Today we will not cover the question on whether the state should exist at all, which is interesting but not the topic of todays lecture.
Let’s consider language that has been used so often that it basically amounts to state propaganda. The NOS, the dutch national broadcast platform refers to Gaza and Palestine as “the Gaza-strip.”
This is problematic since it is not neutral language. By choosing for “Gaza-strip” (dutch. “Gaza strook”) the broadcasting platform chooses to reinforce the illegal enprisoning of the wider Palestinian territories.
“Gaza strip” or “Gaza strook” used without any additional context, without stating that it is an illegal occupation normalizes the idea that there is a open-air prison in the world.
By using “gaza strip” the news platform has already resigned itself with the fate of the Palestinian population.
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