Visual Representation, Propaganda and Cyberspace: The Case of the Palestinian Islamist Movements

Author(s)	Attila Kovacs
Contact	Attila Kovacs, Comenius University in Bratislava, Gondova 9, 814 99 Bratislava 1, Slovakia. E-mail: attkov@yahoo.com
Issue	CyberOrient, Vol. 9, Iss. 1, 2015, pp. 84-129
Published	May 10, 2015
Type	Article
Abstract	The article analyzes the changing position of the visual representation in the context of Islam from the starting point set up in the Qur’an and more specifically in the prophetic tradition to the theoretical positions of Islamic reformism and radicalism and the practice of Islamism movements. To understand this changing relationship is crucial for the research of ideology and propaganda of the contemporary Islamist movement. In the second part, the article illustrates this new position of images in the visual representations of Palestinian Islamist movements, specifically of Hamas – The Islamic Resistance Movement and its military wing the Brigades of the Martyr ‘Izz ad-Din al-Qassam, the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine and its military wing the Phalanges of Jerusalem and finally the Popular Resistance Committees and its military wing the Victorious Salah al-Din Brigades.
Keywords	identity, social media, media studies, websites, conflict, Internet studies, communication studies, Palestine