TITLE: Israel– Palestine conflict (analysis of YouTube comments and videos)

GROUP NO: 9

NAME: Diya Desai

ROLL NO: 09

SAP NO: 40310200112

CLASS: TYBA (sociology)

PAPER: Social theory (UAMASOC504)

 ABSTRACT

In this study, Israel-Palestine conflict's coverage on evening network news is examined for its
content. The analysis done in this assignment will help understand the Israel- Palestine
conflict and people’s view and different sides to the story. The only Jewish state in the world,
Israel is situated east of the Mediterranean Sea. The Arab inhabitants of the land that Israel
currently occupies are known as Palestinians, and they refer to this region as Palestine.
Palestinian Arabs have historically desired the creation of their own state on all or portions of
this territory. Who gets what land and how they govern it is at the heart of the struggle. We
understand the views of the people and analyse their opinion on this conflict.

Key words: Israel-Palestine conflict, conflict reporting, traditional news media, war break-
out, media coverage.
 INTRODUCTION

One of the oldest and most contentious conflicts in the world is the Israeli-Palestinian one. It
is fundamentally a battle between two movements for self-determination, the Jewish Zionist
goal and the Palestinian nationalist aspiration, both of which have stakes in the same region.
But the situation is considerably more complicated than that, with the two parties and their
supporters disputing almost every fact and piece of historical information.

A disagreement over territory and borders is thought to have sparked the Israel-Palestine
conflict. Jews seeking their own nation were awarded a sizable portion of Palestine after the
Holocaust and World War II. This was rejected by the local Arab population, and in 1948,
war broke out between the two nations. Israel conquered the Palestinian territories in 1967
after a second war. For years, Israeli military have been stationed there. In 2005, when Israel
eventually withdrew from Gaza, Hamas won the local election and seized power. The
majority of Gaza's borders and coastal areas are still under Israeli control, and Israel still
decides who and what can enter and leave Gaza, including commodities. Israel has been
criticised by Hamas for such restrictions. Hamas asserts that Israel is occupying Palestinian
territory and that it is putting up resistance by launching rocket assaults from Gaza, to which
Israel responds with greater force. The largest of several militant Islamist organisations in
Palestine, Hamas, opposes Israel's existence and calls for Palestinians to be allowed to return
to their original homeland. Israel and the Palestinians who live in East Jerusalem, Gaza, and
the West Bank frequently have tense relations. The militant Palestinian organisation Hamas,
which has frequently battled Israel, is in charge of Gaza. Gaza's borders are strictly controlled
by Israel and Egypt to prevent weapons from reaching Hamas. Palestinians in Gaza and the
West Bank claim that Israeli policies and restrictions are making their lives difficult. Israel
claims it is just taking action to defend itself from aggression from the Palestinians. Anger
has also grown about the potential deportation of certain Palestinian families from East
Jerusalem.

How did it start?

