Separatists or terrorists? Jews or Nigerians?

Abstract

This study adopts a discourse analytical approach to examine the contested identity of the Igbos of the southeast of Nigeria. It analyses the significance of the social and political discourses in the media and the Internet about their claim to the Jewish ancestry and as “Biafrans” rather than Nigerians. The study highlights the implications of these claims and their larger political implications for Nigeria. The study also shows that ideological construction of group identity by IPOB consistently portrays them as the victim and the marginalized. And their claim to Jewish ancestry is possibly a way of seeking foreign support.

Disinformation and weaponized communication: The spread of ideological hate about the Macedonian name in Greece

“…exaggerating an event to favor the ingroup), fallacies (i.e. breaches of argumentation based on false analogies, and irrelevant arguments that aim to provoke people’s emotions), and the positive or negative comparison between the ingroup and the outgroup that can even promote the idea of victimization favoring one group against the other (Chiluwa and Chiluwa, 2020; Karyotakis, 2021; Van Dijk, 2000, see table 1). The bolded words and phrases in the study’s exemplars demonstrate these ideological beliefs and the italics explain the categories that the bolded phrases and words fall into.…”