Media and Political Contestation in the Contemporary Arab World: A Decade of Change

330 Pages·2016·6.085 MB·English

by  Lena Jayyusi, Anne Sofie Roald (eds.)

Palgrave Macmillan Series in International
Political Communication
Series Editor : Philip Seib, University of Southern California (USA)
From democratization to terrorism, economic development to conflict reso-
lution, global political dynamics are affected by the increasing pervasiveness
and influence of communication media. This series examines the partici-
pants and their tools, their strategies and their impact. It offers a mix of
comparative and tightly focused analyses that bridge the various elements
of communication and political science included in the field of international
studies. Particular emphasis is placed on topics related to the rapidly chang-
ing communication environment that is being shaped by new technologies
and new political realities. This is the evolving world of international politi-
cal communication.
Editorial Board Members:
Hussein Amin, American University in Cairo (Egypt)
Robin Brown, University of Leeds (UK)
Eytan Gilboa, Bar-Ilan University (Israel)
Steven Livingston, George Washington University (USA)
Robin Mansell, London School of Economics and Political Science (UK)
Holli Semetko, Emory University (USA)
Ingrid Volkmer, University of Melbourne (Australia)
Books Appearing in this Series
Media and the Politics of Failure: Great Powers,
Communication Strategies, and Military Defeats
By Laura Roselle
The CNN Effect in Action: How the News Media Pushed the
West toward War in Kosovo
By Babak Bahador
Media Pressure on Foreign Policy: The Evolving Theoretical Framework
By Derek B. Miller
New Media and the New Middle East
Edited by Philip Seib
The African Press, Civic Cynicism, and Democracy
By Minabere Ibelema
Global Communication and Transnational Public Spheres
By Angela M. Crack
Latin America, Media, and Revolution: Communication in
Modern Mesoamerica
By Juanita Darling
Japanese Public Opinion and the War on Terrorism
Edited by Robert D. Eldridge and Paul Midford
African Media and the Digital Public Sphere
Edited by Okoth Fred Mudhai, Wisdom J. Tettey, and Fackson Banda
Islam Dot Com: Contemporary Islamic Discourses in Cyberspace
By Mohammed el-Nawawy and Sahar Khamis
Explaining News: National Politics and Journalistic Cultures in
Global Context
By Cristina Archetti
News Media and EU-China Relations
By Li Zhang
Kurdish Identity, Discourse, and New Media
By Jaffer Sheyholislami
Al Jazeera English: Global News in a Changing World
Edited by Philip Seib
Civic Engagement, Digital Networks, and Political Reform in Africa
By Okoth Fred Mudhai
Egyptian Revolution 2.0: Political Blogging, Civic Engagement, and
Citizen Journalism
By Mohammed el-Nawawy and Sahar Khamis
The Dispute over the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands: How Media Narratives
Shape Public Opinion and Challenge the Global Order
Edited by Thomas A. Hollihan
Media Evolution on the Eve of the Arab Spring
Edited by Leila Hudson, Adel Iskandar, and Mimi Kirk
The EU Foreign Policy Analysis: Democratic Legitimacy, Media,
and Climate Change
Cristian Niţoiu
Media and Political Contestation in the Contemporary Arab World:
A Decade of Change
Edited by Lena Jayyusi and Anne Sofie Roald
Media and Political Contestation
in the Contemporary
Arab World
A Decade of Change
Edited by
Lena Jayyusi and Anne Sofie Roald
MEDIA AND POLITICAL CONTESTATION IN THE CONTEMPORARY ARAB WORLD
Selection and editorial content © Lena Jayyusi and Anne Sofie Roald 2016
Individual chapters © their respective contributors 2016
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2016 978-1-137-52522-2
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First published 2016 by
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ISBN 978-1-349-56621-1 ISBN 978-1-137-53907-6 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9781137539076
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Media and political contestation in the contemporary Arab world : a
decade of change / edited by Lena Jayyusi and Anne Sofie Roald.
pages cm.—(Palgrave Macmillan series in international political
communication)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-349-56621-1
1. Mass media—Political aspects—Arab countries. 2. Social media—
Political aspects—Arab countries. 3. Political culture—Arab countries.
4. Arab countries—Politics and government—21st century. I. Jayyusi,
Lena. II. Roald, Anne Sofie.
