Critical Discourse Analysis of Al Riyaḍ Media's Representation of Social Actors and Ideology Regarding the Coverage of Normalization of Saudi Arabia-Israel Relations

This study examines how Al Riyaḍ media represents social actors in its coverage of the normalization process of Saudi Arabia-Israel relations. This study uses Theo van Leeuwen's critical discourse analysis model of social actor representation. The study aims to reveal the linguistic strategies used by Al Riyaḍ in shaping the meaning construction of the roles of the four main social actors, namely Saudi Arabia, Israel, the United States, and Palestine, and explore the ideological tendencies implied behind these representations. Data were collected from ten articles that discuss the involvement of four social actors in the normalization process, and then analyzed through a descriptive qualitative approach. The results showed that Al Riyaḍ consistently represented Saudi Arabia as the dominant actor supporting the establishment of a Palestinian state by using inclusion techniques through assimilation-individualization and association-dissociation strategies. This representation reflects ideological tendencies that affirm Saudi Arabia's active role as the leader of the normalization initiative and its consistent support for the establishment of a Palestinian state. This finding confirms that the media plays an important role in producing and reproducing power structures through the practice of representing social actors who are not ideologically neutral. Keywords: Representation of Social Actors, Theo van Leeuwen's CDA, Al Riyaḍ, Saudi-Israeli Normalization