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 Presidentâs administration regarding the support of the IDF actions.
However, the Arab world was shocked by the Israeli military forcesâ 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 forcesâ violent actions presented in the media can be explained with references to the position of the US Presidentâs 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 Israelâs goals. It is stated that âIsraelâs strategy appears to be to weaken Hamas enough that the group has no choice but to sign a truce on Israelâs termsâ (Witte & Raghavan, 2008).
On 15 November 2012, the analysis of the Gaza Warâs results was provided in the Washington Post. In spite of the fact the conflict was started because of the Israelâs actions on 27 December, the US media continues âblaming Hamas for starting the conflictâ with references to the rocket fire and Hamasâs terroristic activity (Heading off full-blown war, 2012).
The reaction of the Arab world was more negative and directed against Israelâs actions. The opinions presented in the Gulf News can be explained with the focus on the fact the Arab world discusses Hamasâs activities from the other perspective than the Westerners because of the Hamasâs ideology.
In 2008, the authors of the Gulf News stated that âthe attacks shocked the Arab world. The UAE on Saturday condemned the Israeli aggressionâ (Israeli air force attacks Gaza, 2008). The accents were made on the mass killings of the Palestinians, and the conflict was presented as âthe Israeli massacreâ.
Thus, the differences in approaches to presenting the aspects of the Gaza War (2008-2009) in the media are based on the countriesâ 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). âAll-Out Warâ declared on Hamas. Web.