The Media's Framing of the Israel-Palestine Conflict : A Thematic Analysis of Source Selection and Word Choice in Al-Jazeera English and Haaretz on the Israel-Palestine Conflict

The purpose of this study is to investigate how Al-jazeera English and Haaretz frame the Israel-Palestine conflict with a focus on source selection and language. This study analyzes events from October 7, 2023, to April 2, 2024. With the use of framing theory as the analytical framework, the paper examines how Al-Jazeera English and Haaretz present different perspectives on events of the conflict. The study is based on a thematic analysis of 18 articles, 9 from each media organization, covering 9 different events. The results show distinct differences in the framing strategies of Al-jazeera English and Haaretz. Al-Jazeera English predominantly focuses on a humanitarian perspective by focusing on the Palestinian side of the conflict. Al-Jazeera English often uses emotionally charged language, such as ‘’massacre’’ and ‘’genocidal war’’ , and prioritizes Palestinian voices and humanitarian organizations as the main sources of reference. With this focus, Al-jazeera English emphasizes the civilian tragedies and the imbalance of power in the region. This often leads to the portrayal of Israeli actions as the main cause of responsibility for the consequences of the conflict. Haaretz in their framing, shows a security-oriented perspective that prioritizes the Israeli perspective. Haaretz frequently frames Hamas as ‘’terrorists’’ and mainly uses Israeli government and military sources to justify Israel's actions as a balanced response to security concerns. Haaretz uses a more neutral tone compared to Al-Jazeera English, while also including international perspectives such as international governments and humanitarian organisations to support the framing of events. This study gives insights into how Al-Jazeera English and Haaretz apply different framing strategies to shape public perception of conflicts. By comparing these media organizations, the results show the role of media in influencing how audiences understand international events such as conflicts. Furthermore, the study addresses a gap in literature by examining Haaretz which has not seen as much attention compared to other media organizations that covers the Israel-Palestine-conflict.