UNRAVELLING GLOBAL PERCEPTIONS OF THE 2023 ISRAEL- HAMAS CONFLICT: A DISCOURSE-HISTORICAL ANALYSIS OF TWEETS

Abstract

The current research focuses on examining the discursive strategies employed in Twitter discourse related to the 2023 Israel-Hamas war; social media content highlights and demonstrates how social, political, and historical contexts shape attitudes and frame ideologies. Using Wodak’s Discourse Historical Approach (DHA), the study examines leading figures of the discourse, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Joe Biden, as well as facilitators from reputable organizations and reactions from the public.

Utilizing four-level triangulatory analysis, the study examined how language on social media has been used to negotiate power dimensions, develop identities, and spread ideologies during global war. The focus of the study resides in examining linguistic elements that shape discursive strategies, in shaping public opinion by legitimizing existing ideologies, and creating moral binaries for competing parties. The critical analysis draws attention to how political figures utilize these linguistic strategies to produce a collective sense of belonging, moral legitimacy andsuperiority to dehumanize as well as indicating resisting actors. At the public discourse level, the study illustrates how social media platforms like Twitter amplify polarized views by providing a digital space to alter, restyle, and redefine geopolitical narratives in real time. The tweets from various users, categorized into pro-Israeli, pro-Palestinian, humanitarian concerns, and neutral positions, highlight how hashtags are utilized and how intensification or mitigation strategies are employed to express ideological attitudes more forcefully. The research reveals, through an analysis of intertextuality and interdiscursivity, how historical grievances and cultural memory are continually recontextualized in ways that resonate with emotional appeals and political affiliations. The study enhances our understanding of how perceptions of conflict are shaped and how online discourse can reinforce ideological differences, particularly during a time of rapid geopolitical change.