Ofer Shinar “This Is an Example of the PR War”

Today I bring you an interview with Ofer Shinar, my friend and classmate here at LMU. In the article, we mostly talk about his experiences with the academic environment and opinions related to the country he comes from. Before we get down to it, let me briefly introduce him.

Ofer is 29 years old visiting researcher at LMU coming from faraway Tel Aviv in Israel. Munich is already the 6^th city he’s lived in after Hanover (Germany), Innsbruck (Austria), Aarhus (Denmark), Mexico City (Mexico) and Vancouver (Canada). Moreover, he experienced all these places during last 7 years. This may be caused by one of his hobbies which is getting to know new cultures and people in them. In connection to this he said: “International mixture is my kick.” At this moment, Ofer’s main goal is to finish the master’s thesis and hopefully gain Ph.D. position at LMU in the upcoming year. He shared all this with me even before we began the interview that started right away with important question…

What is your favourite beer?

“My favourite beer is Paulaner. That’s also one of the reasons why I love Munich as well. But it wasn’t always like that. I used to drink Tuborg, the Danish one, and then Guinness. I still love them, but Paulaner is my number one right now, especially Weissbier.”

As I see, you enjoy beers in the evenings. But what about during the day? You mentioned that you are here as the visiting researcher. So, what do you research?

“At this moment, my research combines communication and health at Communication-health department at LMU. I work with Professor Constanze Rossmann and I focus on Covid in the way that I am examining the differences between confessions the students had during Covid pandemic. What were their fears, anxieties and concerns about. It is also directly related to my hobby because it is the cross-national research. That is due to the fact that Covid was the worldwide pandemic that affected everyone, and I do comparative research between different nations.”

However, this is not your first academic experience. You also teach in Tel Aviv. What subjects?

“This is already fourth year I have been teaching three courses at Tel Aviv University. All of them are BA level and most of them are for the first-year students. One of them is Communication Science Introduction in which we focus on the classic theory. Another one is about language and Its specifics, and in the third one we discuss persuasion from the communication and psychology view. I really enjoy teaching.”

Has your mindset changed in some ways since you have been experiencing both sides as a student and as a teacher?

“Yes, my mindset has changed. When I am in the class, I notice things that I would not as a student. For example, how the approach of the teacher affects the class, what works better or worse. That is very useful to me, and I can also learn that beside the content of the course. On the record, I really like how the way PhD Valerie Hase is running her classes. I see a lot of similarities, so I do see myself examining her classes as the student but also as the teacher.”

Additionally, in case reader thinks about future in academic environment, what positives or negatives would you mention according to that?

“I would recommend it to people that are curious in nature and who like educating themselves in every field all the time. The one thing you learn when you do research is that you don’t know many things, so you need to be thirsty for information. If you look for money, don’t go academic. If you look for stability, it might also be difficult. Also, the one thing you probably haven’t heard is how politicised the academic field is. Sometimes it is more about the contacts than about the abilities and quality of work. Those are brief pros and cons, I guess.”

Before we conclude our interview, I would like to ask about Israel. How do you see the whole situation from the communication perspective as a person experienced in communication but also as the Israeli? How do you feel about the approach media take regarding to the current conflict?

“First of all, I think we are all not just in a regular war, but also in a PR war, especially all over the social media but also in traditional and new media. Both sides of conflict (Israelis and Palestinians/Hamas members) try to convince the world to stand with them. I do catch myself trying to see and analyse the situation far from being Israeli. As the person experienced in communication, I am very critical about Israelian media. I try to watch, for example, Al Jazeera and other world news to understand media ecosystems regarding to the conflict.”

“To be honest, it’s too soon to say what the results are. For example, the hostage situation is being very pushed in front of the agenda by Israelis, on the other hand, the heavy bombings in Gaza are being pushed by Hamas and pro-Palestinians. This is an example of the PR war. What is also important, there are no private wars in the world today. All the wars are common as you can see other states acting on this situation. You can see US playing some role in the current situation together with Germany, Uk, Russia, China, especially Iran and others. All the wars have so many PR contributors.”

“To the second part of your question, as an Israeli, I stand away from the PR war and I don’t take part in it. It’s hard for me to choose sides. I don’t think I will ever be pro-Palestinian in that sense, but I don’t want to be just pro-Israelian. I try not to fall into this trap of, I must love my country unconditionally like it is my children. I think one should love his country conditionally if he constantly sue his point of view and follow guidance. Sometimes it’s very difficult in the time of war. Especially for Israelis because they are strong nation.”

“I also don’t choose site because as the social scientists, you don’t give your opinion on something that is in the process right now. What I say now can be nonsense next week. I try to explain to myself and other people facts as I know them right now. When this war ends, me and my friends will re-examine our relationship with Israel.”

To finish with something positive, there’s been coming a lot of bad news from Israel nowadays. Therefore, can you tell me something about Israel that probably the majority of people from abroad don’t know or might not expect?

“Let’s go to the LGBTQ community, to which Tel Aviv is very friendly. It’s like a heaven in the middle east for people from this community. We still have much to improve but at least we are advancing. Israel is the little immigrant country and the feeling of being yourself is being encouraged there. We have Jewish people from Europe, Latin America, Africa, Arab world, US and other regions together with Israelian Muslims and Christians. It’s like a melting point of different cultures and when you encounter so many people different from you, you develop this kind of tolerance, acceptance and patience to people with different view and culture. I think this is a good thing about Israel. In the past, there was a special campaign about Israel Being Different Together. The idea behind this was that in Israel you can be different and still have a feeling belonging to your community and friends. Of course, everything is not ideal yet. Still this the thing I really like about my country.”