Den svenska Israelbilden tar form : Kontextualiseringen av Israel i svensk press 1948

Sammanfattning

The view on Israel is a watershed in the Swedish political landscape. Its importance hasincreased in domestic politics because political parties use it to appeal to sympathizers andcast suspicion on political opponents. This study aims to give a historical perspective on theview on Israel in Sweden by analyzing the image of Israel that emerged in the Swedish presscoverage during its first year, 1948.The study poses three questions: How was Israel, and the developments surrounding itscreation, contextualized in the press? How were the various actors described? Can anyideological patterns be detected in the press coverage and, if so, which and why?A qualitative content analysis of editorials and news coverage in three leading newspapers,liberal Dagens Nyheter, conservative Svenska Dagbladet and social democratic Arbetet showthat the most common contextualization of Israel was in relation to the newly formed UN.This likely reflected Sweden's geopolitical situation after World War II; a small neutralcountry, neighboring the Soviet Union and dependent on international cooperation for itssecurity. The war between Israel and its neighbors exposed geopolitical tensions thatprevented the UN from acting. The need for a national Jewish home after the Holocaust wasstressed, but appeared to be subordinate to the concern for the UN, despite the fact that thegenocide had been stopped only three years earlier. The contextualization in relation to thePalestinian population and Israel's Arab neighbors expressed the position that increasedJewish influence in Palestine would benefit everyone, except the neighboring countries'authoritarian leaders.The result also demonstrates a significant asymmetry in how much and in what waydifferent actors in the conflict were described. Israel and Jews were described to asignificantly higher extent than Arab actors and in a predominantly positive way, while Arabactors were often described in a stereotypical and derogatory way. The UN was described asvery important, but weak, and the mediator Folke Bernadotte as competent but with verylittle room for manoeuvre.Finally, the findings indicate that the social democratic newspaper Arbetet was the mostpro-Israeli of the three newspapers examined. This was likely based on a perception ofideological kinship between Swedish social democracy and the socialistic aspects of Zionism.In comparison with today's political landscape, sympathies for Israel have shifted from theleft in 1948 to the right in 2026.