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 @ISIDEWITHNewsDaily DiscussionIsraelmediadiplomacyEuropeSwedengovernmentLeft•••1yr ago

Israeli Government Astroturfed Eurovision Vote

Israeli candidate Eden Golan took home 5th place at the Eurovision contest in Malmo, Sweden.

While the mere 52 points that judges awarded Golan would have left her in 12th place, viewers managed to propel the Israeli singer into 5th place by awarding her an astonishing 323 points via televoting.

Israeli media and government officials wasted little time in depicting the fifth-place finish as proof of a burgeoning pro-Israel consensus quietly emerging across the globe.

David Saranga, the Acting Deputy Director of Public Diplomacy at the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, seemed to delight in the news as well. “We knew that the situation was less serious than it is reflected in the demonstrations on the streets of Europe, but we did not expect such overwhelming support,” Saranga told Israel’s Ynet, claiming that “the fact that even countries where public opinion is critical of Israel, such as Sweden or Ireland, gave Israel a high score” indicates there are “underground currents” of pro-Zionist sentiment throughout the continent.

“It is true that we, as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, acted among friendly audiences to increase voting,” Saranga admitted. Elsewhere, the Times of Israel acknowledged: “The truth is that there was obviously an organized, dedicated effort by Israel supporters to give their votes to Golan… and it clearly drew votes from many who don’t otherwise tune into the Eurovision each year.”

7 Replies

 @WondrousPieLibertarianfrom Iowa  commented…1yr1Y

And my tax money probably paid for it

 @ObsessedFranchiseGreenfrom Wisconsin  commented…1yr1Y

I am confused; why is Israel able to take part in a European talent contest if it is not a European country? Somebody please explain that to me, because when I talk to Murican Jews they say they are not White!

 @GrumpyPoultryMountainfrom Louisiana  commented…1yr1Y

Relentless propaganda.

 @ISIDEWITHasked…1yr1Y

Do you think the actions of the Israeli government and its supporters reflect a clever use of resources or an ethical dilemma?

 @ISIDEWITHasked…1yr1Y

How do you perceive the role of public diplomacy and influence campaigns in shaping the international perception of a country?

 @ISIDEWITHasked…1yr1Y

How do you feel about a government potentially influencing a cultural event’s outcome to improve its international image?

 @ISIDEWITHasked…1yr1Y

Considering the impact on the artist's victory, should their win be celebrated as a genuine achievement or questioned due to the methods used?

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 @ISIDEWITH submitted…8mos8MO

Europe on Edge as Critical Cables Severed Near Nord Stream Blast Zone

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius on Tuesday said "nobody believes" that two broken telecommunications cables in the Baltic Sea were "accidentally cut.""We have to conclude, without knowing exactly who did it, that it is a hybrid action and we also have to assume — without knowing it — that it is sabotage," Pistorius told reporters in Brussels on the sidelines of a Council of the European Union meeting.The Finnish network company Cinia said Monday it was investigating a broken undersea internet cable running between Santahamina near Helsinki and Rostock in Germany — in a submarine incident that sparked political alarm in Berlin and Helsinki.The 1,173 kilometer-long cable follows a similar route to the Russia-to-Germany Nord Stream gas pipelines, which exploded in September 2022 in an apparent act of sabotage.Also speaking on the sidelines of the meeting in Brussels, Finnish Defense Minister Antti Häkkänen said: “We are now investigating what has happened. We have good capabilities through all of this to investigate what has happened and who has been there.”Finland’s Europe Minister Joakim Strand called the incident "concerning.""Our authorities together with the companies are proactively investigating the case. The telecommunications have been re-routed to back-up connections and practical impacts have been minimal. The cable of course will be repaired. It is too soon to speculate on any causes but of course this is concerning," he added.The suspected case of sabotage comes as European foreign ministers, meeting in Warsaw on Tuesday, warned that Russia is “systematically attacking” Europe’s security architecture.

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 @ISIDEWITH submitted…8mos8MO

Horror in Northern Gaza: U.S. Questions Israel After Civilians Slaughtered in Residential Attack

An Israeli strike on a residential building in northern Gaza killed dozens of people early Tuesday, the territory’s emergency service said, in the latest attack to cause mass casualties in the area since Israel renewed its offensive against Hamas in the north.The Palestinian Civil Defense, the emergency service, said at least 55 people were killed in the strike in the town of Beit Lahia. Gaza’s health ministry said at least 93 people were dead, including 25 children. The Israeli military said in a statement that it was “aware of reports that civilians were harmed” in the town and was looking into the details.Matt Miller, a U.S. State Department spokesman, called the strike “a horrifying incident with a horrifying result” and said the Biden administration had contacted the Israeli government to ask what happened.Israeli forces renewed their offensive in northern Gaza this month, saying they were trying to stem a regrouping of Hamas, the militant group that attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, sparking the war in Gaza.The strike comes days after another Israeli attack on a residential block in Beit Lahia that left dozens of people killed or wounded, according to the Palestinian Civil Defense. The Israeli military confirmed the strike on Sunday, saying that the air force had “conducted a precise strike” targeting Hamas fighters.An overnight Israeli airstrike hit another residential building in the town on Oct. 20, killing dozens of people, Palestinian officials and emergency workers said.Roughly 400,000 people remain in northern Gaza, according to the United Nations, and many have been trapped in their ruined neighborhoods.

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Active 13hrs ago

 @ISIDEWITH submitted…8mos8MO

Death, Denial, and Silence: Inside China’s Push to Bury Zhuhai’s Devastating SUV Attack

Outside the sports center in the southern city of Zhuhai where a 62-year-old man had plowed an S.U.V. into a crowd, killing at least 35 people, workers on Wednesday quickly removed bouquets of flowers left by grieving residents. Uniformed police officers and officials in plainclothes shooed away bystanders and warned them not to take photos. At hospitals where patients were taken after the attack — at least 43 more people were injured — local officials sat outside the intensive care units, blocking journalists from speaking with family members.On the Chinese internet, censors were mobilized to delete videos, news articles and commentaries about the attack. Almost 24 hours had passed before officials divulged details about the assault, which happened on Monday, including the death toll. Their statement offered limited details, and they have held no news conferences.The response was a precise enactment of the Chinese government’s usual playbook after mass tragedies: Prevent any nonofficial voices, including eyewitnesses and survivors, from speaking about the event. Spread assurances of stability. Minimize public displays of grief.The goal is to stifle potential questions and criticism of the authorities, and force the public to move on as quickly as possible. And to a large degree, it appeared to be working.Though many residents of Zhuhai, the city of 2.4 million where the attack happened, were clearly shaken, they said on Wednesday they had not questioned the delay in information, attributing it to the government’s need to first sort out what had happened. A steady stream of people arrived by foot or taxi to lay flowers at the sports center’s entrance, but when officials took away the flowers and told the people not to linger, they quickly complied.Local governments have also vowed in recent months to spend more time screening for people who have experienced “failures,” after a spate of violent attacks, including several cases in which schoolchildren were stabbed.But officials were also clearly on the lookout for any deeper scrutiny of the Zhuhai killings. Videos and photos of the scene of the attack showed only as grayed-out squares on Weibo, a social media platform. Blog posts urging people not to treat violent attacks as isolated incidents, but rather to look deeper for potential social causes, disappeared.

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