Rebranding the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

After spending two years as a fake ex-pat in London, I have come to understand the place where I was born (Israel) better.

Firstly, for all practical purposes, Israel is a very fictional territory. I say this not because I believe Israel has no right to exist as a State. So long as States exist, Israel may as well be one of them. The reason I say that Israel is a fictional territory is because outsiders - specifically Europeans who have strong opinions about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - more often than not have no idea where exactly Israel is. What Israel's neighboring countries are. That Israel is more or less the size of Wales. That Israel's Jewish, Arab and Christian population is less than the population of London. That Israel is by far the strongest economy in the region. They also don't really seem to know where exactly the West Bank is (is it West of the Middle East? From left-to-right or right-to-left?) and where in relation to that Gaza is. And how big or small or hot or humid these places are. And why Jordan looks like a Burda pattern from the 70s (Is it just me or does Jordan look like it is waiting to become someones sleeve?).

When some Londoners with strong opinions about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict asked me how many hours flight Tel-Aviv is from London, my reply "4 and a half hours" seriously surprised them. Not as much as the comment I liked to add: "…after all, the Crusaders did WALK there".

Israel isn't really on the other side of the moon. But it is easier to have strong opinions about things that are abstract, far away and ultimately more fictional than real. People have strong opinions about Gaza but not about Ketchup. They "care" about "The Poor" but not about guy lying in the street they just almost tripped over.

It seems to me that people who have opinions about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can't make the connection between the place where Jesus was born and the place which they see on TV. And why should they? Both are the landscapes of myth and history, conflict, sacrifice and faith.

So, to my point: no one knows the real truth of what goes on here. Probably because there isn't one truth. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has ancient roots but is quintessentially modern. Post-modern even. It is a mediated scenery against which Punch and Judy slog it out in surprising predictability (or predictable surprise) for the refined voyeurs of the World. Which leads me to think: if the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a desired media-commodity, why treat it like something else? If States can be branded, or rebranded, why not rebrand the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? Why leave the important stuff like Peace to the politicians when we can give it to a good branding agency?

I say, lets stop calling it the Israeli-Palestinian CONFLICT and find a catchier, more positive, more peaceful name. We should also get rid of the whole "Middle East" thing. It's drab and depressing. It makes you think of bombs and tanks. Let's call the whole region something like "The I.P" (like The O.C but stands for Israel-Palestine). If the most synthetic drink on the planet, Coca-Cola, is "the real thing", The I.P can be "the real place". "IsREAL". "Respect my AUTHORITY". I'm not saying I have the colour scheme down or anything…but I think this is a good direction. If the Conflict is rebranded as Peace …we may just find ourselves in a better world.