Summary:

This paper is an attempt to outline and illustrate the many facets of the Arab media's reaction to the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the profound emotions it stirred in so many Arabs and Arab journalists.

The analysis focuses on the multitude of Egyptian and Arab newspaper articles stored in the Arab-West Report archives that dealt primarily with the invasion and occupation of Iraq. The articles came from a wide selection of newspapers, magazines, and journals and usually reflected in both tone and content the socio-political sympathies and agendas of the contributing Arab periodicals themselves.

The analysis is divided into two parts. Part I intends to analyze the prominent topics of discussion found in Egyptian print media in regards to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Part II presents a breakdown of some of the general trends in Egyptian journalistic style regarding the Iraq war.

The analysis of prevalent topical topics of discussion found in Egyptian print media clearly shows that religion was the chief focus of nearly all journalism when discussing the war. Under the umbrella of religion, journalists focused on the following prevalent topics:

1. The International Christian community's almost categorical opposition to the war, excepting substantial portions of the US Christian community.

2. The numerous fatwás issued by Islamic clerics and the responses to those fatwás, as well as a general speculation of, and at times outright accusation of, the invasion being a crusade against the Ummah, or Islamic "nation".

3. The links between the Iraq situation and the situation in Palestine, and Zionism.

4. General expressions of anti-Semitism, predominantly in the form of virulent, unsubstantiated condemnations of a US and Israeli-engineered "Zionist conspiracy".

As for stylistic tendencies, this analysis identified the following prevalent stylistic trends:

1. The pervasive lack of credible and concrete sources casting considerable doubt on the accuracy of the events which Arab/Egyptian media chose to report.

2. Numerous ambiguous or erroneous citations and the tendency not to put quotations around the words of people interviewed and/or cited, thus creating confusion as to where one person's exact words stopped and the thoughts and opinions of the writer began.

3. A substantial over-generalization of groups and the numerous instances of strong generalization can be found in the articles, usually when referring to political and religious groups in the United States and Israel. Unsurprisingly, most gross examples of generalization can be found in reports on the "Zionists".

4. A thin analysis of Arab state interests in that Arab/Egyptian journalists never refrained from criticizing, sometimes harshly, the American, British, and Israeli governments, and virtually no criticism existed of the relationships that Arab governments such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, or Qatar, have with the United States.