Selective Humanitarianism: Western Media Bias and the Silencing of Gaza

Abstract

This study examines how Western mainstream media represented the genocide in Gaza and how these representations produced a form of selective humanitarianism during the period between October 2024 and October 2025, when international debates surrounding the conflict intensified. The study analyzes 160 news, analysis, and feature articles, along with associated visual materials, published by major Western media outlets, namely The New York Times, BBC, CNN, and The Guardian. The analysis draws on framing theory, Critical Discourse Analysis, and postcolonial theoretical perspectives. Three recurring discursive patterns emerge: (1) the systematic invisibilization of Palestinian civilian suffering through depersonalized language, passive constructions, and selective sourcing; (2) the persistent deployment of conflict and equivalency frames that neutralize the structural power asymmetry between Israel and Palestine; and (3) the disproportionate amplification of Israeli victimhood through emotionally charged narratives that render some lives more grievable than others. Within international public discourse, these patterns contribute to broader mechanisms of epistemic injustice, rendering Palestinian experiences less visible, less credible, and ultimately less politically consequential. The article concludes that identifying and interrogating these discursive processes is essential for advancing a more ethically consistent and egalitarian international media paradigm.

Keywords

• Selective Humanitarianism
• Gaza Genocide
• Framing
• Discourse Analysis
• Epistemic Injustice

Seçici İnsancılık: Batı Medyasının Önyargısı ve Gazze'nin Susturulması

Abstract

Bu çalışma, Batı ana akım medyasının, çatışmaya ilişkin uluslararası tartışmaların yoğunlaştığı Ekim 2024–Ekim 2025 döneminde Gazze’deki soykırımı nasıl temsil ettiğini ve bu temsiller aracılığıyla nasıl bir seçici insaniyetçilik ürettiğini incelemektedir. Çalışma kapsamında, önde gelen Batılı medya kuruluşlarında yayımlanan 160 haber, analiz ve feature türündeki makale ile görsel materyal analiz edilmiştir. İncelenen medya kuruluşları The New York Times, BBC, CNN ve The Guardian’dır. Araştırmada çerçeveleme teorisi, eleştirel söylem analizi ve sömürge sonrası kuramsal yaklaşımlar birlikte kullanılmıştır. Analiz sonucunda üç tekrarlayan söylemsel örüntü ortaya çıkmaktadır: (1) kişiliksizleştirilmiş dil, edilgen yapılar ve seçici kaynak kullanımı yoluyla Filistinli sivillerin acılarının sistematik biçimde görünmezleştirilmesi; (2) İsrail ile Filistin arasındaki yapısal güç dengesizliğini etkisizleştiren çatışma ve eşdeğerlik çerçevelerinin sürekli yeniden üretilmesi; ve (3) bazı hayatları diğerlerinden daha “yas tutulabilir” kılan duygusal olarak yoğun anlatılar aracılığıyla İsrail mağduriyetinin orantısız biçimde öne çıkarılması.Bu söylemsel eğilimler, uluslararası kamuoyunda Filistinlilerin deneyimlerini daha az görünür, daha az güvenilir ve siyasal olarak daha az anlamlı hale getiren epistemik adaletsizlik mekanizmalarını beslemektedir. Makale, bu süreçlerin görünür kılınmasının, ahlaki açıdan daha tutarlı ve eşitlikçi bir uluslararası medya paradigmasının geliştirilmesi açısından hayati önem taşıdığı sonucuna varmaktadır.

Keywords

• Seçici İnsaniyetçilik
• Gazze Soykırımı
• Çerçeveleme
• Söylem Analizi
• Epistemik Adaletsizlik

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