by Sharon Udasin
Staff Writer
A simple search for “Israel” on Google Maps will give you more than just roadways and town names: photographed piles of Gazan rubble will pop out of the map, taking precedent over images of Israel’s popular landmarks and landscapes.
Google can’t control which images appear because the content is entirely user-generated — also called “open-source” — meaning that Web surfers can add or delete content as they please. And on many such open-source sites right now, including Wikipedia and Flickr, Israel’s image is far from favorable.
But David Saranga, the media consul for the Consulate General of Israel in New York, plans to fight back. After launching a pro-Israel campaign through Twitter.com during the Gaza war and by bringing Maxim magazine into Israel last year, he says he is recruiting the best in the business to revamp Israel’s online image.
In just a few weeks, he will bring six American new media experts to photograph Israel, with funds from the Consulate and Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Rather than selecting people based on their photography expertise, Saranga said that he is choosing his team members based on their proficiency editing blogs and open-source media. Continue reading…
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Obama said the change we want to see must come from us, that we must take responsibility ourselves.
And the timing is fantastic, with Purim right around the corner. Imagine if every Jew in the USA (let alone the whole world) really gave Tzedaka on Monday? I mean, genuine heartfelt Tzedaka, and to a real stranger in need, too. Now *that* would do something for Israel’s image. Maybe Tzedaka is too difficult, with financial obligations weighing heavily. So how about instead just doing a few extra random good deeds? Giving up a parking spot, holding a door open, being cheerful with those we encounter in everyday life. Who but Him above knows the ultimate power even the most seemingly trivial mitzvah carries with it? Israel is a country with photographs, sure… but it’s also the people of Israel, and we owe it to ourselves (and to the world) to do something about that. You and me. Today.
Yes! We! Can!