Journalism as Social Practice in Crisis
19
Links to Zionism and the settlement of the land also accompanied news descriptions of the
victims – a little girl from a long-established moshav
was eulogized thus: “This family personifies
the values of settling the land” (Ha’aretz, 6/3/96, p. A5); another victim had been active in the
Hagana (Yediot, 6/3/96, p. 8). The element also appears in news of the home village of the Israeli
Arab caught after transporting the bomber to the area (both papers, 10/3/96). There, Hamas declared
its target to be Zionist Israel (Yoel Markus, Ha’aretz, 5/3/96, p. B1; Ben Ami Fayat, Ha’aretz,
7/3/96, p. B2)
To summarize this analysis, we find a clear reference in the coverage to the master narrative
of the Holocaust and the revival of Israel as a response to the threat to the security and self
confidence of the Israeli people when facing this cruel attack. The external threat brings back the
known narrative of the Holocaust and the revival of Israel to the front. The story in the Israeli papers
is treated as "our" story. The attack in the center of Tel-Aviv and during a Jewish holiday creates a
very close cultural proximity that is clearly observed in the professional and cultural narratives
through chronicle and story layers, as well as a what-a-story frame and a return to the master
narrative of Zionism as the only answer to the threat of a reoccurrence of the Holocaust that is still a
real treat to the Jewish people around the world.
The Hebrew University Bombing from an Israeli Perspective
While the Dizengoff center bombing was conceived as a blow in the heart of the state of Israel the
Mount Scopus bombing was covered by the Israeli press as an event that took place in an area that is
not fully "ours." This is evident already in the professional narrative level because the what-a-story"
frame was applied to the place it happened rather than to the fact that it happened at all. And indeed
the titles referred mainly to the place: "The bomb exploded on the way to the examination in
Hebrew language" (Ha’aretz, 1.8.02, p. A1). "Seven dead in a bombing at the Hebrew University"
(Ha’aretz, 1.8.02, p. A1) There are indications that the incident is isolated to the area of the cafeteria
Convention