"They saw a terrorist" - Responses of Jewish-Israeli viewers to an interview with a palestinian terrorist

This study examines the responses of Jewish-Israeli viewers to an interview broadcast on Israel's national public TV network with a female Palestinian terrorist, caught by Israeli security services on her way to perform a suicide bombing in Israel. Viewers' (N = 47) written accounts of the viewing experience were qualitatively analyzed and found to reflect two conflicting representations of the terrorist in the interview. Some of the viewers' accounts corresponded to the hegemonic animosity frame, through which the terrorist was perceived as malicious, immoral, murderous, and as arousing anger, hate, and contempt. Still, other accounts corresponded with a more humanizing frame, through which the terrorist was seen as fragile, suffering, and sympathetic. Maybe the most striking result of this study is that the personalized portrayal of the Palestinian terrorist elicited-in 60% of the viewers-positive emotions toward her. This finding leads to the elaboration, in the Discussion section, of the possible effects of personalized media portrayals of non-terrorist opponents on improving intergroup attitudes and promoting peace in protracted conflict.