Second Intifada

Within the span of a few years, the political, social, and cultural climate in Palestine was whiplashed from being under the control of the Ottoman Empire, to colonization and state building by Jewish immigrants from the diaspora, to British rule through mandate, and finally the establishment of the Israeli state. The rhetoric that was used in both Zionist and Arab Palestinian propaganda created a situation that was very complex under the surface, and needs to be approached with delicate care. Taking this into consideration, as historians it is important to remain as objective as possible when reading documents from both the Jewish and Arab side because they both will show a view of the conflict that will benefit them most. As situations change, so will these views and the tone of newspapers and consumerism will change along with it.

A narrative based on collective memory is difficult to deconstruct and functions as a barrier to negotiations. Given that narratives play an important role in determining the flow of the negotiations and that every new generation on both sides is raised with this narrative of insecurity in mind, the gap of conflict is widened through a hardening of attitudes amplified by the delay of resolving the stalemate. Connecting the gap to security arguments, the gap is further widened when collective memory functions as the key in altering the status quo especially in asymmetrical conflict where the weaker group fears the total domination of the other and contests the imbalance by resorting to violence. A clash in security narratives is seen: Palestinians justify their violent actions by trying to balance out with Israel claiming that they feel powerless and fear the loss of dignity, while Israelis justify their actions citing issues of threat and security. As seen in the eruption of the second intifada, Palestinian riots occurred after events that affected their sense of security. First, Ariel Sharon’s visit to the Temple Mount reminded the Palestinians of their claim over East Jerusalem and saw Sharon’s visit

Chapter three of Eyal Press’ Beautiful Souls follows Avner Wishnitzer, an Israeli combat soldier serving in the occupied territories during the Second Intifada. In the 6-Day War of 1967, Israel captured the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and has since kept the land under an Israeli military occupation. In 1987 to 1991, a Palestinian uprising involving resistance and civil disobedience, known as the First Intifada, occurred in the occupied territories. Consequently, Israel deployed many soldiers into the occupied territories, and an estimated 1,674 people were killed in total. The Second Intifada, a much more violent Palestinian uprising in the occupied territories, transpired from 2000 until 2005. In response, Israel enacted Operation Defensive Shield, a large-scale military operation, in 2002 to stop the terrorist attacks and suicide bombings of the Second Intifada. An approximate 4,426 people were killed in the Second Intifada. Avner Wishnitzer’s public refusal to serve in the occupied territories was worth getting kicked out of Sayeret Matkal and being disgraced by Israeli society because it made people question the occupation and the treatment towards Palestinians. Even if Avner had been my father, I would have condoned his choices because I could create my own reputation in the military. Additionally, the current controversy over the Israeli occupation legitimizes his stance and actions for many Israeli citizens.

In addition, I will examine the current state of political and human rights in Israeli occupied West Bank and analyze how they are approaching a level of apartheid. Finally, I will summarize the effects of these social tensions between Israel and Palestinians in the terms of how potential open conflict could reignite.

A series of stabbings has made the people of Israel restless and afraid. A statistic in the last paragraph of Ori Lewis’s report, “West Bank tensions rise after Palestinian stabbings in Israeli settlements,” stated that 25 people and a U.S. citizen have been killed. Over 148 Palestinians have been killed as well, a majority of them being victims of violent demonstrations (Lewis, 2016.)

"Stick a label on it; Israel and Palestine." The Economist 14 Nov. 2015: 49(US). Religion

On April 5th, 2018, a group of Palestinian protesters marched their way to the Gaza-Israel border, before being interrupted by a sudden eruption of gunfire and smoke. The Israeli army opened fire on thousands of civilians, killing 18 and wounding many others. Israeli troops fight and kill the inhabitants of their neighboring territory, those who are innocent civilians of their own country (Jones). Tragedies like this happen nearly every month, in dozens of regions across the globe. Armed forces brought upon residents in an effort to eradicate, disguised as control. Ranging from police brutality to ethnic cleansings and cultural genocide, the use of military force is severely abused, and results in devastation around the world. Therefore, the

