And now, here is the occupation army spokesman

If the greatest battleground in the Intifada is public opinion, Israel prepared three warriors for dealing with the 300 million Arab speakers around the world - two in the Foreign Ministry and one at the IDF. Unlike Hebrew and English language media, who benefit from the services of spokesmen from various bureaus, there are few Arabic speakers who are qualified to put the official view to Arabic language media. This includes all the television and radio stations and the written media "from Dubai to Washington," as Amira Oron, who has been director of Arabic media at the Foreign Ministry for a year, puts it. That includes representatives of 40 media organizations in Israel.

In addition to their other duties, the three are responsible for keeping track of everything being said on the Arabic media, pinpointing important articles in the Arab press, and issuing quick responses to new events.

Major Eitan Arusi, the IDF spokesman in Arabic, was appointed four months ago and he is the first person to fill this role at the unit of the IDF spokesman since it was set up. His appointment is the result of a change in the approach to the spokesman's role, which saw fit to appoint a special spokesman to deal specifically with the Arabic language media - both local and foreign.

Until now, Arab journalists had no specific door to knock on for responses from the IDF. "The prevalent view was that we don't talk with the enemy," Oron says. "Different [Israeli] spokesmen would call me and ask what to do with the Arab queries. I had to explain to them that it's precisely the same as the BBC or Sky News."

The Arab networks are also not very keen to interview Israeli spokespersons because they leave themselves open to domestic criticism for "granting a forum to the enemy."

"One of my biggest concerns was that they [Arab journalists] would not want to interview a spokesman in uniform, an IDF officer, but the opposite was true. They are a lot more open than I expected," Arusi says.

The IDF, which in the Arab media is know as the "occupation army," is considered by many in the Arab world as a the most powerful military force in the Middle East, that carries out the gravest atrocities - perhaps only after the American army in Iraq. Arusi's role is to alter that image.

"In journalism schools they say 95 percent of the message is in the appearance. They attack me, cut me to shreds, but the fact that they have an IDF representative, in uniform, being interviewed for a satellite station being viewed by millions, is in itself an achievement," Arusi says.

Sometimes, his mere presence on a live program creates situations that would have been impossible had there been no such IDF spokesman. For example, when he is faced-off with a representative of the Hamas or the Hezbollah, who clearly have different versions of events.

The appearance of a spokesman in uniform holds great importance, at least as far as is attested by the close-ups of the unit and beret insignia, and the rank on the shoulder epaulets. Arusi explains that there is special importance to the military and the official announcements it issues in the Arab world. After all, many of the leaders of Arab countries were military officers and some still wear uniforms.

Midnight calls

At the Foreign Ministry they understood for a number of years that the battle for Arab public opinion must be fought from every possible forum. A few months ago, an official Arabic language web site was set up - www.altawasul.net, of which the Arab media section is very proud.

"We are trying to interact with the Arab public in every way. That is our motto," Oron says, and the web site is an electronic embassy to 30 million Arabs with Internet access.

The number of "hits" has grown consistently and now reaches more than 1,000 per day. But due to lack of sufficient manpower, updating is slow. Oron and her deputy, Lior Ben-Dor, are at the service of the Arab media outlets 24 hours a day.

"I get phone calls at midnight from an Arab radio station in Australia that wants an up to date response to events," Oron says. "And in the morning the rush after the responses, the events, and there is a need to make calls to the journalists for the things they wrote in the paper."

The world of Arabic language media has undergone a face-lift in the past decade. One of the most significant developments is the appearance of satellite news. The Arab television viewers today are addicted to the news, and the ban by various regimes of setting up satellite dishes has been ineffectual.

From the shanty town of Cairo's "city of the dead," to Beirut's wealthy suburbs, to the well equiped compounds in the Persian Gulf, and the tribes of Mauritania, in every place there are satellite dishes pointing skyward and receiving a plethora of stations. Official Israel makes very few appearances and no Israeli stations are received by Arab satellites.

The electronic revolution enables Arab viewers to pass over official state news broadcasts that to this day continue to open their evening edition with a litany of the trivial events the head of state was involved in that day.

Networks like Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya present professional and energetic news and international reports with a completely Western flair. But anyone who imagined these networks would further democracy in the Middle East was wrong. Their impact is not in the criticism of Arab regimes or society, but in setting a shared Arab agenda. And in most cases, Israel is at the forefront of this agenda and not in favorable light.

Hard to get

Ben-Dor and Oron grant 30-50 interviews every month to Arabic language television and radio stations. There is potential for much more. "This is a gradual revolution. Slowly they are begining to understand in the Arab world that the Israelis have no horns and no tail. And most important of all - being able to address them in their language," Ben-Dor explains.

That may be the key. Contrary to what is done in Israel, it is common practice in Arabic language networks to simultaneously translate the statements of anyone being interviewed who does not speak Arabic. This makes it very difficult to understand and the argument the speaker is making is not fluent, and can distort the message.

The three spokesmen insist on speaking in Arabic to stress their point of view, in terminology that they wish to use - Arab media use different terms than the Israeli media for describing the same event. All three are Israeli Jews because Arab Israelis refuse to appear on behalf of the state.

Nazeer Majali, a journalist for Al-Sharq al-Awsat in Israel, believes the appointment of spokesmen is important but insufficient. "They help me and the other Arab journalists in many things, especially because many journalists do not know Hebrew. But there is one thing they cannot do - alter the mentality of a system that regards the Arab as an inferior person," he says.

Majali, an Israeli citizen from Nazareth, writes for one of the most important Arabic language dailies published in London, but he has still not been able to interview Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. He has asked to interview him repeatedly since he was elected prime minister.

"This is a policy of indifference toward the Arabs, whether they are Israelis or from other countries," Majali says. He sees this indifference as guiding the General Security Service when it prevents Arab journalists from accompanying official delegations of the prime minister or the foreign minister when they go abroad.

In recent months, a journalist for Y-Net, Ali Waked, was prevented from joining the entourage of Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom. Majali and Lutfi Mashour, editor of Al-Sinara, waived the privilege of joining delegations because of the humiliation they are subjected to by security at the airport.

Another example of the condescending attitude toward the Arab media is the meager resources allocated to it. For instance, the web site of the Foreign Ministry in Arabic was set up by an employee, Amir Weissbrodt, when he served was spokesman in Amman, Jordan.

Foreign Minister Shalom authorized the investment in the web site, but its budget is significantly lower than that granted to its Hebrew and English counterparts.

The web site is maintained in Jerusalem and Amman by two people as a part-time occupation. On the other hand, for the English and Hebrew sites of the ministry there are six full time employees.

Arusi faces another obstacle in his job. Many in the defense establishment are wary of granting interview to Arab networks, or allowing Arab journalist to enter military bases, because of security concerns.

"That is just an excuse. If CNN is allowed to film Cobras [attack helicopters] on an air force base out there, Al-Jazeera can too, and that will be more effective," he says.

	Maj. Arusi: "They cut me to shreds, but being there is the achievement."
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