At the end of the nineteenth century, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict began. The British
Mandate of Palestine was to be divided into Arab and Jewish states, according to Resolution
181, which was ratified by the UN in 1947. The first Arab-Israeli War broke out after the
State of Israel was established on May 14, 1948. Israel won the battle in 1949, but 750,000
Palestinians were forced to flee their homes, and the area was partitioned into the State of
Israel, the West Bank (west of the Jordan River), and the Gaza Strip. Located east of the
Mediterranean Sea, Israel is the only Jewish state in the world. The people who call this
region Palestine are the Arabs who live in the area that Israel currently governs. Palestinian
Arabs have historically desired the creation of their own state on all or portions of this
territory. Who receives which lands and how they are controlled constitute the conflict's core
issues. Jews and Arabs both have claims to this area that go back several thousand years,
according to historians. Beginning in the early 20th century, we are currently witnessing a
political battle. Jews sought to create their own nation as they fled persecution and horrors in
Europe. They historically recognised the region that is now part of the British Empire as their
homeland, which at the time was a territory dominated by Arabs and Muslims. The land was
opposed by Arabs who believed they had a claim to it. A failed UN attempt to divide the land
between the two parties resulted from this, and multiple wars broke out between Israel and
the neighbouring Arab nations after that. The two wars fought in 1948 and 1967 essentially
determined the boundaries we see on today's maps. The West Bank and Gaza Strip, both of
which are home to sizable Palestinian populations, are now under Israeli rule following the
1967 conflict. The West Bank is currently occupied by Israel and has nominal Palestinian
Authority sovereignty. Israeli settlers are creating ever-larger colonies, effectively denying
Palestinians their land, while Israeli troops maintain restrictions on Palestinian mobility and
activity. The Islamic fundamentalist group Hamas governs Gaza, which is surrounded by
Israeli forces but does not have a physical occupation. The thirty-year battle between Egypt
and Israel was finally put an end in 1979 when, after a number of cease-fires and peace talks,
representatives from both countries signed the Camp David Accords. The Camp David
Accords strengthened ties between Israel and its neighbours, but they did not address the
issue of Palestinian self-determination and self-government. The first intifada, which began
in 1987, saw hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip rebel
against the Israeli authorities. The Israeli government and the West Bank-based Palestinian
Authority made an effort to resume negotiations for peace in 2013. However, the 2014
formation of a unity government between Fatah, the Palestinian Authority's official party, and
Hamas, a breakaway faction, halted peace negotiations. One of the two main Palestinian
political parties, Hamas was one of the Muslim Brotherhood's splinter groups in Egypt and
was created in 1987 after the first intifada. In 1997, the US labelled Hamas as a foreign
terrorist organisation. The Israeli military and Hamas engaged in combat in May 2018,
beginning the deadliest violent period since 2014. Prior to establishing a cease-fire, Gaza
terrorists launched more than 100 rockets into Israel. Israel retaliated by conducting airstrikes
on more than 50 targets in Gaza during the 24-hour flare-up.
 OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study is to analyse the YouTube videos and comments on the Israel-
Palestine conflict. Also, to put forward the thoughts of the liberal and the conservatives and
give me on point of view on the entire issue.
 ANALYSIS

Land disputes have been at the heart of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. Two-
thirds of the original Arab residents of the area have been evicted from their homes since the
establishment of the Israeli state in 1948 and the Israeli occupation of the remaining portions
of historic Palestine in 1967. (Said, 2000). The Palestinians' desire to establish a state and
claim a small portion of the territory is currently the main source of contention. Since the
1993 start of the Oslo peace talks, negotiations with Israel have been ongoing on and off.
Many Arab thinkers consider the US-sponsored approach to be a betrayal (Said, 2000).
Additionally, certain militant organisations in Palestine and Lebanon continue to struggle
against the occupation. Normal protests against Israeli policies, such as land confiscation,
home destruction, and the partitioning of Palestinian territory, have been held by regular
Palestinians. According to some authors, the Palestinian revolt of 1988–1989—known as the
"Intifada" in Arabic—was a plan to change U.S. policy through securing favourable media
attention (Gilboa, 1993). Arabs view it as a populace's revolt against terrible injustice and
suffering—one that might have been clearly predicted (Said, 2000). Because of political
interest in the area and a strong relationship between Israelis and Americans who share the
Judeo-Christian legacy, the conflict between Israel and its neighbours has always been
covered by the American media. Due to the circumstances, the Middle East is now among the
nations that receive the most coverage on American television. There are still American
network journalists in the Middle East, notwithstanding their general decline in frequency
(Utely, 1997).

The study examines the tone and frame choices made by television networks when reporting
on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. We have analysed few news videos and comments of the
public all over the world on the Israel – Palestine conflict to know their views and opinion on
the conflict. The videos that I have reviewed are of talk show hosts: Bill Maher in Real time
with Bill Maher and Ben Shapiro in Daily wire and Omri Casspi and a news channel
MSNBC with Velshi. These videos and comments on them will help us to know the
coverage of the Israel-Palestine conflict and help us understand the liberal and the
conservative side and comparison between them.

