The palestinians have paid Washington DC Public Relations Firm Bell Pottinger $30 ,000 a month to manage their social media, and to help "rebrand" their image.

Was it a good investment? Should that funding have gone to improving critical infrastructure in Gaza, instead?

Discuss

March 27th, 2015 Different strokes for different folks. As I have written previously, PR firms are often hired by terrorist organizations. Hamas, Hezbollah and many others have used spin doctors — and helps whitewash terrorism.

Today, O’Dwyers PR Report revealed The Raben Group, a Washington, D.C.-based lobbying and consulting firm has been hired by Islamic Relief Worldwide, a UK-based Muslim charity, who have repeatedly been accused of being a terrorist organization. Robert Raben, former United States Assistant Attorney General under President Bill Clinton owns the firm, and he is regarded as one of the top liberal lobbyists in the United States. According to Wikipedia, the firm’s current client lists includes The Ford Foundation.

This organization is one that the Gatestone Institute has previously noted benefits from outstanding PR campaigns, saying, ‘The large number of links between IRW and extremist pro-terror groups, however, suggests that under the cover of a charity with excellent public relations officers lies a structured pro-terror group with an anti-Western agenda.’

So, who are they? In November 2014, Islamic Relief Worldwide was classified as a terrorist organization by the United Arab Emirates.

As Gatestone notes, ‘In 2006, the Israeli Ministry for Foreign Affairs designated IRW itself a terrorist front, and claimed that: ‘The IRW provides support and assistance to Hamas’s infrastructure. The IRW’s activities in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip are carried out by social welfare organizations controlled and staffed by Hamas operatives. The intensive activities of these associations are designed to further Hamas’s ideology among the Palestinian population.


Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW) is headquartered in the UK where one it’s chairman of the board of trustees is Ibrahim El-Zayat, a leader in both the European and the German Muslim Brotherhood. Mr. El-Zayat is also a trustee of the UK branch of Islamic Relief. Islamic Relief Worldwide is also listed as a company in the UK where records indicate that Dr. Ahmed Al-Rawi, the former head of the Federation of islamic Organizations in Europe (FIOE) and former of the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB) has been a director at one time. Both FIOE and the MAB are part of the U.K. and European Muslim Brotherhood. Another member of the board of Islamic Relief Worldwide is Essam El-Haddad, a longtime Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood member a former adviser to Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi. A third former member of the Islamic Relief company was Issam El-Bashir, a Sudanese national with multiple ties to the Global Muslim Brotherhood.In May 2006, the Israeli government announced the arrest of an IRW worker for activities related to supporting Hamas and said that IRW activities in the Palestinian territories ” are carried out by social welfare organizations controlled and staffed by Hamas operatives.” In June 2014 , the GMBDW reported that the Israeli Defense Minister had banned Islamic Relief Worldwide from operating in Israel saying that it is involved in sending cash to Hamas.

Israel doesn't need many public relations firms. It has AIPAC to do that kind of work for it. It also has the lunatics of the Christian Right.s

Palestinians alo contracted with Quoris for public relations. Don't know what they paid- roughly the same as Bell pottinger.

Easier to pay for spin than work for peace.