How does media develop our perception of world affairs, specifically the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict?

Unit Title: Contemporary Issues ~ Nationalism and Decolonization

Grade Level: 10^th grade

Subject: Global History

Teacher: Jason Broman

Time Frame: One Class Period (~45 minutes)

NYS Content Standard

10.7c Nationalism in the Middle East was often influenced by factors such as religious beliefs and secularism. 
             ~ Students will examine the creation of the State of Israel and the Arab-Israeli conflict. 


NYS Common Core Reading Standards

#6 Compare the point of view of two or more authors for how they treat the same or similar topics, including which details they include and emphasize in their respective accounts. 


#9 Compare and contrast treatments of the same topic in several primary and secondary 
sources. 


Objective: Students will understand how media can influence the public’s perception of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Essential Question: How does media develop our perception of world affairs, specifically the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict?

Materials: student worksheets, video projector/smartboard

Media Literacy Strategy: FRAME Activity – Students will use the Democracy Now! activity of framing in which they will analyze the various media sources with an emphasis on whose voice is expressed as well as the mood.

Lesson Context: This is a one day lesson designed to follow a day learning about the history of the creation of Israel, the conflict that has ensued between Israelis and Palestinians during the mid 20^th century, and perhaps some background on the political struggle of the Palestinians. Ideally, students would also visit the Democracy Now! studio to highlight the media literacy component of this mini-unit on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. 

Assigned Homework Reading from night prior to this lesson:

Directions: Homework excerpt should be read and annotated to build context for the lesson.

Context: On July 8^th, 2014 Israeli military forces began bombing parts of the Gaza Strip and invading Palestinian neighborhoods claiming to defend themselves against recent Hamas rocket attacks. Hamas is the elected governing authority of Gaza that has a military branch as well as a social services branch. Their goal is to end the occupation of their homeland by Israeli military forces and create their own state. Many countries have labeled Hamas as a terrorist organization, however, many countries have not given Hamas this designation - the United States government has.

This month and a half long war came to be called by the Israeli military Operation Protective Edge. This operation followed the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers by two Hamas members. At the time, Hamas began firing rockets into Israel to bring attention to the blockade of Gaza. Israel had been preventing goods and supplies from entering the city and destroyed many secret tunnels used by the people of Gaza to smuggle in supplies. Gaza had been under an economic blockade since 2007, meaning that the Israel and Egyptian military forces restrict what can come in and out of Gaza and have closely watched their border. While Israel and Egypt justified this action based on the security of their own countries, many other nations and the UN have not supported this action because of the humanitarian crisis it has caused in Gaza preventing its citizens the supplies and goods necessary to survive. Each side blamed the other for inciting the war following a ceasefire that had been in effect since November, 2012. While Only 3% of Hamas rocket attacks actually struck population centers, the majority of casualties were Palestinian civilians under Israeli bombings.

A report from BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) on the toll of operations in Gaza:

“The number of civilians killed during Israel's Operation Protective Edge offensive has raised international concern and condemnation. Between 8 July and 27 August, more than 2,100 Palestinians were killed in the Gaza Strip, along with 66 Israeli soldiers and seven civilians in Israel. The UN says the vast majority of Palestinian deaths are civilian. But figures from previous operations over the past six years in the densely populated Gaza Strip show it is not the first time civilians have paid a heavy price. The overwhelming majority of those killed were Palestinians. The UN says at least 2,104 Palestinian died, including 1,462 civilians, of whom 495 were children and 253 women. An Israeli government official told the BBC that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had killed 1,000 "terrorists" during the assault on Gaza.”

-BBC News,  “Gaza Crisis: Toll of Operations” September 1^st, 2014, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28439404

LESSON PROCEDURE: 

Do Now: What is a terrorist? (~5 - 10 minutes)

Brainstorm with a partner on a sheet of paper:

•       What is a terrorist?
•       What acts define terrorists?
•       Are terrorist acts limited to individuals or can groups or governments carry them out?
•       How do you typically see them portrayed in American media?

Discuss answers as an entire class and maybe have a students write some answers or working definition on the board.

Mini-Lesson:

Context and Toll of Operations (~5 - 10 minutes)

Review context from homework reading about the 2014 war that occurred in Gaza.

