The late 1940s was a period in which images of Jewish people were prevalent in the news media because of the changes taking place in the Middle East in the days before, during, and immediately after the foundation of the state of Israel. The year 1947 was key as tensions mounted in Palestine and as clashes increased between Jewish agitators and the British troops overseeing the region. The state of israel would be created the following year, but in 1947 it was not at all certain what the outcome would be. An examination of articles from the period will show attitudes taken toward Jews and toward the tensions involving Jews in the Middle East.
In January of 1947, Jewish agitation in the region of Palestine was referred to as "terrorism." Those involves in actions against the British were referred to as "Jewish extremists." Newsweek reported that tensions were increasing between the British and the Jewish people of the area. The magazine notes that the British soldiers in the area saw themselves as individuals and not as instruments of british policy, while the Jewish agitators clearly did think of them as instruments of British policy. When a British soldier was killed, his fellows were embittered against the Jewish terrorists who had caused the death. The author goes out of his way to note that the feelings of the British are not anti-Semitic because the Arabs they support are also Semites. The Jews who are fighting the British and the Arabs are said to be part of a "secret army," and they are also said to be challenging "'the enemy,'" with the added quotation marks showing that Newsweek questions whether the British can be called "the enemy." Those Jewish leaders trying to reach an agreement with the British are referred to as "moderates" and as "responsible Zionist leaders."
An attack reported on in March is also called a terrorist act, and the article states: "The next day the British accepted the extremists' declara...