Will media coverage victimize "Israeli" settlers?
source: Aljazeera.com, 20-7-2005.
summary: "Israel" wants to present itself as a victim by showing pictures of protesting occupation settlers.
A different kind of media coverage will prevail as the planned "Israeli" pullout from the Gaza Strip and some West Bank enclaves approaches.
The "Israeli" media will do its best to exploit the disengagement plan to glorify the "Israeli" stand before the international community, and, at the same time, show the Palestinians as negatively reacting to it.
This prompted some Palestinian journalists to join voices in calling for a united Palestinian front to improve their image and confront the "Israeli" media.
Exploitation
The "Israeli" government prepared a journalists` center that can accommodate thousands of foreign reporters in an attempt to exploit the event in a way that serves its goals.
According to Dr Fareed Abu Dhaheir, professor of journalism at al-Najah University in Nablus, "Israel" wants to portray its pullout as a "unilateral decision and a step forward towards the Quartet-sponsored roadmap plan and not as a defeat similar to its pullout from southern Lebanon in 2000,"
"This media exploitation of the pullout in "Israel`s" favor was a natural and intuitive matter since it doesn't want the pullout to be viewed as a weakness," he added.
However, some analysts believe that, whether "Israel" like it or not, the atmosphere that will prevail during the evacuation process will certainly show "Israel" as a defeated state, while the Palestinians celebrate and reap the fruits of their armed resistance.
Abu Dhaheir also believes that the "Israeli" pullout media campaign aims at achieving certain goals;
• Preserve "Israeli" morale and solidarity of the general public opinion.
• Not to present itself as a defeated state taking this step due to the Palestinian resistance.
• Deliver a message to the Palestinian people that the Gaza withdrawal won`t be a victory for them.
Resistance
Journalist Saleh al-Na`aimi, an expert in the "Israeli" affairs, said that the "Israeli" media focuses on protests and opposed extremist settlers` violent resistance to the Gaza pullout, which isn't so important to the Jewish state, to show the world that withdrawing from more vital West Bank settlements will be faced by more violent resistance.
"Sharon, for his part, wanted to portray the pullout as an implementation of the UN Security Council`s resolution 242 according to its English version to cut the way before any additional Palestinian or international demands to make any further pullouts, and to give himself a free rein to use the strongest degree of force against the Palestinian resistance in the event of attacking ‘Israel'", al-Na`aimi said.
Victim or butcher?
Talal Awkal, coordinator of the information committee under the popular support committees, said that "Israel" wants to present itself as paying a high price by showing pictures of protesting settlers while making the Palestinians look like a barbarian society that rejects peace, and show the world that the problem, was indeed, the Palestinian resistance rather than the occupation forces.
Awkal added that "Israel" will do its best to show the world that its settlers are the victims of the Palestinian resistance, rather then their butcher, to achieve its goals.
He also said that "Israel" would try to show images of the Palestinians on international TV channels while carrying a window or a door left by the settlers similar to what happened after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, when Iraqi citizens were shown on TV channels while carrying chairs, bowls, tables, etc.... from abandoned buildings.
Palestinian media coverage
Palestinian journalists recommend that the Palestinian Authority must prepare itself to confront the "Israeli" media with proper coverage that serves the Palestinian interests and reflect a positive image to the whole world.
"Our discourse should be focused on dealing with a number of issues that reflect the fact that the Palestinians have suffered for decades under occupation and that they are the real victims not the settlers who are the aggressors and the occupiers and not refugees or homeless." Awkal said.
