29 - 30 November
29 - 30
November2025
Conference
International Media and the War on Gaza: Modalities of Discourse and the Clash of Narratives
Conference Program
08:00 - 10:00
| Registration | 08:00-09:00 |
Opening Session |
09:00-09:15 |
| Dr. Mehdi Riazi, Professor and Associate Dean for Research at the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar | 09:05-09:10 |
| Dr. Mohammed Mukhtar Al Khalil, Director of Al Jazeera Centre for Studies | 09:10-09:15 |
Keynote SpeakerDr. Jairo Lugo-Ocando, Dean of the College of Communication at the University of Sharjah The Role of Social Media Networks in the Ideologisation of Discourse and the Spread of Disinformation Moderator: Dr. Rashid Yahiaoui, Director of the Department of Language, Culture and Communication at the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar |
09:15-09:45 |
| Discussion | 09:45-10:00 |
10:00-11:45
Session One: Modality of Discourse and the Clash of Narratives in International Media
Moderator: Khadija Bengana, Presenter at Al Jazeera News Channel
| Paper Title | Speaker | Time |
| The Deconstruction of the Colonial Perspective in Communication and Media Studies | Dr. Nacereddine Alayadi, Professor of Higher Education at the Faculty of Information and Communication Sciences, University of Algiers | 10:00-10:15 |
| Dr. Noureddine Miladi, Professor of Media and Communication, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman | 10:15-10:30 | |
| Disrupting the Colonial Narrative: A Comparative Critical Discourse Analysis of the October 7 Coverage in American Media | Dr. Nader Dagher, Assistant Professor of Communication at Austin Peay State University, Tennessee | 10:30-10:45 |
| The Lexical and Semantic Structure of Discourse in Foreign Arabic-Language News Sites Covering the War on Gaza | Dr. Monia Abidi, Professor with university habilitation at the Faculty of Arts, Letters and Humanities, University of Manouba, Tunisia | 10:45-11:00 |
| Words as Weapons: How the New York Times and Al Jazeera English Shaped the Narratives of the 2023 & 2025 Gaza Ceasefires | Abdel Karim Haddad, Lecturer in English Language and Translation Studies, Hebron University, Palestine
Saja Bakri, Researcher and translator |
11:00-11:15 |
| Discussion | 11:15-11:45 | |
11:45- 12: 00
Break
12:00- 13: 30
Session Two: News Models in the Coverage of the War on Gaza
Moderator: Dr. Mahmoud Muhammad Alhirthani, Assistant Professor of Translation and Intercultural Communication at the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar
| Paper Title | Speaker | Time |
| Visual Framing and Its Role in Reinforcing or Obscuring Narratives | Dr. Hala Guta, Head of Mass Communication Department, Qatar University | 12:00-12:15 |
| Deconstructing Western Media Discourse on War: A Comparative Study of Coverage of the War on Gaza and the Russia–Ukraine War | Dr. Lahcen El Hassnaoui, Associate Professor of International Relations at Cadi Ayyad University, Morocco | 12:15-12:30 |
| Post-2023 Gaza: How independent media complicate the narrative, and what legacy outlets can learn | Sanne Christine Breimer, Researcher in Communication Sciences and Media | 12:30-12:45 |
| The Impact of the Political Environment on Media Coverage Trends of the War on Gaza (A Case Study of Israeli Media) | Dr. Farid Abu Dheir, Assistant Professor at the Department of Communication and Digital Media, Faculty of Media, An-Najah National University, Palestine | 12:45-13:00 |
| Discussion | 13:00-13:30 | |
13:30 - 15: 00
Break
15:00 - 16:30
Session Three: Propaganda Discourse and Its Impact on Global Public Opinion
Moderator: Dr. Ghanimeh El Taweel, Department of Language, Culture and Communication at the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar
| Paper Title | Speaker | Time |
| Patterns of Propaganda in Israeli and Western Media during the War on Gaza | Dr. Manal Mazahreh, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Mass Communication, University of Petra, Jordan | 15:00-15:15 |
| The Media Discourse of the Palestinian Resistance and its Impact on International Public Opinion:Abu Obaida as an Example | Dr. Fatima Alsmadi, Senior Researcher at Al Jazeera Centre for Studies | 15:15-15:30 |
| Misleading Discourse: A Reading of Israeli Propaganda Models in Western Media | Mohamed Toum Basheer, Researcher, Language Instructor and Professional Translator | 15:30-15:45 |
| Discussion | 15:45-16:15 | |
09:00 - 09:45
