Palestinian Nation Branding via Public Diplomacy

The term “branding” is still contested when linked to nations; colleagues in Palestine would argue that the term “promotion” could be of a more positive impact; in fact, this paper will examine this issue as scholars automatically link “branding” to products, business, and trade. It is not easy to imagine the nation as a brand; a nation cannot re-make itself, like a company launching a new product. Branding a nation is inspired by its national identity which started to evolve with the evolution of the nation states; it heavily relies on people’s attachment to a shared land, shared history, shared language, shared culture, religion, clothing, behaviours, values, attitudes, or positions in dealing with internal and external variables. It is crucial to distinguish the identity for a nation which is usually done through studying the elements depending on which a nation promotes itself using public diplomacy. Public diplomacy is a soft power’s key instrument which we cannot ignore; in soft power, the narrative and the reality have to reflect each other. A nation’s identity is partly inherited from history and partly a continuing construction; there are aspects of national reputation which can be altered, for better or worse, by choice of actions, words, and images. Even the inherited parts of national reputation are open to revision as time goes by, states have gun a long way in their nation branding and Palestine cannot remain indifferent. This paper aims to address the importance of Palestinian national branding and to further shed light on how this could be done. Based on examples of other successful countries―case studies, the paper shall introduce a number of elements that shape a national identity; those elements are expected to inspire scholars and policy-makers in determining what is worth promoting in Palestine that would lead to successful branding of Palestine as a nation. In branding for Portugal, Cristiano Ronaldo, the soccer player was determined to be a national brand; the Portuguese chose to brand themselves with his initials CR7. Today, if you read, hear, or visit Portugal, you will find a lot related to CR7, whether we like soccer or not, CR became an attractive brand for his country. For their nation branding, Portuguese chose tourism, cuisine, culture, and sports rather than their history of conquering the world, and this paper will be inspired by this example and others. In Palestine, not much work had been put on nation branding; therefore, this paper will introduce the concepts and will try to examine how important it is for serving the national cause and the strategic national goals, in doing so, the paper will try to answer the following questions: What is nation branding? How is public diplomacy related to nation branding? Can public diplomacy replace nation branding? What is the image of Palestine and Palestinians abroad? How are we seen by others vs. how do we wish to be seen? Does Israel play a role in branding Palestine and Palestinians internationally? Is it important to consider a national brand/s for Palestine? What is the Palestine that we aspire to promote?