Internet helped get word of rally to Israel backers on 
short notice

St.Louis Post-Dispatch
This story was published in A-section on Tuesday, April 16, 2002. 

By Steve Eder 
Post-Dispatch Washington Bureau 
WASHINGTON - The public relations battle in the United States 
over the fighting in Israel has tapped into new-age technology.

With the help of the Internet, organizers were able to spread 
the word in one week to tens of thousands of Israeli supporters 
that a rally would be held Monday in the nation's capital.

Organizers and participants swiftly communicated through mass 
e-mails and faxes, and a complex Web site to share travel 
information, meeting points and information about buying 
kosher food in Washington. Information posted on the Web told 
what items weren't allowed at the rally and suggested banner 
slogans.

In the meantime, an opposition organization, Jews for Peace 
in Palestine and Israel, began using its Web site to organize 
for an April 26-29 rally in Washington. The site includes an 
e-mail newsletter group and says that more information on 
its upcoming rally will be posted soon.

"All of these communication technologies - Internet, e-mail, 
faxes - these are all innovations that have made it a lot 
easier for people to communicate with" interested parties, 
said Bill Benoit, a professor of communications at the 
University of Missouri at Columbia, noting that using the 
technologies is increasingly a common way to organize.

Both sites provided information about what to do outside of 
the rallies, such as contacting lawmakers and traveling to 
the region to show support for either cause. Chain letters 
via e-mail telling friends to write members of Congress have 
also become a component of the public relations strategy, 
while some advocates leave supportive slogans as their 
"away messages" on computerized instant-messaging services.

Judy Hoffman, who attended the rally in Washington through 
the Jewish Community Relations Council in St. Louis, said 
area groups sent out bulk e-mails to prospective participants 
and added "the rabbis were all talking about the rally Saturday 
at the synagogue."

Even though technological advances have added new means of 
promoting political action, traditional media such as newspaper 
advertisements are still crucial.

Benoit said the double-fronted media campaign using old and 
new media works because "the new media is for the young and more 
technologically savvy, but it isn't for everyone."

The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations 
bought a full-page advertisement in the Sunday edition of The 
New York Times offering information about Monday's rally in 
Washington. Other pro-Israel television spots have criticized 
Palestinian leadership for its actions after the attacks on 
Sept. 11 in New York and Washington.

Copyright (C)2002, St. Louis Post-Dispatch