ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the influence of the dominantly hawkish peer group. It shows how the rhetoric of a monopolistic news program on Israel's one TV channel is differently decoded by Israeli hawks and doves. Israeli hawks see the conflict as insoluble, "apocalyptic" rather than "serial," in short as a no-compromise, zero-sum game reflected in the relentlessness of the nightly news. Labor disputes and licensed demonstrations of kinds, closer in that they typically involve unequal contests. Even if the confrontation begins within the rules and for legitimate ends, the weaker side is often tempted to trespass the normative boundaries in order to attract media attention. The staging of a strike is a publicity-seeking ceremony and rules of coverage may incite strikers to excessive action. Media attention may then result, showing the bosses as rational and responsible, speaking from behind their desks, while the striking workers are shown in action, giving the impression of trouble making and lesser reasonableness.
