• ‘Essentially, the disinformation is being used to justify this idea that Israel is the perpetual victim and it's allowed to continue this type of slaughter with impunity’ 
  

ISTANBUL

The disinformation strategies of the ousted Assad regime and Israel aim to silence victims and strengthen their own narratives, according to a political scientist.

Speaking to Anadolu, Sophie Fullerton, a professor of politics at Fordham University in the US, analyzed disinformation strategies in Syria and the Gaza Strip.

Fullerton noted the distinction between misinformation and disinformation, emphasizing that disinformation is a deliberate and intentional form of manipulation.

In relation to Syria, Fullerton said: “Basically what this disinformation campaign was serving was to silence victims on the ground, be it chemical weapons attacks, barrel bombings, or torture victims, and try to elevate the Assad regime's narrative.”

"This widespread disinformation campaign by the Russians was to really bring in specific types of foreign policy that helps aid the Assad regime and their Russian counterparts and allies."

“The other thing that's really interesting with this type of disinformation campaign is it doesn't necessarily have to be something that is believable to individuals, but as long as they're able to muddy the narrative or confuse people that may not have any understanding of what's going on in Syria, they've done a service to the Kremlin.”

Fullerton said that the West criticized disinformation related to Syria and “was the one that was really saying within relation to Syria that ‘this disinformation is basically silencing victims.”

However, when it comes to Gaza, "What's happening within the Israeli context is we're not only seeing the West embrace this disinformation, but you're also seeing Western leaders and journalists and researchers enable this type of disinformation and say it straightforward with a straight face,” she added.

She noted that disinformation has influenced the refugee crisis. “In relation to Syria, the type of disinformation we were seeing was maligning refugees to make sure that the refugees that were going to Europe were not able to get the type of asylum or assistance they needed.”

“So basically, the idea with the disinformation in relation to Syria was to sever ties between the West, mainly Europe, and basically the West's ability to help the rebels or opposition.”

Disinformation campaigns of ousted Assad regime

Fullerton touched on disinformation campaigns carried out on social media during the ousted Assad regime, stating: “The influencer campaign was part of this disinformation apparatus that the Assad regime and its backers were really trying to push to Western mainstream.”

She said these campaigns had two primary objectives: “To enable the Assad regime to promote itself on an international stage, and its ability to control its own narrative.”

“For example, if you entered into Syria as a Turkish influencer or a Western influencer, you would be met with a Syrian minder that was with the Syrian government, the Assad regime, and they would take you to places where the Assad regime wanted their narrative to be in control. So, for example, they would take you to Homs and say that it was ISIS (Daesh) that was doing airstrikes on a specific mosque, or it was the rebels that were doing X, Y and Z.”

Meanwhile, she said the Israeli government conducts specific disinformation campaigns targeting Western politicians, particularly those in the US. These campaigns, she said, were meant to "silence Palestinian voices and really uplift the Israeli state narrative.”

Referring to the manipulative claims that emerged in Oct. 2023 about the Palestinian resistance group Hamas "beheading babies," Fullerton said such claims should have undergone fact-checking immediately.

“Instead of what you see is former President Biden saying it in front of the American populace and justifying continuous war crimes and ethnic cleansing against the Palestinians.”

Creating image of Israel being ‘perpetual victim’

She said disinformation in Gaza was designed to create the perception of Israel being “the perpetual victim."

“Essentially, the disinformation is being used to justify this idea that Israel is the perpetual victim and it's allowed to continue this type of slaughter with impunity.”

Underlining that in the West, when people point out Israel’s blatant violations, they are accused of making “an antisemitic trope,” she further said: “Individuals, academics, and researchers should be able to call out Israeli war crimes without being maligned or slandered as disinformation actors or antisemites.”

Measures against disinformation

Fullerton said: "They've had a long campaign of disinformation warfare to basically be able to continue this colonialist mindset, even before Oct. 7," regarding Gaza.

She underscored the need to enhance media literacy to counter disinformation.

“I think we're living in a time where we have more citizen journalism. For example, with Gaza, you have just your everyday Gazan being able to film Israeli war crimes. The issue, though, is how state actors are basically trying to mitigate this type of citizen journalism to make sure that the war or the violations are not brought to light.

“There needs to be more types of media literacy for people to understand what's propaganda, how the state is utilizing specific types of media to promote a specific type of statement or viewpoint that may try to oppress a victim or silence a victim essentially.”