Publication Date

2014

Document Type

Thesis

Committee Members

R. William Ayers (Committee Member), Karen Lahm (Committee Member), Vaughn Shannon (Committee Chair)

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Abstract

This study assesses the impact of changing narratives on public opinion toward the Palestine-Israel conflict. In contrast to other U.S.-Israel relations studies, but in accordance with some media influence and public opinion research, this study emphasizes the potential role of American public opinion in shaping U.S.-Israel relations. Furthermore, this study attempts to attribute the pro-Israel American attitude shown in Gallup polls to the lack of information about the Palestine-Israel conflict in American mainstream media. This study tests whether public opinion will shift after being exposed to different narratives that falls under one of three major perceptions reported in the current rhetoric regarding the Palestinian-Israeli conflict: 1) Israelis are the victims of Palestinian aggression 2) Israel is a geo-strategic ally of the U.S. in a hostile region, 3) Israel, like the United States, is a liberal democracy. This research includes three primary source surveys to test the impact of biased narratives and unconventional information about Palestine and Israel on public opinion toward the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Page Count

124

Department or Program

Department of Political Science

Year Degree Awarded

2014

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.


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