The mental image of the human rights organizations concerned with the affairs of prisoners among the Palestinian public

Abstract

This study aimed to explore the Palestinian audiences’ perceptions about the role of local and international human rights organizations that defend the rights of prisoners. It, also, aimed to examine the extent to which these audiences depend on the media when they seek to collect information and form an attitude towards such organizations. Furthermore, the study examined the extent to which the Palestinian audiences trust these organizations, and it looked at the positive and negative effects of their activities.

This research is descriptive and it is informed by Media system dependency theory. For the purpose of the study, a survey of media outlets was conducted and a questionnaire was designed. The sample of the study is composed of 169 Palestinian peoples.

The results have shown that the majority of the respondents (more than 87%) pay attention to human rights organizations’ activities. In addition, the study has revealed that the majority of the sample depend on media outlets to get information about these originations. Digital media outlets come in the first place as (75.5%) of the respondents use them to collect information about the role of these organizations in supporting prisoners. Then, this study emphasizes that the media have played a significant and powerful role in shaping the audiences’ perceptions of human rights organizations as defenders of Palestinian prisoners’ rights.

Regarding the tendencies of the respondents towards the local organizations that are concerned with the question of prisoners compared to the international ones, the results have shown that the local originations come first as (59%) of the sample tend to support them while (40.7%) tend to admire the international organizations rather than the local bodies.

  According to the study, (40.9%) of the respondents are reported to be neutral /dissatisfied with the activities that are carried out by local organizations to defend the Palestinian prisoners whereas (59%) of the sample have neutral /negative perceptions of the role of the international organizations. These rates are high and bear unsatisfactory indicators that should not be overlooked.

Finally, the study recommends that media outlets should pay more attention to the activities and the events that are organized by human rights organizations and highlight them. Also, it recommends that both media and human rights organizations cooperate to promote positive ideas, correct negative impressions and change neutral or negative attitudes adopted by audiences.