P95.82.A65M42 2015
302.23909174927—dc23 2015003222
A catalogue record for the book is available from the British Library.
Contents
List of Illustrations vii
Acknowledgments i x
Introduction 1
Lena Jayyusi
1 The Egyptian Blogosphere and the Revolution of the
25th of January 1 3
Charles Hirschkind
2 The Three Phases of Facebook: Social Networks and
the Public Sphere in the Arab World—the Case of
the Tunisian Revolution 35
Sadok Hammami
3 Hezbollah Communication Policy and the
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict 63
Olfa Lamloum
4 Martyrs and Markets: Exploring the Palestinian
Visual Public Sphere 91
Toufic Haddad
5 Revolutionary Manoeuvrings: Palestinian Activism
between Cybercide, and Cyber Intifada 1 29
Miriyam Aouragh
6 The Geopolitics of Press Freedoms in the
Israeli-Palestinian Context 161
Amahl Bishara
7 The Politics/Popular Culture Nexus in the Arab World:
A Preliminary Comparison of Reality Television and
Music Video 1 87
Marwan M. Kraidy
vi CONTENTS
8 Female Islamic Interpretations on the Air: Fatwas
and Religious Guidance by Women Scholars on
Arab Satellite Channels 2 11
Anne Sofie Roald
9 Presence and Visibility: Women in Arab Satellite
Television, 1996–2006 233
Hayat Howayyek Atiyya
10 The Framing of the Islam Online Crisis in Arab Media 261
Mona Abdel-Fadil
List of Contributors 295
Note on Transliteration 299
Index 3 01
Illustrations
Figures
4.1 A typical alleyway in Balata refugee camp 97
4.2 Martyr poster of Palestinian political leader Faisal
al-Husayni issued by Fatah Shabiba 9 9
4.3 M artyr poster of Italian photojournalist Raffaele
Ciriello, issued by the Palestine Media Center 1 00
4.4 Martyr poster of Wafa’ Idris, the first Palestinian
female suicide bomber, issued by Fatah 103
4.5 Year 2001 calendar featuring the martyrs of
Bethlehem, prominently featuring Husayn
‘Ubayyat, the first Palestinian assassinated
during the al-Aqsa Intifada 105
4.6 A “T-Pole” in Ramallah, simultaneously advertising
for XL Energy Drink while commemorating the
completion of eight years in prison by Fatah
Secretary General for the West Bank, Marwan
Barghouti 111
4.7 A billboard bridging the main road in Bethlehem
advertising women’s hair removal strips 1 15
4.8 Advertisement for the new housing development
of al-Reehan asking viewers “What if this were
your children’s playground?” 1 23
5.1 Doubelnaha! (We doubled it!) Protest campaign
against fake doubling of Internet quota 1 33
5.2 Leaving Ramallah via the notorious Qalandia
checkpoint closed off by the “separation wall” 134
5.3 Endless empty roads parallel to settler-only roads
Jericho 1 34
5.4 Coming across many USAID posters on way
to border 135
viii ILLUSTRATIONS
5.5 A llenby Crossing Mahmoud Abbas and Yasser
Arafat bid us farewell just before the ordeal at
the Israeli controlled border begins 135
5.6 CTRL+ALT+DELETE, 2007. Public intervention,
Filippo Minelli–Qalandiya Checkpoint,
West Bank 1 51
Tables
9.1 T he percentages of male and female professionals
employed in the four channels in 2000 2 37
10.1 S ources in sample 2 65
10.2 T hemes in Islam Online (IOL)-Cairo employees’
ideological frame 2 68
10.3 Themes in IOL-Cairo employees’ political frame 273
10.4 F requency of IOL-Cairo employees’ frames in
newspapers 2 76
10.5 T hemes in the Qatari Board’s frames 278
10.6 Frequency of Qatari Board’s frames in newspapers 2 80
10.7 C omparison of frequency of IOL-Cairo employees’
frames and Qatari Board’s frames in newspapers 2 81
10.8 T hemes in the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) frame 283
Acknowledgments
This volume is the outcome of a joint research collaboration between
the Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI) and Muwatin: The Palestinian
Institute for the Study of Democracy, generously supported by a long-
term research grant from the Norwegian Agency for Development
Cooperation (Norad). We would like to thank Norad for its continued
support of the program, and both CMI and Muwatin for the differ-
ent kinds of logistical and practical support they provided through-
out. In addition, Anne Sofie Roald would like to thank the Swedish
Research Council for their support.
We hope that this book will serve to throw light on the manifold
and complex dynamics that (continue to) emerge at the interface
of media and politics in the Arab world, and on the endogenous
understandings and frames of the actors on the ground as they
engage in various lived and consequential contestations about the
world they inhabit.