The Struggle for Survival and Security in the Middle East: An Ethnological Observation of public discourse in Israel

ESU, AIDE

2009-01-01

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Abstract

This paper examines the construction of public discourse: by Mossad officials, Shin Bet commanders, high ranking officials, Military Judges and ‘war heroes’ of the Israeli Defence Force. It is based on field observation on the Shurat Hadin Law Center travel tour to Israel in a self-styled “eight day exploration of Israel’s struggle for survival and security in the Middle East.” I analyse how the position of the speakers in the military and the political hierarchy, and the places where the speeches are performed - a military museum, military bases, the Defence Ministry, Military Court Houses, military observation stations - influence, shape the discourses, and set the limits for the narration about wars, battlefields, military technology and media argumentations. The participatory approach to the study of these speeches serves to highlight the social representation and the performance of public discourse. This methodology also helps to reveal details such as body language, the variations of public speech and audience reactions. Frame analysis is particularly useful for gathering all of these dimensions of public discourse, the military-political and social construction of the conflict, the narration of the ‘self’ and the denial of the ‘other.