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The Layalina Review

VOL. V NO. 4, January 30-February 12, 2009

The Impact of the Media on Gaza

According to The Gulf Times, the Arab media played a vital role in bringing the recent conflict in the Gaza Strip to an end, creating a truce in the region. The Gulf Times argues that the mediais a powerful tool in influencing the outcomes of events around the world.

Hamdi Qandil, a veteran Egyptian anchor, claims that the Arab media coverage of the assault on Gaza was "'effective' in bringing the Israeli offensive against the territory to a halt" by putting pressure on Arab forces. Qandil stated on Dubai TV that "the media successfully created a real Arab public opinion against the Israeli aggression," ultimately resulting in a ceasefire which left Hamas still in power.

Ryan Rougeau, a guest columnist for The Reflector, writes that the media served to encourage Hamas. He says that Hamas understands that "the pen is mightier than the sword," and that in order to come out victorious in any battle against Israel, they have to gain international sympathy for their cause.

For example, throughout the conflict Hamas utilized television to show photographs of child casualties, as opposed to "the dead terrorists who launched thousands of rockets into Israel in the past few years." As a result, the international community became angry at Israel, not at the terrorists, and Hamas "won." Rougeau claims that this is a prime example of the media showing only one side of a story without accurately portraying the entire situation.

According to China View, since the Hamas-run Al-Aqsa TV station in Gaza was completely destroyed by Israeli troops, it will now broadcast from Beirut for one hour each day. This will enable Hamas to "develop its capabilities outside Gaza."

As reported in The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Hamas leader Khaled Mashal took advantage of the opportunity to speak in Qatar, thanking the country for its support during the conflict. In his speech, Mashal announced, "Palestinian fighters had 'won the war…by defeating Israeli plans.'"

This not only enabled Hamas to publicly declare that it succeeded in the Gaza strip, but made government officials in Washington wary that Qatar may be moving away from an Arab consensus and towards an alliance with countries such as Syria and Iran.

However, as Khaled Abu Toameh reports for the Jerusalem Post, not all supporters of Hamas are able to relay their stories through the media. In the West Bank, a crackdown on journalists, university professors, students and preachers who support Hamas has increased. The Palestinian Authority in the West Bank has become alarmed by those who support Hamas; therefore, Mahmoud Abbas and his prime minister, Salaam Fayad, "have instructed their various security forces to step up their crackdown on the Islamic movement in the West Bank."

Consequently, "more than 135 Hamas supporters and members have been rounded up" in the past three weeks. Reporters and critics have been either intimidated or arrested. A number of Fatah operatives in the region say that the United States and Israel have been putting increasing pressure on the Palestinian Authority to take action against supporters of Hamas, culminating in this "clampdown."

For The National, Sultan Al-Qassemi writes that the internet, an increasingly important instrument for the media, not only facilitates the spread of information but also contains it online ad infinitum. He states that the internet "never forgets" and because of this, "technology doesn't always work in one's favor" because when something controversial is posted on the internet, it remains there indefinitely.

Al-Qassemi, however, views this as something that may prove to be "very positive for governance in the Arab world" because it "may keep officials in check when they finally realize that their actions, intentional or not, are recorded forever and can't be undone." He hopes that this will one day help diminish corruption in the Middle East and forbid it to be, as it is now, "practiced in broad daylight."