevalent talking points that are frequently challenged by international watchdogs for being misleading or factually incomplete.

Justifying Force

• “The Most Moral Army”: This claim routinely ignores extensive documentation by the UN and independent human rights groups detailing disproportionate force and systemic abuses.
• “Human Shields”: Frequently used to transfer all legal and moral culpability for civilian deaths to combatants; however, international law dictates that the presence of combatants does not absolve an attacking force of the principle of proportionality.
• “Effective Warnings”: Pointing to leaflets ignores the reality that evacuation is often impossible due to destroyed infrastructure, closed borders, and strikes on designated “safe zones.”
• “Pallywood”: A derogatory rhetorical tactic used to dismiss documented civilian suffering as fabricated, deliberately undermining trust in legitimate humanitarian and journalistic reporting.

Historical and Legal Deflection

• “Unprovoked Aggression”: Framing military operations in a historical vacuum erases decades of structural context, including the military occupation and the blockade.
• “The Only Democracy”: Major rights organizations dispute this by highlighting the dual, unequal legal systems operating in the occupied territories.
• “Conflating Criticism with Antisemitism”: Weaponizing the very real and dangerous threat of anti-Jewish bigotry to shield a nation-state’s military policies from legitimate international scrutiny.
• “They Rejected Peace”: Radically oversimplifies historic negotiations, obscuring that many proposed agreements denied full sovereignty, border control, or territorial contiguity.

Denial of On-the-Ground Realities

• “The Occupation of Gaza Ended in 2005”: Ignores that control was maintained over the airspace, territorial waters, and population registry, leading the UN to classify it as an ongoing occupation.
• “No Humanitarian Crisis”: Denying civilian starvation or medical collapse directly contradicts corroborated data from the WHO and the World Food Programme.
• “Unprecedented Restraint”: Contrasts sharply with the objective rate of destruction of civilian infrastructure, which exceeds most modern asymmetric conflicts.
• “Total Self-Reliance”: The myth of the isolated underdog deliberately obscures the billions in foreign military aid and the diplomatic veto power provided by allied superpowers.