Media coverage of the Israel-Palestine conflict is common. It is one of the most often debated
international problems and has been covered by media outlets all over the world for decades.
These tales have influenced world events, viewpoint on the problem. Since 1948, there has
been an ongoing struggle between Israel and Palestine. When the conflict—which Israelis
describe to as "the Disaster" and Palestinians refer to as "Al Nakba"—started they fought a
war of independence. Despite the fight lasting longer than 60 years, and Israel receives more
than $4 billion in aid and funding from the US annually, still the vast majority of Americans
have little knowledge of the Arab-Israeli conflict. The media exposes people to specific
images and news stories about the Israel-Palestine conflict, influencing how people perceive
the situation based on these images and stories.

Israel's history began where Palestine's started to vanish, yet the media frequently omits much
of this background when portraying the conflict (Akerman 2001). Numerous studies have
been done to examine the Israel-Palestine conflict, how it has been covered in the media, and
how the general population feels about it. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict (IPC) is a subject
that receives a lot of media attention, but I have to wonder if the news and attention given to
this conflict are objective and fair. Journalists who were questioned about this issue felt that
Israel and Israelis received more positive publicity than Palestine and Palestinians, who
normally receive less favourable coverage (Ghareeb 1975). As a result, this study examines
the press that each side receives while concentrating on certain characteristics of media
coverage.

Comparing the liberal vs conservative

Let us see analyse the videos- Bill Maher has a love-hate relationship with conservatives. He
has made comments that have gone too far, but when he is correct, he is correct. Additionally,
he resists the political correctness mob. Maher is renowned for brutally criticising the
"wokeness" and being against it. He is a steadfast supporter of Israel and speaks the truth
about the radical Islamic terrorists. Maher didn't engage in any pro-Hamas, anti-Israel
activities on the May 28 episode of his HBO programme Real Time. James Carville and
Nicholas Kristof, two guests, were talking about the recent violence in Gaza, which has
ended as a result of a truce. Maher slammed each of Kristof's arguments for why Israel's
attacks were being criticised one at a time. The comic said that although people are dying in
this fight, he did not witness any war crimes. When these armed conflicts occur, get used to
them. He added that Hamas had launched more than 4,000 rockets into Israel. Maher also
challenged the notion that Israel is an "apartheid state," noting that Arab Israelis have the
right to vote, to join the military, and to have representatives in the Knesset. That's very
dissimilar from when white Europeans from the Netherlands settled in the area that is now
known as Cape Town, when their descendants took over all facets of socio-political life and
oppressed the black majority. Jews have lived in the area for a very long time. They aren't
occupants. They are the indigenous population that the Turks, Byzantines, Persians, Romans,
and Babylonians all occupied at one time or another. These anti-Israel social media
influencers do not see or mention this history lesson. He came back to this issue after
witnessing a wave of anti-Semitic violence that the liberal Left disregarded because they
were siding with the terrorists. Like others, the HBO anchor pointed out that Israel has often
made peace offers to the Palestinians, but they have all been rejected. They want to destroy
Israel. With that, how do you negotiate? They are slain if Israel relaxes even a little. He
specifically targeted model Bella Hadid, pointing out that if she had to spend a day in Gaza,
she would be running to Tel-Aviv. Although Maher may be mistaken on a number of topics,
he is absolutely correct on a few crucial ones. I'm very sure left-wingers loathed this
particular programme. He was honest about the reality and discredited all the talking points
we had heard that either defended Hamas or attacked Israel.

