Unfolding October 7th and its aftermath in Israel

Early Saturday morning October 7th, Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist organizations from the Gaza Strip initiated a surprise attack on neighboring Israel. During the first few hours of the attack, the Israeli mass media found itself in the dark with formal traditional sources inaccessible or uninformed. However, by using non-traditional reporting techniques, the Israeli media succeeded in making sense of the happenings early on and played an important role in informing civilians and security forces alike on both the big picture and the specific details of the attack. Indeed, the media served as one of the main sources of information for civilians and security forces, enabling them to make informed real-time life-saving decisions.

In the aftermath of the attack, Israeli society found itself in a complex situation that included a war in Gaza, hostages, evacuees from the South and North of Israel, international pressures and boycotts, an escalation of fighting on multiple fronts, and the economic costs of war. These complexities serve as an additional layer to the highly engaged political debate in Israeli society that has seen mass demonstrations and five national elections in the past five years. Indeed, it seems Israelis are currently debating their most fundamental beliefs and ideas.This lecture will focus on the Israeli media and the role they played in the first hours of the attack, and on the aftermath of the attack in Israeli society.

Prof. Dr. Baruch Shomron is the Israel Professor in Communication Science at the Department of Communication at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. His research focuses on the relationship between media usage, representations, and access, and their relation to justice, human rights, and capabilities, especially regarding marginalized populations. He has published close to a score of studies in leading scientific journals examining the media opportunities of various groups such as Israeli Arabs, ultra-Orthodox Jews, migrants and refugees, as well as people with various health conditions. His co-authored book: „Digital Capabilities: ICT Adoption in Marginalized Communities in Israel and the West Bank“ was recently published by Palgrave Macmillan.

This lecture will be held in English language/ Vortrag in englischer Sprache