Discursive constructions of the Israel-Hezbollah war: The struggle for representation

Abstract

The media plays a contributing influence in exacerbating hostilities between war protagonists. Through particular representations, specific groups are either hailed or vilified; thereby resulting in a ‘spill-over effect’ of negative stereotyping, prejudice and hostilities among people beyond the physically-designated zones of conflict. The Israeli-Hezbollah war in 2006 received extensive coverage in the South African press and had the effect of polarising groups in support of a particular side. In this article we examine a section of the local South African print media capturing the conflict to reveal the main discourse themes, their ‘hidden’ ideological positions and their legitimation through specific textual devices. The findings reveal a ‘discursive war’ between news texts representing a favourable stance on Israel and Hezbollah (Lebanon) respectively. Through characterisations and intertextual practices, both sides respectively drew upon conflicting ideologies (‘right of existence’ and ‘defence against terror’ versus ‘the religious resistance’ and ‘Israel as the apartheid state’); that legitimated their grounds for violence. The ideological effects of such media representations on the ordinary lives of South Africans physically removed from the conflict are considered. In light of the findings, considerations for discursive interventions are proposed in order to promote a peace discourse in the media.