Palestinian journalists have only one story worth covering. The
events of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict generate a continuous
stream of material, as well as an insatiable demand for stories -
the subject accounts for nearly 90 percent of all news coverage in
the Occupied Territories and Palestinian journalists are now fully
occupied covering the events surrounding their nation's daily
struggle for existence.
This is not surprising given the nature of the situation here.
There is constant fuel for the media machine - breaches of human
rights at checkpoints, destruction of property, civilian deaths,
etc. The Israelis have effectively converted the Occupied
Territories into a prison where no one can move around freely, not
even for work or personal reasons. The economy is crumbling and
Palestinian cultural and social life is in ruins. Even sports news
here has a political slant. Stories normally include details of
Israeli measures taken to prevent a Palestinian player traveling
abroad or the need to postpone a soccer match because of a curfew.
When a Palestinian boxer won the bronze medal at the Asian Games in
South Korea last year, the foreign and Israeli media reported that,
despite his lack of access to adequate training facilities because
of curfews, he had managed to fly the Palestinian flag in Korea.
His personal dreams were seen to embody national dreams.
Freedom and Censorship
The Palestinian media have great freedom to document and publish
the daily events of this conflict. Journalists have no hesitation
about writing on this topic because they are sure the material will
be published. On the other hand, the coverage of some internal
Palestinian issues is heavily censored, with reports about the
occupation normally taking priority in newspapers and on radio or
TV.
It is no secret that there is more than one form of censorship in
the Palestinian media. There is political and social censorship and
there is personal and professional censorship, stemming from the
opinions and interests of the owners and managers of the different
media outlets.
Coverage of the conflict in the Palestinian media reflects the
opinions of different political spectrums within Palestinian
society. This sometimes includes not just exaggerated news reports,
but also the repetition of fundamentalist beliefs. The severity of
Israeli attacks and the inhumane occupation practices carried out
against Palestinians give some journalists the opportunity to write
stories which border on extremism. This is especially prevalent on
the local TV stations which proliferate - there are nine in Nablus
alone, and two local radio networks. Employees at local TV stations
will say, "As long as we are talking about occupying forces, who
have practiced different kinds of persecution and oppression
against our people for decades, what is the problem if we
exaggerate their aggressive deeds and incite resistance against
them?"
For example, last Ramadan, I saw a game show on a local TV channel
in which they asked about a Palestinian martyr who carried out an
attack near Haifa. The question was: Give the date of the attack
and the number of Jews killed. Of course, this question seemed
disgusting, so I called the manager and he said he hadn't noticed.
Then he confessed that it was a mistake, but said it was not one
worth mentioning, adding: "The Jewish people are killing our people
everyday, especially here in Nablus, and this is the least we can
do for them." Despite this, he promised that such an incident would
not happen again.
Media coverage in the Palestinian territories, like so many other
things, goes on in parallel with Israeli actions. When Palestinians
see nothing but occupation, settlements, destruction and blood,
their press naturally reflects that reality. The same is true when
they see hope glittering on the horizon - the Palestinian press is
eager to catch the breaking news, discuss it and raise a wider
debate about it.
Changing Attitudes to Attacks
Let us look at the issue of suicide attacks. They began in the
middle of the '90s, at the time when peace agreements were being
worked on and the Israelis were withdrawing from the occupied
cities. At that point, the Palestinian media showed no sympathy nor
gave any justification for those attacks, and criticized their
orchestrators. I published a story in Al-Ayyam newspaper in 1997
about an Islamic Jihad member who carried out a suicide attack in
Jerusalem, in which I described him as a desperate man. The next
day, the only people to object were his family.
I use this example to illustrate that a shift in attitudes has
occurred and to reflect on how Palestinian journalism deals with
the different issues of this conflict. When the cities were
re-occupied, the attitude of the press and the public made a
180-degree about-turn. In the present climate, no Palestinian
journalist can write critically about a suicide bombing, not only
because he fears the reactions from his peer group, but also
because he fears a society that now regards these bombing
operations as a positive measure, having lost faith in any peaceful
means to restore what was taken by force. Support among the
Palestinian population for suicide bombings was running at around
20 percent prior to the second Intifada. Following its outbreak,
that figure has risen as high as 80 percent at times.
The Palestinians demonstrated publicly against Ariel Sharon's visit
to Al Aqsa mosque and, although they technically have the right to
stage a protest, the Israeli military and police forces replied
with gunfire, killing seven people. They could have left the
location without any loss of life, but instead they provided the
first spark which ignited this explosion.
The conflict has now spread outside the normal spheres of a
political conflict and entered a downward spiral of quasi-personal
revenge. Few people on either side think much about conflict
resolution. Instead, they focus on the number of dead each side has
caused the other.
Before this Intifada, there was cooperation between Israelis and
Palestinians. Many Palestinian journalists won awards for
encouraging coexistence between the two nations. There was the hope
that both sides could work together and develop a mutually
beneficial relationship. Dozens of meetings were held between
Palestinian and Israeli journalists to discuss the role they could
play in encouraging coexistence. But now, in this sea of blood, our
role has returned to reporting on the clatter of weapons and
death.
Media and Mediums
There are four kinds of Palestinian mass media: government-run
media, including weekly and monthly newspapers and magazines such
as Al-hayyat Al-Jadedah; independent or semi-independent media such
as Al-Ayyam and Al-Quds newspapers; opposition media including
three weekly newspapers which belong to Hamas, Islamic Jihad and
the Democratic Front; and the fourth is local media - the 50-plus
TV channels and radio stations in the West Bank cities, and the
Arab satellite channels like Al-Jazeerah and MBC, which reach
nearly every Palestinian household.
Israeli radio's Arabic broadcasts are also widely considered a good
source of information, especially on Israeli political events.
Voice of Israel became more important in the Palestinian
Territories after Israeli forces demolished the transmission towers
of the official Palestinian radio station in Ramallah last
year.
The most influential outlets of the Palestinian media are the
independent newspapers and TV stations, most of which are open and
liberal. Even in the most difficult phases of the conflict,
Palestinian journalism has maintained a margin in which journalists
and writers have been able to criticize the handling of issues
related to the conflict. This is very clear from articles which
criticize, for example, suicide bombings, or oppose any kind of
violence. Last year, Search for Common Ground awarded a number of
Palestinian journalists its annual prize for encouraging peaceful
coexistence in this part of the world. The first award went to Dr
Sari Nussaibeh for an article published in Al-Quds newspaper, while
the second one was given to Tawfeeq Abu-Baker for an article
published in Al-Ayyam newspaper. In his article, Dr Nussaibeh
advised the Palestinians to give up the right of return and focus
on establishing an independent state. Abu-Baker called on the
Palestinians to stop all kinds of violence, saying that many
empires were brought down in the last decade without a single
bullet being shot.
Before this Intifada, Palestinian journalism played a normal and
positive role in the conflict, including an insistence on appeals
for peace and coexistence. But after the Intifada began, many
radical changes took place, as the priority shifted to covering
actions and reactions on the ground.
But these changes can be seen as temporary. Journalists who believe
in peaceful solutions and coexistence are still in the majority,
and, importantly, are still in their positions, ready to resume
their roles when Israel's Mercava tanks are out of their streets
and out of the way of the peace process.