Keynote SpeakerWadah Khanfar, President of Al Sharq Forum and Former Director General of Al Jazeera Media Network The Grand Narratives of Western Media in Covering the War on Gaza: Manifestations of Political and Ideological Domination Moderator: M’Hamed Krichen, Presenter at Al Jazeera News Channel |
09:00-09:30 |
| Discussion | 09:30-09:45 |
09: 45 - 11:30
Session Four: The Role of Media in Genocide: Strategies of Discourse and Its Theses
Moderator: M’Hamed Krichen, Presenter at Al Jazeera News Channel
| Paper Title | Speaker | Time |
| Journalists under Fire: The Lived Experiences of Palestinian Journalists after October 7, 2023 | Dr. Wael Abdelal, Assistant Professor at the Department of Mass Communication, Qatar University
Dr. Hala Guta, Head of Mass Communication Department, Qatar University |
09:45-10:00 |
| War between Concealment and Revelation: Iraq in the Narrative of The Gulf War Did Not Take Place and Gaza in Competing Networked Narratives | Dr. Bouchra Zougagh, Researcher and Professor of Sociology | 10:00-10:15 |
| Genocide in Headlines: A Corpus-Assisted Critical Discourse Analysis of Arabic and English Media in War Reporting on Gaza | Shahd Anwar Abu Mahfouz, Researcher in Audio-Visual Translation and Media Studies | 10:15-10:30 |
| The Structure of Hate Speech in Israeli and International Media | Dr. Nihad Al-Sheikh Khalil, Associate Professor of the History of the Palestinian Cause and the Arab-Israeli Conflict at the Islamic University of Gaza | 10:30-10:45 |
| Narrative Annihilation: Counter-Strategies for Amplifying Palestinian Voices in the War on Gaza | Belal Doufesh, Lecturer at the Department of Media, Birzeit University, Palestine
Dr. Hamdi Echkaou, Assistant Professor in the Department of Media and Communication at Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane |
10:45-11:00 |
| Discussion | 11:00-11:30 | |
11:30 -12:00
Break
12:00 - 13: 45
Session Five: Social Networks and Content Production Strategies During the War
Moderator: Dr. Fatima Alsmadi, Senior Researcher at Al Jazeera Centre for Studies
| Paper Title | Speaker | Time |
| Social Media Networks and the Impact of Grand Narratives on Public Opinion | Dr. Ibrahim Abusharif, Associate Professor in Residence in the Journalism and Strategic Communication Programme, Northwestern University in Qatar | 12-00-12:15 |
| Facebook as a Tool for Narrative Control: Critical Discourse Analysis of “Israel Speaks Arabic” Coverage of War on Gaza | Dr. Eman Barakat, Associate Professor of Translation Studies at the University of Science and Technology, Yemen | 12:15-12:30 |
| Social Media Policies and the Digital Erasure of Palestinian Content | Dr. Marc Owen Jones, Associate Professor of Media Analysis at Northwestern University in Qatar | 12:30-12:45 |
| Digital Censorship as a Parallel Legal Authority: A Legal and Social Analysis of the Role of Social Networks in the War on Gaza | Dr. Islam Helal, Researcher in the Sociology of Law and Religion | 12:45-13:00 |
| Framing Genocide: Western Media’s Lexical Strategies and the Politics of Euphemism | Omar Kouiyache, Researcher in Communication Sciences and Media | 13:00-13:15 |
| Discussion | 13:15-13:45 | |
13:45 - 15:00
Break
15:00- 16:30
Session Six: The Social Responsibility of Media during Wars and Crises
Moderator: Salma Aljamal, Presenter at Al Jazeera News Channel
| Paper Title | Speaker | Time |
| The Role of Media in Documenting War Crimes and its Influence on the Upholding of International Law | Dr. May Abdallah, Research Professor of Information and Communication Sciences and an active volunteer in civil work in Lebanon and the Arab world | 15:00-15:15 |
| Professional Ethics in War and Conflict Coverage | Dr. Mutaz al-Khatib, Director of the Master’s Programme in Applied Islamic Ethics at the College of Islamic Studies, Hamad Bin Khalifa University | 15:15-15:30 |
| Conflict Resolution in Media: The Dilemma of Balancing Professional Ethics and Serving Agendas | Dr. Wafaa Abouchakra, Professor of Higher Education at the Faculty of Media, Lebanese University, Lebanon | 15:30-15:45 |
| Media Shaping of Human Rights in Times of War: Newsworthiness and the Discursive Construction of Humanitarian Convoy Coverage to Gaza in International Media Narratives | Dr. Chahira Ben Abdallah, Assistant Professor at the Institute of Press and Information Sciences, Tunisia | 15:45-16:00 |
| Discussion | 16:00-16:30 | |
16:30 - 17: 00