Here’s an op-ed in the National Post by Amir R. Gissi, Israel’s Consul General for Toronto and Western Canada:
Branding Israel
by Amir Gissin,
National Post, Sept. 18
For over two weeks now, Toronto has been the arena for a bitter struggle between Israel bashers and Israel supporters. John Greyson used a distorted quote from me as the reason for pulling his film from the Toronto International Film Festival, but I hardly deserve the credit. Without it, another excuse would have been found to attack TIFF’s decision to focus on Tel Aviv. The attempt to present Israeli culture in a manner that Naomi Klein called “uncritical” was for them simply unforgivable.
I agree with the anti-Israeli activists about one thing: the real issue was not the boycott, nor the Israeli filmmakers. It was a struggle about Israel’s right to be presented positively.
Ms. Klein, Mr. Greyson and their followers have ineffectively tried to establish veto privileges over any attempt to relate to Israel other then through the prism of the conflict. They are promoting a narrative that presents Israel as the new South Africa. There is a name for this process: It is called “branding”.
For the past two decades, more than 30 countries and hundreds of cities and regions all over the world have been engaged in a “branding” process. It is a comprehensive, holistic attempt to present an attractive image of a place, which should lead to increased tourism, foreign investment and export. No other country was ever criticized for branding itself; but in Israel’s case, branding is deemed a demonic exercise of the “Israeli propaganda machine.” This even though the Israeli government sponsors award-winning films with self-critical view points that often deal with the conflict that the critics claims we are trying to hide. An odd machine.
Note that the Canadian brand that has become a synonym for local excellence and innovation is BlackBerry by RIM. But Canada’s pride has a dark secret: It has an Israeli heart. Several Israeli-made microcomputers operate the BlackBerry’s main applications. Now, is that Israeli propaganda? Israeli branding? Of course not. It is a demonstration that Canadian and Israeli high-tech companies tend to work well together. Israel is a place of passion and creativity. It is becoming increasingly relevant to Canadians and as they want to know more about it. They understand that Israel has a lot to offer beyond the conflict. Nothing can stop this volcano of creativity.
That is why the unholy coalition that ganged up on Cameron Bailey and TIFF failed in Toronto. And they will continue to fail elsewhere.
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