DISCOURSE ANALYSIS AND MEDIA ATTITUDES: THE REPRESENTATION OF THE WAR ON GAZA IN AL-JAZEERA NEWS COVERAGE

Abstract

This study is a qualitative study . It investigates the five discursive strategies in the representation of the war in Gaza in Al-Jazeera English news from the historical discourse perspective. The study attempts to answer the following questions: How is  the representation of the war on Gaza named and referred to linguistically in the news coverage of Al-Jazeera? What  characteristics are attributed to the social actors in the representation of the war on Gaza in Al-Jazeera's coverage? By means of what arguments and argumentation schemes do  Al-Jazeera try to justify and legitimate the exclusion, discrimination, suppression and exploitation of others? from what perspective or point of view are these namings, attributions and arguments expressed in Al-Jazeera to represent the war in Gaza? are they even intensified or are they mitigated? According to the questions , the study aims at :Revealing how the the war on Gaza is named and referred to linguistically in the news coverage of Al-Jazeera. Figuring out the characteristics are attributed to the social actors in the representation of the war on Gaza in Al-Jazeera's coverage. Exploring the means of what arguments and argumentation schemes do  Al-Jazeera try to justify and legitimate the exclusion, discrimination, suppression and exploitation of others. Determining what perspective or point of view are these namings, attributions and arguments expressed in Al-Jazeera  to represent the war on Gaza. Conducting if the utterances are intensified or  mitigated.To achieve the aims of the study the following procedures are followed: Presenting a literature review that surveys the study’s key concepts, including discourse analysis, media, war representation, Gaza crisis, discourse strategies, and the other related topics. By collecting data from the L selected channel representing the war on Gaza from October 2024 to October 2025. Then providing an adapted model that comprises linguistic strategies and structure  upon which the empirical part of the  study is based for the analysis of the data collected. The adapted  model to analyse the data in question will be based on  Wodak & Meyer’s (2011)discourse strategies. And  conducting a content analysis based on the adapted model. Analyzing the selected data  from Al-Jazeera  News that represent war on Gaza. Findings of the study reveals that, the In Al-Jazeera coverage, nomination is used to turn process into things e. g., fighting and bombardment, casualties, removes agency, Al Jazeera’s predication strategies tend to attribute agency to Israeli actors in military/defensive contexts ("Israel strikes", "IDF targets", "Israel prime Minister, IDF spokesman, IDF's chief ) while attributing suffering  to Palestinian actors ("Palestinians were killed", "civilians died"). Israeli spokespersons are predicated as rational, strategic, and legitimately defensive. The key topoi are topoi of threat, danger, humanitarian crisis and numbers, constructing  the Hamas militants as a threat, justifying military violence as necessary self-defense. Al Jazeera’s  perspectivation tends toward an institutional Western  standpoint that treats Israeli state communication as primary, authoritative, and credible, while Palestinian voices — particularly those from Gaza — are more often framed as emotional testimony rather than political analysis.Intensifiers that amplify the force of claims about Palestinian violence are  used frequently and Israeli violence mitigated.