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This thesis explores how religiously motivated handshake refusals are framed in 16 news articles from Arab, Israeli, and European media, focusing on two cases: Israeli singer Yuval Dayan’s 2022 refusal to shake hands with U.S. President Biden, and Syrian interim leader Ahmad al-Sharaa’s 2025 refusal to shake hands with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. Using qualitative content analysis and Entman’s framing theory, supported by postcolonial theory, the study reveals significant regional differences in how these gestures are framed.

Israeli media largely framed Dayan’s act as legitimate and apolitical, while casting al-Sharaa’s as ideologically suspect. Haaretz offered a more nuanced portrayal of al-Sharaa’s gesture, while The Times of Israel did not address the gesture and framed him as a security threat. Arab media varied: Al Jazeera contextualized Dayan’s gesture religiously while critiquing Western and Arab media for selective critisim, noting how similar gestures by other Muslim women have often been politicized. It also employed satire to underscore the double standards in media reactions regarding al-Sharaa’s gesture. Al Arabiya reported neutrally on al-Sharaa, emphasizing cultural interpretation and the broader diplomatic context, but did not cover Dayan’s gesture. European outlets framed al-Sharaa’s act as symbolically significant: Politico emphasized gender and diplomatic implications, questioning his reformist image, while the Daily Mail focused on his jihadist past in a more sensational tone. Both, however, entirely overlooked Dayan’s gesture.

The findings suggest that media do not only report religious gestures—they construct their meaning in ways that reinforce hierarchies of legitimacy based on identity, religion, and geopolitical alignment. Across all regions, culturally proximate actors were often legitimized, while similar gesture from politically contested or less aligned contexts faced heightened scrutiny.