Framing Palestine-Israel (Gaza) Conflict Through Western Media Post-titles: A Critical Discourse Analysis- Based Perspective

Abstract

Media discourses are important sites for ideological investment and shaping public perception about the people belonging to ingroup and out group. Print media post titles are tactfully coined to disseminate maximum of the story through minimum words. The present study critically   analyses the discourse of Western media coverage of Gaza – Palestine conflict, by critically decoding the headlines of selected newspapers.  The time span for data collection ranges from   2021-2024.  The newspapers include BBC News, The Guardian, The New York Times, The Jerusalem Post, The Telegraph and The London Times. The study employs Fairclough’s (1995, 2015) research models for doing critical discourse analysis of the selected data.  The levels of analysis include   textual level (lexis, grammar, agency), the interpretative level (discursive practices and framing) and the explanatory level (connections to broader ideological and geopolitical systems).  The study finds that the concept of same   event with different representations is a prominent feature of media discourses media representation of Us vs Them is highly polarized.   It highlights that there is a definite lexical imbalance in the naming of the social actors with Palestinians being called more often as detainees or militants and Arab protesters and Israelis as hostages, civilians or victims. The sufferings of Palestinians are written in passive and impersonal forms, whereas Israeli actions are characterized in active or euphemistic forms. Besides, the study contends that media discourses mirror social reality prevailing in a particular context as desired by controlling ideological group.