Israel-Sino relations through the prism of advocacy groups

Turki Al-Sudairi, Mohammed

Abstract

Advocacy for the state of Israel – in the sense of attempting to favourably shape public and elite perceptions and discourses about the Jewish state and the nature of its conflict with the Palestinians and the surrounding Arab states – has been, and continues to be, of pivotal concern to both the Israeli government and pro-Israeli organisations operating in the United States and elsewhere. What underlines this advocacy – understood here to unfold through multiple media, academic, and political spaces – is a desire to [1] reinforce political (and cultural) identification and support for Israel and its narrative, and [2] more pressingly, to contain alternative critical discourses about the state and its role in various Middle Eastern conflicts. Although the US has been the main focus of these advocacy efforts – which is a natural byproduct of its position as a global hegemonic empire, the susceptibility of its political system to special interests, and more significantly, due to the presence of a sizable and influential Jewish American community sympathetic to Israeli and Zionist interests – there are signs of a nascent and increasingly sustained Israeli/Zionist advocacy effort directed at China (amongst other theatres) that, while conditioned by a unique Chinese cultural and political topography, seeks to influence prevailing attitudes and perceptions amongst Chinese scholars and political elite in ways conducive to the preservation and maximisation of Israeli interests over the long-term. This paper is interested in examining this advocacy within the Chinese context, and argues that there are two distinguishable forms of advocacy.

Citation

Turki Al-Sudairi, M. (2013). Israel-Sino relations through the prism of advocacy groups

• Working Paper Type: Discussion Paper
• Publication Date: Nov 1, 2013
• Deposit Date: Apr 13, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 13, 2016
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1699776
• Publisher URL: http://www.dur.ac.uk/alsabah/publications/insights/