The Art of the Absurd?

The printed media's coverage of the artists' protest against performance beyond the Green Line

March 2011

Introduction

 In August 2010, the public theatres in Israel announced their intention to perform in the new cultural center in the settlement of Ariel. Consequently, 36 theatre personalities, among the most influential in Israel, published a letter calling on their superiors to restrict theatre activity to the sovereign borders of the State of Israel within the Green Line. The authors of the letter refused to perform in the settlement of Ariel or in any other settlement (August 26, 2010). This letter was widely covered in the mainstream Israeli press. A wave of responses to the protest arose from public figures, politicians and artists who objected to their fellow artists' dissent. This counter-protest also received widespread coverage in the mainstream media. With the opening of the cultural center in early November, the issue once again hit the headlines.

The artists' protest against performing beyond the Green Line, and the claims of those objecting to the dissent, represent a central split in Israeli society regarding the question of the settlements and their legitimacy. Notwithstanding, it is important to note the public sentiment and events surrounding the time the letter was published. This was a time of right-wing political dominance in the public and political spheres in Israel, two years after Operation Cast Lead in Gaza. During this time, de-legitimization of Israel increased throughout the world. Simultaneously, internal attacks against self-critics increased as well, prompting, for instance, a proposal to create an investigative committee in the Knesset against peace and human rights organizations. Additionally, many proposed pieces of legislation, which limit minority rights, characterized the political discourse during this period.

Precisely in these stormy days, it was appropriate for the free press in Israel to deliver to its consumers the variety of public opinions and to fairly cover the divisions in Israeli society, while presenting the necessary context. Unfortunately, we found this was not the case in our analysis of the media coverage of the artists' protest.

This research examines coverage of the artists' protest in the four major Israeli newspapers ("Yediot Aharonoth", "Ma'ariv", "Ha'aretz" and "Israel Hayom") between August 29 and 31, 2010, days when coverage of the protest letter made headline news.

This research examines two main issues in the topic's coverage. First, the manner in which the artists' position and objections to it were presented. Second, the manner in which the protesting artists' positions and the greater context of their protest was labeled.

We found that the coverage in three of the major newspapers was characterized by severe bending in the way the protest was presented, as opposed to the opposition to it. For the most part, these newspapers expressed total identification with the objectors to the protest. Additionally, the protest was labeled as illegitimate and inappropriate. Through abrupt use of a variety of editorial means, the protest was taken out of context and presented as an unacceptable, borderline-treasonous criticism of Israel.

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