The Portrayal of Minorities in the Media

The portrayal of Palestinians in the news media has been analyzed since 1947 after the UN Partition resolution. The Zionist motto then was "land without people for people without a land." Resolution 181 passed in the United Nations 33 in favor, 13 against, and 10 abstaining. The Majority won. The only problem was that the United Nations was seriously gerrymandered against Muslims in a vote favoring Jews. The United Kingdom, which controlled Palestine, abstained from the vote. Cuba was the only Western country that voted against the resolution. Liberia was the only African country to vote in favor of the Resolution. Arab Muslims were and still are a minority in the UN. In response to Resolution 181, the League of Arab Nations was formed. The violence that escalated as a result of Resolution 181 continues to this day.

Note that the word "violence" followed only five words from the word "Arab" in the previous paragraph. Although the words are closely related only in proximity and that no direct association was made between them other than there was violence following the passage of UN Resolution 181, a framework of association is built on a subconscious level that creates a hidden generalization that Arabs are violent. Studies examined for this report show the perception of Palestinian Arabs in Western and Israeli television news media, and show that journalists in Western culture perpetuate such hidden generalizations by means of juxtaposing violent or negative images and narratives with ethnic minorities. Since the Western news media seeks out dramatic and shocking images, and otherwise had little or no interest in the daily lives of Palestinians, the only focus has been on acts of violence. It's unfortunate that Palestinian Arabs, and Muslims in general, had no other means by which to gain the attention of the world media that is predominantly white and Western.