This paper will examine what propaganda is, how it has developed, and how it works. We will then look at a case-study of propaganda in action: The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion. The Protocols elucidate a plot by Jewish leaders and elders to take over the world and create a Jewish empire to rule over them. We will analyze this most popular piece of anti-Semitic propaganda ever created and follow its spread throughout the twentieth century to its current incarnation in the Middle East.
The first question that comes to mind is, of course, what is propaganda? The term propaganda descends from the Latin phrase ôcongregation de propaganda fide,ö which means the congregation for propagating the faith of the Roman Catholic Church. Thus, the simplest definition for propaganda is the dissemination or promotion of certain ideas (Jewett, p. 15). Today, however, propaganda has acquired a pejorative association in common usage. It is associated with control, as a deliberate attempt to alter perceptions and maintain or propagate a balance of power that is beneficial for the propagandist. A common definition of propaganda focuses on the processes of communication and the purpose of the communication: ôpropaganda is the deliberate and systematic attempt to shape perceptions, manipulate cognitions, and direct behavior to achieve a response that furthers the desired intent of the propagandistö (Jewett, p. 16). Propaganda in effect attempts to place the recipient of the propaganda into an intellectual box, or framework, designed by the propagandist. Recipients are discouraged to ask questions or posit theories that fall outside of this box, and all responses to the propaganda are manipulated to attempt to keep them within or bring them back to the predetermined box. It is these elements of deliberateness and manipulation, orchestrated in order to systematically achieve a predetermined purpose that advantages the disseminat...