Palestine under Occupation: Reaching the ‘Other’ through Bearing Witness and Citizen Journalism
Introduction
The conflict in Palestine is largely portrayed in the mainstream media as a complex issue (Chomsky & Pappe, 2015). A theoretical reason for this portrayal of the conflict is rooted in what Robinson (2002) has described as the ‘CNN effect’—the special relationship that exists between the state and the media, which facilitates the construction of a narrative that supports the aims of the state, particularly when it comes to foreign intervention. Al-Ghazzi (2017) has described, for example, how CNN uses embedded reporting to foster a narrative supportive of the U.S.’s aims in the Middle East. With a particular focus on the Palestinian conflict, Western mainstream media and states partake in the CNN effect by framing the conflict as ‘complicated’. This complication, however, is not represented in the largesse unevenly distributed between the two sides of the conflict. That Israel is the recipient of billions of dollars of aid annually from the U.S. government is no secret; nor should it be surprising that Palestine receives but a fraction of the same sort of assistance: Congress has requested only approximately $250 million in aid for Palestine for fiscal year 2019 (Zanotti, 2018), while Israel on the other hand has been selected to receive nearly $40 billion in military aid over the next ten years (Baker & Hirschfeld Davis, 2016). Were the conflict depicted by mainstream media in much simpler terms—i.e., as a Zionist-occupation of Palestinian territory—it would be much more difficult for the state to justify this kind of support to Israel. This uneven distribution of funds as well as the coverage of the conflict by mainstream media suggests that the Western state is far more sympathetic to the Israeli-side of the story—and as Robinson (2002) indicates, the effect of spectacle, the application of soft power, the use of embedded reporting, interventionism in the guise of humanitarianism, and the CNN effect all go hand in hand.
Soft power or the influence of political aims through the injection of funds into the targeted arena is a common method employed by the U.S. overseas, and as Seib (2009) points out, ‘the effective exercise of soft power depends largely on its being a part of a comprehensive, well-designed public diplomacy effort’ (p. 780). The ‘complex’ narrative regarding the Palestinian conflict is part of that ‘well-designed’ effort on the part of the state and the media industry. One major factor that is contributing to the emergence of the other side of the story, however—i.e., the Palestinian side of the conflict—and, by extension, potentially enabling more sympathy to be generated among the Western populace for the Palestinian side—is the rise of citizen journalism. Citizen journalism has come about thanks to technological innovations, which have essentially placed cameras and video recorders in the hands of citizens via mobile devices (iPhones, Androids, hand-held cameras, etc.). These users can record real-life events and share information via social media with followers all over the world. What was once a monopoly of information in the days of old media has become a wide-open, much more democratic field in which citizen journalism gives what supporters of this type of news (also known as alternative news) view as the other side of the story—the side that ‘fake news’ media does not provide (Allcott & Gentzkow, 2017). The question is: is citizen journalism truly capable of opposing the special relationship between the state and its media—i.e., the CNN effect? Does citizen journalism pose a threat—informational, social, political or even economical—to the combination of soft power, interventionism, embedded reporting and the CNN effect that the U.S. possesses?
To answer that question, this paper provides an examination of the ways in which social media platforms are being used as a tool in citizen journalism with a focus on the Palestinian conflict. Particularly, the study explores the rise of blogging in Palestine, with a focus on Electronic Intifada, the Palestine Chronicle, and independent bloggers. Twitter, photojournalism, and the idea of digital information-sharing as a form of education and as a social weapon to be used against the state (that is, against Western enablers of Israel) are also explored. Finally, whether all of this information sharing via citizen journalism leads to economic, social and political changes with regard to the popular narrative on Palestine will be discussed. In political, social and economic terms, the link between citizen journalism and BDS (Boycotting, Divestment, Sanctions) movement will be analyzed. Against this analysis, the question of whether citizen...
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