The first thing I learned about the Middle East is a saying that is repeated often even today: "The Arabs have a great cause but lousy lawyers. The Israelis have a lousy cause but great lawyers."

Nearly 40 years later, I realize Arabs can't communicate. Worse, they don't care.

Communications is a powerful weapon that can change the outcomes of the worst wars. And the current battle between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip is one of the worst wars in terms of human casualties.

According to the mainstream American news media, the conflict began when Palestinians kidnapped and murdered three Israeli teenagers on June 10. Unreported for four days was the kidnapping and murder by fire of a Palestinian American teenager on July 2.

The American media played up the killing of the three murdered Israeli teenagers the minute the news broke on June 10 and it dominated the news every day for weeks. The only reason the media finally reported on the murder of the Palestinian American teenager was because of the fear it was going to spark a 3rd Intifada.

Israel, the media asserted, showed restraint and didn't retaliate until July 8 when Israel launched "Operation Protective Edge."

Since then, only one Israeli civilian was killed by Hamas rockets. During the same period, 208 Palestinians were killed by Israel, of which 35 were children. Just this week, four Palestinian boys were gunned down by an Israeli warship on Gaza's beach. Two were 11, and the others were 9 and 10.

Americans didn't know Israel fired missile into Gaza killing scores of civilians before the June 10 kidnappings because the Arabs don't have any professional public relations. In contrast, Israel spends millions on PR and strategic messaging. The messages are simple and easy for Americans to understand and conveyed to Americans by the very slick, Americanized spokesman, Mark Regev, who said:

1. Israel has a right to defend its citizens from Hamas rockets, regardless of whether or not those rockets strike anyone.

2. Israel is very careful to avoid killing any civilians, but Hamas is using civilians as "human shields."

3. Israel just wants peace. They want Hamas terrorism to end.

4. Israel abandoned the Gaza Strip in 2005, removing settlements and soldiers, and yet Hamas continues to attack Israel.

Of course, those are not the real issues. But when the Arabs are spending no money on PR but wrapping their rhetoric in emotion and anger, the Israeli message is the only message Americans hear.

The truth is that Israel's military and its settler terrorists have been attacking Palestinians the entire five months before the three Israeli teenagers were killed. Last week, I documented that fact, noting a good online source at www.IMEMC.org.

Israel terrorized, attacked, kidnapped and killed many Palestinians before June 10. But no Americans heard one word about any of it.

The American news media doesn't pay attention when Palestinians are kidnapped, murdered or brutalized, and turns them into bland statistics. The media humanizes the Israeli deaths in great detail, thanks to the Israeli PR Machine.

It's a simple problem that can be corrected with a simple response.

Why don't Arabs just go out and hire a professional public relations company? Why not hire professional strategic spinmasters to tell Americans the truth in reasoned and tempered and clear messages.

Well, it turns out that the Arabs don't want to spend money on communications, public relations or message spin. They prefer to spend their money flicking it on the heads of belly dancers, or buying Maseratis and Mercedes Benz studded with $5 million in diamonds.

I can promise you that with a budget of $5 million, I can turn on its corrupt head the twisted PR narrative that Israel's consultants have sold to the American people and that the American people have swallowed hook, line and sinker.

Five simple messages:

1. Israel has been bombing and firing on Palestinians consistently, and the killings of the three Israeli teenagers is a regrettable act of vengeance that should never have happened.

2. Israel continues to occupy Gaza as an outdoor prison, controlling the borders and denying the delivery of food, water and electricity to the civilian population.

3. Palestinians have a right to defend themselves against Israeli attacks; Israel rarely brings charges against any of its soldiers or citizens who attack or kill Palestinians.

4. Palestinians want peace. Israel has refused to recognize Palestine as a state.

5. Israel must stop attacking civilian targets. Israel knows they are civilians because they are giving the civilians less than 5 minutes notice by calling their cellphones to warn they will be attacking their homes.

I would probably also have the family of the American boy whom Israel killed on July 2 file a lawsuit against the government of Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

But the Arabs don't want to spend any money to educate Americans on the truth. They think truth is cost-free. They think Americans should know the facts and see that Israel is the real aggressor and doesn't want peace.

I think the problem is more than just having a few lousy lawyers.

Ray Hanania is an award-winning Palestinian American columnist managing editor of The Arab Daily News at www.TheArabDailyNews.com. Follow him on Twitter @RayHanania. To find out more about Ray Hanania and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit www.creators.com.