From the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center:
Instructions were posted to a Hamas forum regarding the terminology that should be used in the media. According to the instructions, media workers should avoid the use of terminology that indicates a recognition of the existence of Israel (the “Zionist entity”); care should taken to designate all sites attacked by Israel as “civilian targets” and not as military targets; the cities in Israel which are attacked should be referred to as occupied Palestinian territories, and not as cities; and there is no such thing as “the residents of Israel’s south” because [the Israelis] are thieves who took the Palestinian lands by force.
The specific instructions from one of Paldf.net’s administrators, apparently relaying instructions from Hamas, are:
Reminder to members [i.e., forum members]:
When you claim that the Zionist response is not appropriate for a state, by implication you recognize the [Zionist] entity as a state.
There are no civilian and military targets in the Gaza Strip, all the sites the enemy [i.e., Israel] attacks are civilian. The enemy is the aggressor and an occupier, while the resistance defends its people and its right.
The resistance [i.e., Hamas and the other terrorist organizations] attacks our [Palestinian] occupied lands and not Israeli cities.
There is no such thing as “the residents of the south” , because they are thieves [who took the Palestinian lands by force] and will remain thieves.
If an escalation takes place, I hope that we will not lose sight of the media war and global opinion.
Must use all means of modern communication and expose the Zionist criminality
1 – Unification of the hashtags of Twitter
2 – Translation of tweets in all languages
3 – Use of the term terrorism to describe the enemy
4 – Assertion that the resistance is a reaction to the occupation and siege
5 – The dissemination of pictures and videos from the archives and statistics of the number of martyrs, wounded and prisoners and of destroyed houses
This is more sophisticated than most hasbara is.
More importantly, Hamas has the means to enforce these rules in Gaza, and too many Western reporters rely on Hamas news sources for their information.
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