This comparative study analyzes the visual rhetoric of the Arab and Western political cartoons that originated during the Gaza War. It examines the complex interplay between visual rhetoric, framing perspectives, emotional appeals, and virality through the lens of Foss’s (2005) visual rhetoric model and two contrasting framing perspectives: Human Interest vs. Technical and Peace vs. War. We uncover pictorial discrepancies arising from the cartoonists’ ideological orientations and provide insights into the impact of political cartoons on audiences’ perceptions and sentiments, thereby unravelling the power of political cartoons during wars and political conflicts.
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