Students will have read context and excerpt from worksheet annotating as they read. 

Answer questions together as class discussion maybe jotting down some big ideas on the board:

•      How did the war begin?
•      Who fought during the war/What are the two sides?  
•     How do you think the war was fought?

Main Activity:

Framing Activity (~ 20 minutes)

Teacher will play three video clips while students complete their framing exercise worksheet. It might help to demo the first video and fill out the FRAME activity together as a class and then let students fill out the rest on their own sharing out answers. Be sure to warn students prior to the video showing that the images shown in the Democracy Now! video are very graphic and upsetting. If you did not wish to show the video, the transcript is available or you could play only the video's audio.

(Student Worksheet Below)

Framing Activity: Media products are constructed by people. The concept of framing is that the media focuses attention on certain events and then places them within a field of meaning. The media draws public attention to certain topics, it decides what people think about. The way in which the news is delivered, the frame in which the news is presented, is a choice made by journalists and broadcasters. A frame refers to the way media gatekeepers organize and present the stories they cover, and the way audiences interpret what they are provided. Frames are abstract notions that serve to structure social meanings. Frames influence how the audience perceives the news and how it thinks about a given issue. Additionally, sometimes what is not in the video is just as important as what is.

Directions: As we play each video clip, consider each section of the graphic organizer below and fill them out as ideas come to mind.

	Fox News interview with Brooke Goldstein	CNN interview with Prime Minister Netanyahu	“They Thought They’d Be Safe. They Were Wrong.” – Democracy Now!
F – Focus: Whose voice drives the story? What angles of the story are presented?
R – Representation: Who is shown, who is not? (Note race, gender identity, age, ethnicity, class, occupation, etc.)
A – Advantage: Who might benefit from the clip? Who might be harmed? Whose interests are being served?
M – Mood: What is the mood or tone? (Note how word choice, music, sounds, and images impact your understanding of the topic)
E – Evaluative Effect: What effect does the framing of the story have on your perception of the topic/story?

Activity Credit: DemocracyNow!Sources: Wolf Blitzer interview with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. CNN. July 20^th, 2014. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHgAtlN5CzU  Breaking News: Interview with Brooke Goldstein. Fox News. July 20^th, 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZRT74lDHPA  "They Thought They'd Be Safe. They Were Wrong": 20 Gazans Killed in Israeli Bombing of U.N. Shelter. Democracy Now! July 30^th, 2014. Retrieved from: http://www.democracynow.org/2014/7/30/they_thought_theyd_be_safe_they 

Sources:

1.) Wolf Blitzer interview with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. CNN. July 20^th, 2014. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHgAtlN5CzU   (6 minutes)

2.) Breaking News: Interview with Brooke Goldstein. Fox News. July 20^th, 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZRT74lDHPA  (3:51 minutes)

3.)"They Thought They'd Be Safe. They Were Wrong": 20 Gazans Killed in Israeli Bombing of U.N. Shelter. Democracy Now! July 30^th, 2014. Retrieved from: http://www.democracynow.org/2014/7/30/they_thought_theyd_be_safe_they (11 minutes total, but probably showing a little less)

Writing Summary/ Class Discussion (~10-15 minutes)

Students will write their answers to their closure questions on their worksheet and then if time allows, there will be a class discussion addressing each of the three questions.

Closure:

Describe the effect of framing for each media clip you watched today?

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

How was the word terrorist used in the various media clips and why is language so important in media?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

How do you think media can develop our perception of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict? (Cite at least two sources from your stations activity)

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Possible Extension Activity or Second Lesson:

Additionally, I found a short article from the Guardian on bias and the coverage of the war on BBC. The article talks about the different perspectives while reporting on the war and a petition signed by 45,000 people sent to BBC which was followed up with a protest outside BBC headquarters. Teachers might want to incorporate this into the mini-unit or the lesson if they have time. 

"BBC defends coverage of Israeli air strikes in Gaza after bias accusations.' The Guardian. July 16th, 2014. Retrieved from: 

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/jul/16/bbc-defends-coverage-israeli-airstrikes-gaza-palestinian