The Gaza War which was started by the Israeli forces on 27 December 2008 was actively discussed in the media during three weeks of the conflict because of the controversial character of the Israeli attacks against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. There are two opinions in relation to the appropriateness of the actions of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
In 2008, the Israeli media concentrated on the terroristic activities of Hamas and on the necessity to prevent the Palestinian rocket attacks against Israel with the help of the definite military operation. The US media reflected the vision of the US President’s administration regarding the support of the IDF actions.
However, the Arab world was shocked by the Israeli military forces’ activities and presented their condemning of the situation. To analyze the reasons of presenting the opposite positions in the media, it is necessary to focus on the visions provided in the Haaretz, the Gulf News, and the Washington Post.
On 27 December 2008, Ravid presented his reaction to the IDF actions against Hamas in the Haaretz. The accents were made on the necessity to stop Hamas in their terroristic activities against Israel. The violent attacks could be justified with references to the need to set the peace within the region that is why the international community could support the Israeli authorities in their intentions to fight with Hamas (Ravid, 2008). The further discussions of the conflict presented in the Haaretz, the popular Israeli newspaper, were built round justifying the actions of Israel (Burston, 2010).
It is important to pay attention to the fact the position of the US observers has many similarities with the reaction of the Israeli reporters to IDF activities. The US support of the Israeli forces’ violent actions presented in the media can be explained with references to the position of the US President’s administration.
It was stated that the USA demanded Hamas to stop their terroristic activities against Israel after December 27, 2008. To justify the Israeli actions, Witte and Raghavan concentrate on Israel’s goals. It is stated that “Israel’s strategy appears to be to weaken Hamas enough that the group has no choice but to sign a truce on Israel’s terms” (Witte & Raghavan, 2008).
On 15 November 2012, the analysis of the Gaza War’s results was provided in the Washington Post. In spite of the fact the conflict was started because of the Israel’s actions on 27 December, the US media continues “blaming Hamas for starting the conflict” with references to the rocket fire and Hamas’s terroristic activity (Heading off full-blown war, 2012).
The reaction of the Arab world was more negative and directed against Israel’s actions. The opinions presented in the Gulf News can be explained with the focus on the fact the Arab world discusses Hamas’s activities from the other perspective than the Westerners because of the Hamas’s ideology.
In 2008, the authors of the Gulf News stated that “the attacks shocked the Arab world. The UAE on Saturday condemned the Israeli aggression” (Israeli air force attacks Gaza, 2008). The accents were made on the mass killings of the Palestinians, and the conflict was presented as ‘the Israeli massacre’.
Thus, the differences in approaches to presenting the aspects of the Gaza War (2008-2009) in the media are based on the countries’ positions in relation to Israel and Palestine. The authors of the articles in the Haaretz and the Washington Post concentrated on the causes of Israel to start the military operation against Hamas when the authors of the Gulf News criticized the activities of IDF reflecting the reaction of the whole Arab world.
References
Burston, B. (2010). A special place in hell. Web.
Heading off full-blown war in the Gaza strip. (2012). Web.
Israeli air force attacks Gaza, killing scores of people. (2008). Web.
Ravid, B. (2008). Israel to mount emergency international PR effort in wake of Gaza campaign. Web.
Witte, G., & Raghavan, S. (2008). ‘All-Out War’ declared on Hamas. Web.