The visual representation of civilians in images of the Israel - Palestine conflict in Israeli media

Abstract

This study reports the findings of a visual content analysis of 196 photographs of the Israel - Palestine conflict representing civilians in the English language Israeli press. Overall, the newspapers used for analysis, Haaretz and the Jerusalem Post, represented Israeli and Palestinian civilians in a similar way. As it becomes evident from the codification of the sample photographs, the vast majority of the portrayed civilians in both newspapers is Palestinian. Findings show that Palestinians are shown to be the main victims of the conflict, resulting in many similar photographs of groups of Palestinian men protesting on the battlefield, while Israeli civilians are presented as the winners. A remarkable aspect of the pictorial coverage is that Arab Israelis and Palestinian women are not represented in the photographs of the conflict.