How the world talks about protests in the Middle East: A political scientist from the Faculty of Social Sciences of Charles University examines global media coverage and shows how Czech positions differ
How do media around the world frame protests in the Middle East? And what are the specific attitudes of Czech society and political elites towards Israel and Palestine? Tereza Plíštilová, a political scientist from the Institute of Political Studies FSV UK, is looking for answers. Her research combines international relations with the latest methods in computational social science. “Thanks to large language models, we can now analyze questions that we were previously unable to answer. It allows us to systematically compare how different parts of the world interpret the same events,” she says.
After completing her Master’s degree, she worked in the private sector for an international company focused on applied research. She focused primarily on Czech politics and public opinion polls. “I experienced burnout there to a certain degree. Then Covid came, which made a lot of people think differently,” she describes. At that time, she also realized that she was missing the topic that had accompanied her studies – the Middle East.
She is now completing her doctoral studies at FSV UK after five years. In her dissertation, she is interested in how protests in the Middle East are framed in the media around the world and whether they are presented as a legitimate fight for better conditions or, on the contrary, as a security threat. She uses large language models, which have fascinated her in recent years and are experiencing a rapid rise in the social sciences. Thanks to them, she was able to analyze a large number of texts – approximately three to four million articles published over the course of several years. “We didn’t have the ability to measure this easily before. It opens up new research possibilities and allows us to systematically compare how different parts of the world interpret the same events – not just protests, but also current conflicts and wars, such as the conflict in Gaza or Ukraine,” she says.
Her research results show, among other things, that if a protest takes place in the Middle East, it is significantly more likely to be framed as a security threat. “And on the other hand, there will be much less emphasis on the aspect of civil rights or legitimate demands of the people,” she notes. Interestingly, this pattern is not limited to Western media. “It is often explained away as some kind of Western bias, but we see in the data that it is not that simple. We see a systematic pattern across the world – even in Asia or in countries of the global South,” she explains.
Specifics of the Czech Republic
She and her colleagues have also been monitoring the attitudes of Czech society and political elites towards Israel and Palestine for a long time within the Peace Research Center Prague. The results of their latest research show that the Czech Republic is specific in the European context, perhaps even globally. While in some countries – including the United States – there have been significant shifts in public opinion in recent years, Czech attitudes remain relatively stable.
“At least within the European Union and even the United States, it is clear that public opinion is starting to change thanks to the protests in support of Gaza and the devastating war there. Support in society has shifted more to the Palestinian side, which was a historic moment. But we can also see this at the diplomatic level, where there has been renewed talk of recognizing Palestine at the UN. And some countries, such as France or Canada, actually did so last year. All of this is putting pressure on Israel to end the conflict or the ongoing violence, whether in Gaza or the West Bank,” she says.
In contrast, the Czech Republic, according to her, remains “in a certain vacuum.” “We see long-term uncritical support for Israel across the political spectrum. There is also no willingness to speak out on things that are objectively, although I don’t like the word, problematic. Despite numerous evidence from international and humanitarian organizations, the Czech political representation, regardless of what is happening, still expresses itself and behaves the same way,” she says. According to data, approximately a quarter of the Czech population holds rather pro-Israeli positions, and half of society remains without a clear opinion in the long term.
According to Plíštilová, there is no single reason for this. “There has been talk for a long time about the historical ties between the two states. For example, the influence of Tomáš G. Masaryk and his visit to Palestine, the story of arms supplies from Czechoslovakia to Israel in 1948, or Václav Havel’s influence on the reestablishment of diplomatic relations with Israel after the fall of communism are often repeated,” she explains.
“History was much more complicated, but this narrative of idyllic relations has been maintained here to this day,” she adds. According to her, the dynamics between elites and the public also play an important role: “From the theory of international relations, we know that when it comes to foreign policy issues, the public often takes so-called cues from political elites, which largely influence the opinions of individuals. We de facto do not have parliamentary parties here that would take a significantly more critical stance towards Israel. And this is of course reflected in how the public thinks about it in the long term.”
Experience from abroad
An important part of her academic career was also her foreign experience. As part of a Fulbright scholarship, she spent five months at Princeton University in the US, where she had the opportunity to collaborate with M. Beissinger, a leading expert on social movements and revolutions, and at the same time get involved in the daily functioning of the local academic community.
However, her stay also led her to reflect on the differences between academic cultures. “The funding of science there is incomparable – American universities allow us to do research that we would have difficulty finding funds for here. PhD students can afford field research practically anywhere in the world, or to do survey experiments, which is something that we usually cannot afford here.”
In addition to inspiration, she also perceived great competitiveness among her colleagues. “I often felt that people have a need to show off what they can do and how good they are, and that you don’t always know if they are really friendly to you or if it is just a polite gesture. That was not entirely comfortable for me.”
Support from more senior colleagues
Although applying for a doctoral degree at that time allowed her to return to deeper research on the Middle East, she openly admits that doctoral studies were not always an easy path: “You feel lost for a long time, you feel that your research does not make sense. But that is probably the experience of most doctoral students.”
One of the important motivational factors was the support from senior colleagues and involvement in research projects. Right from the beginning of her doctoral studies, she had the opportunity to work on major grant projects, for example within the GLOWIN project, at the Herzl Center for Israel Studies, and later at the Peace Research Center Prague.
According to her, an environment that can support young researchers and give them opportunities plays a crucial role. “Michal Smetana is a great boss – he gives opportunities not only to me, but to junior researchers in general. At the same time, I often see female colleagues in the academy having great doubts about themselves – that they are not good enough or do not deserve to be on the same panels as more experienced colleagues. This has made me think for a long time about how important it is to collaborate with people who believe in you and support you, and how crucial it is to choose a good supervisor. I have to admit that I was very lucky in both,” she praises.
She is currently preparing for her dissertation defense and is at the beginning of the next professional stage – she is looking for postdoctoral positions and considering whether to stay in the Czech Republic or continue abroad. According to her, an academic career brings a unique opportunity to focus on topics that make sense, but also a high level of uncertainty: “You never know where you will be in a year. It is exciting but also a little scary.”
