During the 2008-2009 War on Gaza between Hamas and Israel, the Arab and American media published various sensational images of this terrorist event. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate and examine the ethicality of the Arab and American sensational images when covering a terrorist event perpetuated by the Other. The thesis draws on Aristotle’s theory of communication and virtue theory (fourth century B.C.), William James’s theory of truth (1907), as well as on contemporary theories, approaches and concepts in order to provide a philosophical and theoretical foundation of ethical publication of sensational images. As well, it looks into various definitions of terrorism, analyzes the Arab and American media codes of ethics, and benefits from relevant decision-making models. It has, therefore, established a theoretical model contingent to the terrorist event at stake – The Sensational Image of Terrorism Ethical Decision-Making Model (SITE-DMM). The thesis methodologically utilizes a qualitative comparative content analysis research design, analyzing a purposive sample of 144 sensational images from three Arab online media (Al-Ahram newspaper, Electronic Intifada, and Al-Jazeera.net TV); and three American online media (The New York Times newspaper, San Francisco Sentinel.com, and CNN.com TV) in order to examine the ethicality of publishing sensational images about this terrorist event in both the Arab and American media. Following a systematic analysis, guided by the suggested theoretical model – SITE-DMM, the findings provide a comprehensive understanding of the ethicality of the Arab and American sensational images during the coverage of the 2008-2009 War on Gaza.

During the 2008-2009 War on Gaza between Hamas and Israel, the Arab and American media published various sensational images of this terrorist event. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate and examine the ethicality of the Arab and American sensational images when covering a terrorist event perpetuated by the Other. The thesis draws on Aristotle’s theory of communication and virtue theory (fourth century B.C.), William James’s theory of truth (1907), as well as on contemporary theories, approaches and concepts in order to provide a philosophical and theoretical foundation of ethical publication of sensational images. As well, it looks into various definitions of terrorism, analyzes the Arab and American media codes of ethics, and benefits from relevant decision-making models. It has, therefore, established a theoretical model contingent to the terrorist event at stake – The Sensational Image of Terrorism Ethical Decision-Making Model (SITE-DMM). The thesis methodologically utilizes a qualitative comparative content analysis research design, analyzing a purposive sample of 144 sensational images from three Arab online media (Al-Ahram newspaper, Electronic Intifada, and Al-Jazeera.net TV); and three American online media (The New York Times newspaper, San Francisco Sentinel.com, and CNN.com TV) in order to examine the ethicality of publishing sensational images about this terrorist event in both the Arab and American media. Following a systematic analysis, guided by the suggested theoretical model – SITE-DMM, the findings provide a comprehensive understanding of the ethicality of the Arab and American sensational images during the coverage of the 2008-2009 War on Gaza.

During the 2008-2009 War on Gaza between Hamas and Israel, the Arab and American media published various sensational images of this terrorist event. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate and examine the ethicality of the Arab and American sensational images when covering a terrorist event perpetuated by the Other. The thesis draws on Aristotle’s theory of communication and virtue theory (fourth century B.C.), William James’s theory of truth (1907), as well as on contemporary theories, approaches and concepts in order to provide a philosophical and theoretical foundation of ethical publication of sensational images. As well, it looks into various definitions of terrorism, analyzes the Arab and American media codes of ethics, and benefits from relevant decision-making models. It has, therefore, established a theoretical model contingent to the terrorist event at stake – The Sensational Image of Terrorism Ethical Decision-Making Model (SITE-DMM). The thesis methodologically utilizes a qualitative comparative content analysis research design, analyzing a purposive sample of 144 sensational images from three Arab online media (Al-Ahram newspaper, Electronic Intifada, and Al-Jazeera.net TV); and three American online media (The New York Times newspaper, San Francisco Sentinel.com, and CNN.com TV) in order to examine the ethicality of publishing sensational images about this terrorist event in both the Arab and American media. Following a systematic analysis, guided by the suggested theoretical model – SITE-DMM, the findings provide a comprehensive understanding of the ethicality of the Arab and American sensational images during the coverage of the 2008-2009 War on Gaza.

