Peace building? The coverage of Arab football players in the Hebrew sports media during the October 2000 riots

Abstract

This paper is a preliminary report of a wider examination of media coverage of Arab football players in the Israeli Hebrew language media during the past 15 years. It aims to examine the extent to which this media serves as a peace-building measure that aims to reduce the incentives for conflict between Jewish and Arab communities in Israel. The current paper examines how the major Hebrew newspapers and Internet sites depicted Palestinian Arab football players during the October 2000 riots. In addition, the paper shows how globalization and professionalism impact the Hebrew language Israeli media and depict an alternative narrative to the ethnonational discourses that stress estrangement between the Arab and Jewish communities.