Full-spectacle dominance? An analysis of the Israeli state’s attempts to control media images of the 2010 Gaza flotilla (original) (raw)
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What happens when humanitarian images of Palestinian casualties take centre stage, as they did during the 2014 Israeli bombardment of Gaza? In this chapter, I argue that a media outcome that appears to be favourable to the Palestinians, in that it focuses on their suffering, can actually have the opposite effect. I refer to a range of media texts related to the Gaza conflicts: UK, US and Israeli news coverage, including UK journalist Jon Snow’s video blog upon his return from Gaza in 2014; Waltz with Bashir, which was released around the time of the 2008–9 conflict; and the Palestinian film Where Should the Birds Fly (Fida Qishta, 2013), which focuses on the 2008–9 conflict and its aftermath. Taking its title from Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's statement during the 2014 conflict - accusing Hamas of using ‘telegenically dead Palestinians’ for their cause - the chapter focuses on the concept of 'perception management'. This can serve to divorce the public from realities of state violence through a kind of cinematic derealisation that enables states to reduce perceptions of blame for their atrocities and act with impunity.
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This chapter provides an overview of Palestinian media practices in historic Palestine and in the diaspora. Since the printing press arrived in the region, the Palestinian people have used media for national liberation and self-determination. However, the Israeli regime’s ongoing occupation and displacement of the Palestinian people produces major challenges for the development and sustainability of the media system in Palestine.
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