The news coverage of war has been of particular relevance to media and communication researchers.This interest is due to the violence in wars, its importance to the people, the vast amount of finance, men and equipment poured into it. The study of media and war has spurred a contention on the role of the objectivity during a conflict. For a journalist covering a war, the ideal should be, according to Howard Tumber in Handbook of Journalism states that ‘The accepted norm for individual reporters, based on their professional values is that they should adopt a neutral role in reporting conflict, avoiding bias and striving

2. The main points of the article are focused around the way in which news is presented to the public. Through identifying multiple sources of news information, such as the New York Times, Fox News, and an English website, AlJazeera.net, to name a few, the article points out the varying differences and biases generated based upon the omission of certain factual information, the choice of words, and the credibility of the sources. Despite journals being presented with the same underlying information, the information that is presented to the public varies greatly in both the tone and mission from news article to news article. This is further elaborated as a way for the news media to appeal to certain types of demographics. For example, through wording an article in such a way that presents a military action conducted by the U.S. military as a ruthless act of

In a review from a battlefield, Journalists have a special immunity. In order to have this kind of immunity they should be strict to a behavior code which they do not take side or interfere with the battle occurrences. In the article By Aviv Lavie, he brings many situations held while confronting between the IDF and the Palestinians. One of them is a story of two Israeli journalists, who covered a battle held in the Gaza strip. On that battle, one of the journalists decided to take action and report a Palestinian subterfuge activity against the IDF. A short while after the report, the place they had been reporting from got shot by Palestinian forces. This case shows, in my opinion, that they have clearly violated the unwritten terms which constitutes the pillars of this

In my artistic work, I decided to pursue and address an issue that stands out to me because of its lack of media representation in America during an era where media is more obtainable than ever. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is rarely reported in mainstream media in the United States. Instead, topics such as celebrity gossip dominate headlines and it’s tragic to me; the Kardashians are mentioned more in the news than West Bank or Gaza combined. The people in Palestine have no voice in America and yet America is the perpetrator of their injustice. How can we, as Americans, face our own mistakes if we aren’t even aware that we’re making them? We boast that “all men are created equal” when we tell Palestinians everyday that Israelis deserve

Imagine living in a conflict that has divided two nations, literally, by a concrete barrier. This turbulent and heated confrontation has left many dead and even more injured. Welcome to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The documentary “5 Broken Cameras” is a portrayal of this modern day dispute through the personal lens of self-taught Palestinian cameraman, Emad Burnat. This compelling documentary provides a realistic presentation of the hatred that surrounds these two divided nations. Movie viewers will be drawn to this film is because it demonstrates the harsh realities of what it is like to live in the midst of a conflict and how the lives of those affected are altered as a result of this prolonged struggle.

The year 2015, according to a new report by Hamleh (The Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media), saw a surge in the number of Palestinians being arrested, in Israel, on the charge of “incitement through social media.”:

This essay analyses the killing of Hadeel al-Hashlamouna, as well as the aftermath, also putting it into a wider context, with “The Iron Wall” by Vladimir Jabotinsky. The killing of al-Hashlamouna is interpreted as a way to convince the Palestinians that they cannot fight against Israel. However, it will be argued that Jabotinsky did not consider what would happen if the Palestinians gave up hope of fighting against the existence of Israel, but Israelis did not recognise that. As we will see, that has happened. Thus it has created the situation in which Israel is keeping up the iron wall with brutal violence while the Palestinians, then, are fighting against the iron wall itself rather than the existence of Israel. Therefore the brutal killing

The graphic novel Palestine, published by Maltan journalist Joe Sacco in the early ‘90s, is a journalistic piece that represents his recollections of two months spent talking to and living with Palestinians in the Occupied Territories. The casual narrative style, which some might say is too shallow for such heavy subject matter, in fact allows Sacco to avoid many of the pit falls that have made Western reporting on non-Western conflicts unhelpful at the very least and more often incredibly damaging.