Yakar/PACE Seminar: Media and Dialog

Participants included Israeli and Palestinian media professionals, people active in dialog, researchers, teachers and others. Some participants were ‘veterans’ of the meeting between Palestinian and Israeli journalists that took place last summer in Rhodes. The meeting included both secular and religious Jews and people with a wide variety of political allegiances and views. An official meeting report will be posted by Yakar at their Web site in good time. This is my own impressionistic account. It tries to give the flavor of what occurs at such meetings, and to highlight some of the problems facing Israeli and Palestinian media, and the occasional irony in the juxtaposition of some of the views.

A Palestinian speaker, in his opening address, said that Israeli media do not treat Palestinians as persons and tend to dehumanize them and make generalizations. Some Israelis were unhappy that he made this generalization about Israeli media. Later, others praised Ha’aretz for its comparatively active coverage of Palestinian affairs and views.

The opening speaker also said that most Palestinians did not support the peace process, which was imposed from above, and that he had public opinion poll results to prove it. When the speaker presented the poll results though, participants agreed that they were at least equivocal, depending on which question was asked. Over 50% of the sample expressed support for the peace process. A larger number said they would like to see an Islamic government established in Palestine, though it is not clear where they put the borders of Palestine. See the JMCC/Steinmetz center poll and judge for yourself. The speaker also said that Palestinians cannot deny the Jihad, that it is part of their culture and heritage. Later, a Palestinian school teacher asked why Russian immigrants regard Palestinians as terrorists.

The opening speaker went on to note that Palestinians learned to deal with censorship in the early days of the Israeli occupation, and are still hampered by the censorship mentality. Prior to establishment of autonomy, Palestinian journalists would evade Israeli censorship by getting Israeli colleagues to publish a story first in Israeli newspapers. They could then quote the story, and the censors could do nothing about it. This form of cooperation still exists to some extent. Other points regarding Palestinian media were brought up at the meeting. Many agreed, it seems, that Palestinian media were at the stage that Israeli media were 50 years ago, when Israel was just emerging from the birth-struggle. Journalists in Israel then, and in Palestine now, put the needs of national struggle above the need to be critical of society. The opening speaker and others also noted that the Palestinian press does not have a wide readership - about 50,000, and that Palestinians prefer to get their news from abroad, and spend large sums for satellite dishes. The official newspaper, Al-Hayat al-Jadeeda, which has come under much Israeli criticism for incitement, has a seven percent share of readership. That would be about 3,500 readers plus re-circulation, which perhaps increases readership by a factor of 5. Others noted that these small numbers were actually a very large readership in proportion to population, relative to circulation of newspapers in the United States for example. The Palestinian public shares this avidity for news with the Israeli public.

 Participants seemed to agree that both Palestinian and Israeli journalists tend to get their information from each other, or even from the Israeli Security Service, rather than by interviewing people directly. This gives news a rather second-hand quality. Palestinians noted that they were prevented from getting first-hand interviews with Israeli news sources because of security clearance problems and because Israeli officials often refused to talk with them. An Israeli journalist who led one of the work groups pointed out that Palestinian affairs were given little space in Israeli media because of the pressures of commercialism and competition: Israelis are just not interested in that kind of news and don’t want to know about what goes on in ‘the territories’ or ‘the autonomy,’ unless it concerns ‘terrorism.’

Israelis raised the question of incitement in Palestinian media. They pointed out that what concerns Israelis are not true stories and opinions about the occupation or harassment, but statements questioning the right of Israel to exist, outright ’antisemitism’ (actually directed only at Jews and not at our Semitic cousins of course) scare stories and hoaxes stating that the Israeli government is poisoning food or the Palestinian water supply. Many Palestinians understood that problem as well. At least one Palestinian claimed that there was considerable incitement in Israeli media, but when challenged could not produce any examples at all. An Israeli active in the joint anti-incitement monitoring committee created by the WYE accords related that Palestinians in the committee had also vowed to produce equal evidence of Israeli incitement, but were unable to do so.

The seminar also discussed a film about PNA incitement produced by a right-wing Israeli group, Shalom LeDorot. The meeting organizers included a transcript of the film in materials they distributed to participants. The film includes a sequence where a Palestinian girl supposedly says she is going to be a Shaheed suicide martyr on PNA TV to the applause of adults. This particular part of the film has been shown to Israeli Knesset and US congressmen as evidence of Palestinian incitement. The seminar materials also included a PeaceWatch story showing that that particular sequence was mistranslated.

One of the Israelis told me that he had never once heard Palestinians use the word ‘compromise,’ and that he wished he would hear it used. He got his wish quite soon thereafter, as several Palestinian speakers noted that we had reached a historic compromise, and that in order for it to be implemented, both sides must do their share.

At dinner, an Israeli asked a man from Abu Ghosh, who had spent much time in Jordan, why Jordanians are not happy with the peace with Israel. The other man smiled and said ‘The Embassy.’ The Israeli did not understand, so we explained to him how difficult Israel made it for Jordanians to get a visa to Israel, including the pre-morning wait at the embassy, bureaucracy and arbitrary refusals. I pointed him to an article by Ameen Hannoun on this subject in PeaceWatch.

Smaller workshops concluded that the media could do more to promote peace and dialog in various ways, and that there was room for cooperation at the professional level. Israeli journalists might help ensure a place for Palestinian columnists in Israeli newspapers, just as Palestinian media carry extensive translations from Israeli media. Perhaps more extensive cooperation in developing resources could also be implemented.

The seminar was a fruitful exchange of views, and a catalyst for dialog and action. Some of us joked that we were disappointed to find that people were so polite and considerate, and that the moderator did not need to make use of his excellent talents for mediation. Perhaps it would have been more ‘interesting’ if the meeting had turned out otherwise, but much less fruitful. If there was a defect, it is that the seminar was not long enough and that there are not more of them. Several people agreed and expressed the intention to continue the dialog and cooperation through other channels.

It was encouraging to see so many community leaders from both sides who were actively interested in pursuing the path of peace and dialog. The atmosphere gave hope that the seemingly stagnant peace process is alive in the hearts of opinion makers, and that the dry bones of the Oslo peace process may yet take on flesh and inhabit our part of the world.

Rehovoth,

Israel

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