Search

The article examines the place of national narratives and metanarratives in reconciliation between parties to an identity conflict and the role the media play in this process. The article introduces a conceptual framework demonstrating the relationship between metanarrative and national narratives and applies it to the case of Mohammad al-Dura in September 2000. It analyses items from two Israeli newspapers (Yediot Aharonot and Ha’aretz) and three Palestinian newspapers (al-Quds, Alayam, and al-Hayat al-Jadida) as well as news reports published online by two Israeli portals, YNET and WALLA!, and the talkbacks received in response to the coverage. The analysis illustrates the role the media, and more specifically Palestinian regular media and the Israeli talkbacks, have played in amplifying the national narratives and reinforcing the colliding metanarratives. On the other hand, the Israeli media have, by and large, proved the article’s thesis that narratives in an identity conflict can be handled differently. By deconstructing the narrative to its constitutive components, raising questions regarding the reliability of one’s own national/official version, and showing readiness to incorporate the narrative of the “other” into one’s own narrative, the media have played a potentially positive role in the reconciliation process between Israelis and Palestinians. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study explores the effects of changes in electoral systems on political marketing, and, more particularly, the impact of the shift from the parliamentary electoral system which has been in operation in Israel since 1948, to the presidentary (combined of elements from the parliamentary system, and the presidential system) on the two largest Israeli parties' marketing strategies. Out of 670 political broadcasts by Likud and Labour, 207 were examined for five out of the six electoral campaigns that took place since 1988: the 1988 and 1992 campaigns, before the switch to the presidentary system, the 1996 and 1999 campaigns after the establishment of the combined system and the 2003 campaign, after Israel changed back to the parliamentary electoral system. The findings supported the study's main arguments regarding the extent and direction of the impact of the change in the electoral system on the developments in political marketing. Beginning in 1996, there was a decrease in broadcasts presenting political issues and a sharp increase in broadcasts that focus on personality alone. Equivalently, the percentage of broadcasts addressing the centre of the political map, rather than distinct publics, grew significantly. In 2003, with the return to the parliamentary system, the marketing strategy of the two parties, and more particularly of the Labour Party, changed back to the pre-1992 pattern: a large percentage of the broadcasts focused on issues and not on the candidates' personalities, and addressed distinct target audiences rather than the centre. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]