The next is Ben Shapiro on the Daily Wire talk show. According to Ben Shapiro, who holds a
standard Religious Zionist viewpoint and is of a conservative viewpoint, the State of Israel's
claim to exist and rule comes from the Bible, and anyone who disagrees with the Jews' right
to rule over all of Israel and the Occupied Territories should leave. Between the
Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, he contends, there should be no Palestinian State
because the Kingdom of Jordan already constitutes the Palestinian State. He has therefore
declared that he thinks Palestinians should reside in Jordan and that Arab Civilization as a
whole is essentially useless. He deems it to be an intolerable political position. Both the Jews
and the Palestinians are native to the southwest Levant. Both tribes have the right to establish
states on that territory, and the notion that Jews have some sort of biblical advantage disgusts
me even more. Israel is the subject of a Jewish claim based on archaeology, history, and legal
precedent. Palestinian self-determination, more recent history, and demographics all support
their claim to Palestine.

Now we will see MSNBC’s Ali Velshi: The right to exist goes both ways. He speaks in the
video that Israel is allowed to exist and to self-defend. That is true. It appears that many
overlook the fact that the same is true for Palestinians. In their country of origin, Palestinians
are, at best, third class citizens. On a regular basis, the Israeli government proclaims
Palestinian-inhabited land parcels to be of military or archaeological significance, resulting in
eviction of people. When there is a legal case, the Palestinians typically lose. However, a few
weeks or months later, a brand-new Israeli settlement unexpectedly moves into that same
"essential" piece of land. The Occupied West Bank becomes de facto more Israeli and, in the
express hopes of the Israeli government, more Jewish as more and more Jewish settlers
occupy areas where Arabs once resided. This has been a long-standing and deliberate effort
to drive out Arabs, some of whom have lived there for hundreds of years. It is an effort to
minimise their presence because, in the eyes of the Israeli government and courts, having
Arabs participate fully weakens Israel.
 CONCLUSION

One of the world's oldest conflicts is the one between Israel and Palestine. The conflict is
between Jewish Zionism and Palestinian nationalism, two separate movements that each
claim the same area. The animosity has deep origins and transcends country boundaries,
ideologies, and boundaries of religion to manifest as both a Jewish-Islamic and an Israeli-
Arab conflict (Inbari, 2018). The Israeli and Palestinian nationalist movements each claim to
hold a piece of territory that is identical, which is the root of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Fundamentalism in religion is primarily to blame for this strife in this region. Additionally,
neither of the two groups trusts the other, and each has its own assumptions about the other
and has demonised it. Many Arab nations are seen by Israelis as being not just undemocratic
but also lacking in social, cultural, and economic vitality. Additionally, they portray them as
hostile and terroristic. The Arabs, on the other hand, view Israelis as mighty conquerors who
have an unending desire to rule the entire Middle East. While Israel forbids the teaching of
Islam in its schools, the Arabs actively support anti-Semitic stereotypes and conspiracy
theories that serve to support Zionism. In the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, each side has a
narrative that partially tells the truth. Knowing what is omitted from both sides is crucial for
comprehension. The "two-state solution," which would create an independent Palestinian
state in Gaza and the majority of the West Bank while giving Israel control of the remaining
territory, is currently the main strategy for resolving the conflict. The two sides remain
sharply split about how to make the two-state idea work in practise, despite the fact that it is
apparent in theory. Each party exaggerates the other's faults while ignoring their own role in
the conflict and interpreting events in terms of their own narrative. Both parties are in denial
and have chosen to ignore the consequences of their own behaviour. Until both the states,
stop denying the existence of the other state, there won’t be any peace between them.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. M. (2021, May 15). Velshi On Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: The Right to Exist Goes
Both Ways | MSNBC [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=gKkjPtleWEU&feature=youtu.be

2. Maher, R. T. W. B. (2021, June 4). In Defence of Israel | Real Time with Bill Maher
(HBO) [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=bzcuAhXxmCQ&feature=youtu.be

3. ‌Omri Casspi and Ben Shapiro on the Israeli - Palestinian conflict. (2021, October 7).
[Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/PrR6n1hR7JY
 ANNEXURE

Caption 1- Bill Maher on the conflict

Caption 2 – Ben Shapiro and Omri Casspi on the conflict

Caption 3- Deaths due to the conflict