The Last Crusade: British Propaganda and Palestine Campaign

The Last Crusade: British Propaganda and Palestine Campaign

Book Summary and Review

Aspects of propaganda have been used over the years to advance an evil agenda. The use of propaganda in recent years has been a preserve of rebel groups and other non-governmental organizations. Historically, however, the use of propaganda was synonymous with most political governments. One country that was particularly famous for the use of propaganda in Britain, which advanced its evil agenda across the world through blatant propaganda. Scholars and authors have, in recent years, tried to disclose how the use of propaganda was used by past governments to trigger war, hatred, and advance the theft of resources between countries. One of the publications that perfectly capture this subject is ‘The last crusade,’ which was authored by Eitan Bar Yosef in 2001. The following study will uncover how the British government failed to advance their propaganda agenda, and more particularly during the Palestine campaign of 1917 to 1918, as unraveled in the book.  Additionally, the study will detail how this propaganda affected both countries and how it was part of the First World War.  The research will culminate with a concise analysis of the book.

The book details how the campaign in Palestine was perceived as a tool for advancing their propaganda against the Palestine community. The book describes the war between Israel and Palestine of Jerusalem and how Palestine claimed victory in the land that is perceived holy. Richard Coeur de Lion was an English leader who was regarded as a great warrior and military leader. Despite his prowess in the military, he was unable to capture Jerusalem during the First World War and thereby to lead to the christening of this Palestine campaign as the ‘new’ or ‘last’ crusade (Bar-Yosef, 2001).

Bar-Yosef (2001), in this publication, revealed that the British government had initiated an anti-Muslim propaganda campaign through books, media campaigns, and famous works. After the failure by their leader to capture Jerusalem from Palestine, the British government was involved in a series of contradictory commands that exposed their propaganda agenda.  The author in this article argues that the ambiguity that surrounded the campaign against Palestine through British propaganda did not happen by chance. It instead occurred as a result of the historical and religious undertones that typified this event.

The book explores the cultural factors that surrounded this crusade and thereby unearthed existing tensions and misunderstandings that had remained hidden as a result of the colonial order that had been established by the British government. Bar-Yosef (2001) unravels that the tensions and misunderstandings existed not only between the British government and Muslim governments but also within British society. The tensions in British society were mainly triggered by the class wars between different British groups. Therefore, the effects of the propaganda agendas were hampered by these tensions within the British nation, which was evidenced even amongst the British soldiers.

Opinion about the book

I believe that the contents of the book are essential in the fact that they uncover fundamental aspects of propaganda as experienced during the First World War. I think that the book effectively captures how propaganda was used as a tool for advancing a terrorist strategy. The strategy was primarily used by the British government against the Muslim community (Horswell, 2018).

The book effectively captures how the hostility between nations, which has existed since immemorial, has been propagated by evil propaganda agendas that are only meant to benefit a few and cause harm to many. While the British felt that they were doing right by advancing a propaganda war against Palestine, it is clear that the propaganda agenda would trigger a conflict between the British citizens and the Palestine citizens. It is clear that most of the citizens in Britain and Palestine were not interested in any war, and the war was, therefore, an agenda of most government. The use of propaganda could, thus, trigger an immense conflict between the British and Palestine, which most of the citizens were unconcerned about and uninterested in (Welch & Fox, 2012).

Bar-Yosef’s book, therefore, underscores the dangers and drawbacks of propaganda and its negative effect on society. Additionally, it also emphasized how the use of propaganda could backfire. It could, therefore, cause some backlashes to the country or community, which is the source of the propaganda.

The book further enables us to understand how the history of various countries has been shaped by propaganda and thereby leading to unprecedented and unwarranted rivalries. For instance, the fact that England a reputable country in the modern-day could advance such an evil propaganda agenda, it is palpable that there are numerous cases of countries that have done the same across the globe and thereby triggering wars and conflicts, most of which could have been avoided (Horswell, 2018).

The book incorporates various political and media perspectives. The perspectives have augmented our understanding of multiple subjects that are essential in enabling us to understand different media issues. The issue of propaganda is particularly a negative part of our society today and transcends across different spheres in the society, such as media, and publication (Welch & Fox, 2012).

‘The last crusade’ mirrors the current state of our society, where evil and ill will are part of the modern-day community. Similarly, the book enables us to understand how various wars and conflicts around the world have been founded on selfish interests. Additionally, they have also been grounded on a propaganda agenda (Horswell, 2018).

The use of propaganda is, therefore, one of the primary reasons why there are prevalent wars between different religions and especially that between Christians and Muslims.  Also, the use of propaganda has led to the development of weapons of mass destruction. The development of weapons of mass destruction is aimed at countering the propaganda. It, therefore, underscores how destructive propaganda is and advocates for the total obliteration against fake news and propaganda, which can ruin the world just like the British aimed to do against Palestine during World War 1 (Bar-Yosef, 2001).

Finally, the publication acts as a way of revealing the world to us through a media perspective lens. The book mainly enables us to understand to relate the historical conflicts with the modern-day world.  The religious wars between Palestine and rival countries still exist to date and thereby revealing their origin through the publication. It further enables us to connect most of the modern-day conflicts in the Middle East with the events in this publication and in the process providing a basis through which most of the modern conflicts have been created (Welch & Fox, 2012).

The publication finally enables us to understand the importance of truthfulness in media. It underscores the fact that truth, fairness, and justice will always reign in the end. The use of good deeds will always trump against evil deeds as experienced through the deeds of the British government, which backfired and thereby revealing them to the world.  It, therefore, teaches us to stand against propaganda since it is a tool that has not only brought problems to the world but also caused long term damages to relations between countries (Bar-Yosef, 2001).

In conclusion, it is palpable that propaganda was part of the evil tools that were used during the First World War. The British were mainly known for using propaganda to advance their evil agenda against Muslim countries and especially the Palestine community, during the fight for Jerusalem, which was termed as a religious war. While the British government denied that the war was a religious war, it was palpable that the propaganda that was being advanced was primarily aimed at building up a conflict between the Muslim community and the Christian community.  The study, however, reveals that the propaganda of the British against Palestine was not successful. The military officers’ contradictory remarks exposed the communication rot within the British government and thereby exposing their evil agenda. The conflicting comments as revealed in the study were mainly triggered by the tensions that existed within the British society, which brought to the fore how the British government was fighting internal class battles, whilst advancing propaganda wars. The failure by the then perceived strong British military leader to take over the holy city of Jerusalem culminated into a revelation of the internal disputes that had surrounded the British government. Yosef, therefore, narrates these propaganda failures by the British government to underscore the importance of advancing a truthful truce that is based on facts rather than evil propaganda.

References

Bar-Yosef, E. (2001). The Last Crusade? British Propaganda and the Palestine Campaign, 1917–18. Journal of Contemporary History, 36(1), 87-109.

Horswell, M. (2018). The rise and fall of British crusader medievalism, c.1825–1945. New York, NY: Routledge.

Welch, D., & Fox, J. (2012). Justifying war: Propaganda, politics and the modern age. New York, NY: Springer.