https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8958-7455
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Abstract
The study of an Arabic newspaper published by the British during World War II shows how photographs played an important role in the propaganda campaign to gain Arab support in the Middle East. While the newspaper purported to cover the war, in actuality, the content contained mostly cultural photographs that contributed to the Allies’ implementation of psychological warfare, particularly emphasizing Arab identity, lifestyle in England, development in the Arab World, and the solid Arab–Allies relationship. The results of this study demonstrate how photographs played an important role in the propaganda machine, which, in this case, was intended to positively impress Arabs and Muslims in the Arabian Peninsula and turn them against the Axis.
Disclosure Statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 Zillmann, Knobloch, and Yu, Effects of Photographs on the Selective Reading of News Reports.
2 Griffin, Media images of war.
3 Allbeson and Oldfield, War, Photography, Business, 96.
4 Vettel-Becker, Destruction and Delight, 82.
5 Gorrara, What the Liberator Saw, 305.
6 Pratkanis and Aronson, Age of Propaganda, 9.
7 Wollaeger, Modernism, Media, and Propaganda.
8 Lasswell, The Theory of Political Propaganda, 627.
9 Jowett and O’Donnell, Propaganda and Persuasion, 4.
10 Onley, Britain and the Gulf Shaikhdoms, 1820–1971, 1.
11 Ibid.
12 Zuhur, Saudi Arabia, 44.
13 Zürcher, Jihad and Islam in World War I, 14.
14 Ibid., 21.
15 Ibid., 22.
16 Arsenian, Wartime Propaganda in the Middle East, 423.
17 Hurst, Letter to Bertram Thomas, 1.
18 Thomas, Report on Tour of Middle East Publicity Centers, 1.
19 Hurst, Letter to Bertram Thomas, 1.
20 Ibid.
21 Ibid.
22 Ibid.
23 Ibid., 2.
24 Jenks, British Propaganda and News Media in the Cold War, 12.
25 Ibid.
26 Msaddek, BBC Arabic (1938–1995).
27 Allday, The Establishment of BBC Arabic & Egyptian ‘Nahwy’.
28 Ibid.
29 Ibid.
30 Herf, Nazi Germany’s Propaganda, 715.
31 Stephenson, Between Modern and National Education.
32 Ochsenwald, The Transformation of Education in the Hijaz, 1925–1945; Stephenson, Between Modern and National Education.
33 Allday, An A-Z of Arabic propaganda, 3; Thomas, Report on tour of Middle East publicity centers.
34 Wollaeger, Modernism, Media, and Propaganda, 3.
35 Felmy and Warlimont, German Exploitation of Arab Nationalist Movements.
36 Herf, Nazi Germany’s Propaganda; Felmy and Warlimont, German Exploitation of Arab Nationalist Movements; Hirszowicz, The Third Reich and the Arab East.
37 Posters that MOI produced relied on a greyscale photos. Some of the posters, such as the A-Z Arabic propaganda incorporated colors as well. Each poster used an Arabic aphabet in red color and yellow background along with a greyschal phone and a photo caption. The Ha’a [H] alphbet showed a photo of Hitler with a photo caption that described Hitler as the “Ado’w Allah Al-ladud and wa Ado’w Al-basharyah Ala’tham” [The sworn enemy of Allah and greatest enmy of humanity]. Children short illustrated stories, ‘Ahmad and Jonny’ also appeared in colors, highlight the friendship between Arabs and the British (See: Allday, An A-Z of Arabic Propaganda).
38 Akhbar Al-Harb Wal-Alam, The British broadcast records the Arab army talks, 2-3.
39 Winter, The Virtual ‘Caliphate’.
40 Winter, Apocalypse, Later, 110.
41 Goffman, Frame Analysis, 10–11.
42 Gamson, Construction Social Protest, 65.
43 Entman, Framing, 52.
44 Ibid., 53.
45 Kress and Van Leeuwen, Reading Images, 203–204.
46 Thomas, Report on tour of Middle East publicity centers, 2.
47 Quran 9:18, The Nobel Quran.
48 Hurst, Letter to Bertram Thomas, 2.
49 Olmstead, Britain in the Islamic world imperial and post-imperial connections, 204.
50 Hurst, Letter to Bertram Thomas, 2.
51 Ibid., 1.
52 Thomas, Report on tour of Middle East publicity centers, 1.
53 Cope et al., Image Impact in Print Media.
54 Barthes, Image Music Text, S. Heath, 41.
55 Ibid., 40.
56 Ibid., 41.
57 Thomas, A Note on Hurst Questionnaire, 1.
58 Thomas, Report on Tour of Middle East publicity centers, 1.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Ali A. Dashti
Ali A. Dashti, Mass Communication & Media Department, Gulf University for Science and Technology, Hawally 32093, Kuwait. 0000-0002-8958-7455
Yasser A. Abdelrahim
Yasser A. Abdelrahim, School of Communication and Culture, Royal Roads University, 2005 Sooke Rd, Victoria, B Victoria, British Columbia V9B 5Y2, Canada, E-mail: [email protected]. 0000-0003-2927-477X
Ahmad A. Dashti
Ahmad A. Dashti, Mass Communication Department, Kuwait University
Ali A. Al-Kandari
Ali A. Al-Kandari, Mass Communication & Media, Department, Gulf University for Science and Technology, Hawally 32093, Kuwait
John Hayes
John Hayes, Management, Marketing and International Business Department, Palm Beach Atlantic University, 901 S Flagler Drive, West Palm Beach, Florida, 33401, United States of America
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