Abstract

Israeli settlements in the Occupied Territories have been a contentious issue within the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and a major obstacle towards bringing peace to the region. Beginning in April 2004, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announced that Israel would withdraw all 21 of its settlements in the Gaza Strip and four settlements from the West Bank. The implementation of this disengagement plan began on August 15, 2005 and was completed less than 10 days later on August 24, 2005. On September 11, 2005 the last Israeli soldiers left Gaza and the settlements were officially handed over to the Palestinians the following day. The news media became a crucial conduit through which the Israeli nation was informed about the disengagement of settlements. Through the application of a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) on Israel's largest English daily newspaper, the Jerusalem Post, I examine how the newspaper framed the disengagement of the settlements. I argue that the paper re-constitutes Israel as a democratic nation and postures itself as a public sphere and a fourth estate, giving the illusion of democratic deliberation, a strategy that works discursively to privilege Zionist and state hegemonic ideologies. Further, the Jerusalem Post reifies an Orientalist trope in which Palestinians are constructed as 'Other' and figured outside of the demos and public debate. I conclude that the newspaper arrests true democratic deliberation necessary for lasting peace in the region