Constructivist Analysis of Media Framing in the Gaza–Israel War 2023-2026

Abstract

The three questions discussed in this paper are: what are the roles played by framing mechanisms in the social construction of the identities of Israel and Palestine in international media networks? How are international norms of legitimacy defined by dominant media discourses about acts of self-defence, ‘terrorism' or ‘resistance'? What are the digital media platforms and what are the Global South counter-narratives that have been adopted to contest the framing of the Gaza–Israel war by the Western media? The study draws on constructivist International Relations theory and the work of Wendt, Onuf and Foucault to view the media not as a passive bystander to conflict but as an active participant in the construction of the political reality that audiences use in their interpretation. The methodology is qualitative and based on secondary sources, peer-reviewed academic publications and comparative framing studies of main international outlets. The analysis of the first question suggests that western outlets frame Israel as a legitimate actor under threat while Arab and Global South outlets frame Israel as the aggressor and Palestinians as the victim. On the second, Western coverage includes elements of legitimacy framing that justify Israeli military action as defensive measures and demonize Palestinian resistance as “terrorism,” whereas counter framing on the second side appeals to international law and anti-colonial frameworks to challenge these elements of legitimacy. On the third, digital platforms and postcolonial media frames have meaningfully challenged though not displaced the dominance of Western framing, undermined its ‘universality’ without contesting its hegemonic structure. The study acknowledges its reliance on using secondary sources and its limitation to English and Arabic-language scholarship as the limits of its conclusions.

Keywords: Constructivist, Gaza-Israel War, Global South, International Relations, Legitimacy, Media Framing, Political Reality, Social Construction, Terrorism