VISIT ‘ISRAEL'S GROUND ZERO’ ON THE ‘HAMAS TRAIL OF TERROR’ VIRTUAL TOUR FOR $19
ISRAELIS UPDATE ATROCITY PROPAGANDA FOR THE DIGITAL AGE IN WAR AGAINST PALESTINIANS
Photo Credit: Screengrab www.hamastrailofterror.com
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As Israel prepares to invade the Palestinian-controlled Gaza Strip, one group of Israelis are offering a guided virtual tour of what it calls the Jewish nation's "Ground Zero."
"Embark on a journey to the core of Israel's conflict zone with Hamas Trail of Terror: A Virtual Tour to Israel's Ground Zero," the group's website, www.hamastrailofterror.com, offers.
The live-streamed tour promises to take viewers "to the Gaza border" where, "through the lens of local guides," they will "witness the harsh reality civilians faced during the attacks."
All for just $19.
Ads promoting the website are currently being published on Instagram.
The Hamas Trail of Terror virtual tour appears to be a form of "atrocity propaganda" updated for the Digital Age.
Modern propaganda was born during World War I. The US primarily used persuasive posters and censorship of anti-war expression to marshall public opinion in favor of the war. Other nations created an especially powerful kind of propaganda called "atrocity propaganda" to win the support of their people.
"First World War atrocity propaganda is primarily focused on the atrocities committed by German troops as they invaded Belgium in 1914," says propaganda expert Jo Fox, Pro Vice-Chancellor & Dean, School of Advanced Study, University of London.
It is "a specific propaganda technique that sought to garner support for war and provide a moral explanation for it, by highlighting the crimes and atrocities committed by the enemy," Fox explains.
For example, the British Bryce Committee Report on "Alleged German Outrages." It cataloged reported German war crimes with powerful first person accounts that were presented as unquestionably true.
"By stacking the evidence in this way," Fox says, "Bryce attempted to detail all of the crimes and the specifics gave this an air of legitimacy and truth which was later exploited by propagandists in the press and in literature."
Like the Bryce report "stacked" victims' accounts, the Hamas Trail of Terror virtual tour promises to "unveil the truth" and "narrate the unheard stories."
Modern war is a four-dimensional, multi-domain hybrid that includes non-kinetic information warfare. Israel's propaganda machine is in full effect as its military gears up for a kinetic ground war against Palestinian militia in Gaza. Modern war's information front can be fought, as in the current Russo-Ukrainian War, on the Internet with bloggers.
The Hamas Trail of Terror website claims to be the brainchild of a "Group of Israelis, technology and advertising professionals, with many years of experience in the field of virtual tours." They created the virtual tour primarily "to deal with the lies spread by Hamas."
Another factor propaganda scholars consider in judging whether a particular communication is propaganda is its target audience. Does it appear aimed at a specific, identifiable audience and, if so, who?
The Hamas Trail of Terror virtual tour begins Monday evening at 7:00 pm, Eastern Standard time. The time zone covers Washington, DC, and New York—centers of American power.
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