“Law and Order” vs. “Injustice and Defiance”: Al Jazeera and CNN Framing of the 2017 Temple Mount/Al Aqsa Mosque Crisis

Abstract

This study compares between the performance of the U.S. and Arab mainstream media following the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The textual coverage of the CNN and Al Jazeera of the 2017 Al Aqsa Mosque/Temple Mount Crisis is under examination through operationalizing Wolfsfeld’s (1997b) meta-frames. A set of reasoning and framing devices have been employed to identify the labelling of involved actors and committed actions, the degree of reliance and personalization of news sources, the victimization of casualties and the legitimization of violence. This study concludes that the Law and Order frame, which is communicated with the Israeli perspective is dominated in the related CNN coverage. On the other hand, the Injustice and Defiance frame that represents the Palestinian perspective has chiefly appeared in Al Jazeera related coverage. In the CNN, the Israeli actors and actions have been almost labelled positively in contrast with the Palestinian actors and actions that have been labelled in a negative manner. The degree of personalization and reliance on Israeli news sources is notably greater than the Palestinian ones. Likewise, the Israeli casualties have been remarkably victimized and individualized more than their counterparts. Moreover, the Israeli violence and killing have been legitimized, whereas the Palestinian similar actions have been criminalized. Almost the opposite has been found in Al Jazeera related coverage.