During the 2008-2009 War on Gaza between Hamas and Israel, the Arab and American media published various sensational images of this terrorist event. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate and examine the ethicality of the Arab and American sensational images when covering a terrorist event perpetuated by the Other. The thesis draws on Aristotle’s theory of communication and virtue theory (fourth century B.C.), William James’s theory of truth (1907), as well as on contemporary theories, approaches and concepts in order to provide a philosophical and theoretical foundation of ethical publication of sensational images. As well, it looks into various definitions of terrorism, analyzes the Arab and American media codes of ethics, and benefits from relevant decision-making models. It has, therefore, established a theoretical model contingent to the terrorist event at stake – The Sensational Image of Terrorism Ethical Decision-Making Model (SITE-DMM). The thesis methodologically utilizes a qualitative comparative content analysis research design, analyzing a purposive sample of 144 sensational images from three Arab online media (Al-Ahram newspaper, Electronic Intifada, and Al-Jazeera.net TV); and three American online media (The New York Times newspaper, San Francisco Sentinel.com, and CNN.com TV) in order to examine the ethicality of publishing sensational images about this terrorist event in both the Arab and American media. Following a systematic analysis, guided by the suggested theoretical model – SITE-DMM, the findings provide a comprehensive understanding of the ethicality of the Arab and American sensational images during the coverage of the 2008-2009 War on Gaza.

How do states perceive threats? Why are material forces sometimes more prominent in shaping threat perception, whereas ideational ones are key in other instances? This study aims to move beyond the task of determining whether material or ideational factors offer a more plausible explanation by arguing that threat perception is a function of the interplay between material factors and state identity, the influence of which can run both ways. Based on ‘analytical eclecticism’, I develop a two-layered conception of security as both physical and ontological, in which the interaction of ideational and material forces can be analysed. Ontological security is intimately connected with identity; its pursuit, therefore, requires distinctiveness and differentiation from the ‘Other’ as well as a coherent and consistent identity narrative at the domestic level. Physical security, on the other hand, involves the identification of threats that constitute a danger to the survival of the state. While ontological and physical security spheres have distinct dynamics and processes, they constitute two interrelated layers. Accordingly, I argue that states can suffer from ontological insecurity while their physical security remains intact, and vice versa. In some instances, physical security and its corresponding material forces condition identity narratives while in other instances the causal arrow points in the other direction. To illustrate these processes, I present a ‘structured, focused’ comparison of Syrian and Saudi threat perceptions during three major wars in the region: the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988), the 2006 Lebanon War, and the 2009 Gaza War. While providing novel insights for explaining the dynamics of threat perception in the Middle East, this study contributes to the broader IR literature by proposing a conceptual framework that links the literature on Self/Other relations, ontological security, and realism in IR theory. This study thus demonstrates the potential utility of bringing IR theory and the Middle East as an area study into closer dialogue.

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This sociological study explores the past and current higher education (HE) experience of educationalists at Gaza’s universities and how this experience may be evolving in the shifting socio-political context in the Arab World. The thesis is motivated by three questions: 1. What are the perspectives of academic staff in the Faculties of Education at Gaza’s universities on their own past HE experiences? 2. What are the perspectives of students and their lecturers (academic staff) in the Faculties of Education at Gaza’s universities on students’ current HE experiences? 3. How do educationalists in the Faculties of Education at Gaza’s universities perceive the shifting socio-political context in the Arab World, and what current or future impact do they think it will have on the education context at Gaza’s universities? To examine these questions, I conducted an inductive qualitative study. Using 36 in-depth, semi- structured interviews which lasted between (90-300 min), I collected data from educationalists (15 academic staff; 21 students) at two of Gaza’s universities. Due to difficulties of access to the Gaza Strip, the participants were interviewed via Skype from Cambridge. Informed by the literature review, and triangulated with other research activities, such as reviewing participants’ CVs, browsing universities websites, and keeping a reflective journal, a thematic analysis was conducted on the interview data. Theoretically, although this study has benefited from conceptual insights, such as those found in Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed and in Pierre Bourdieu’s work on symbolic violence, it is a micro-level study, which is mainly data driven. The findings of this research show that in the past, educationalists were relatively more passive in terms of shaping their HE experiences, despite efforts to become resilient. In the present, students and their lecturers continue to face challenges that impact negatively on their participation and everyday life at Gaza’s universities. However, how the HE experience will evolve out of this context in the future is uncertain. The Arab Spring revolutions have had an influence on Gaza HE institutions’ campuses as they have triggered more awareness of students’ grievances and discontent. Because of some political and educational barriers, however, students’ voices are a cacophony; they remain split between “compliance” and resistance (Bourdieu, 1984, p. 471; Swartz, 2013, p. 39). Previously, Sara Roy (1995) rightly indicated a structure of “de-development” in the Gaza Strip (p.110). The findings from this research show that the impact of occupation and of the changes in the Arab World on the educational context in Gaza are more complex than previously thought. There is a simultaneous process of construction and destruction that is both external and internal to educationalists and which undermines academic work at Gaza’s universities. Based on this, the study concludes by explaining six implications of this complex structure for academic practice at Gaza’s universities, offering nine policy recommendations for HE reform, and highlighting six areas for future research.