A Danish-Palestinian journalistic partnership in Ramallah

The working conditions of journalists in Ramallah, Palestine, are worlds apart from those of journalists in Denmark. Read part one of an exchange visit and cooperation between an experienced, Danish female feature journalist and a young Palestinian TV news reporter

By Gunvor Bjerre, Danish freelance journalist

In September, a Hamas supporter offended the legacy of Yasser Arafat during a live interview on Al-Jazeera, calling him corrupt and a penny-pincher.

On the West Bank, one does not offend the local icon without reactions from viewers. The TV station was inundated by protests both physically as well as electronically, leading it to shut down for five days.

Meanwhile in Copenhagen, I was preparing my trip to Ramallah, where I would be working closely with journalist Weesam Hammad of Al Jazeera as part of a journalist exchange trip (Twinning) organised by International Media Support (IMS), the Danish House in Palestine (DHIP) and Nairobiklubben, a forum for Danish development journalists. I knew little of what was going on at that particular moment at the Al Jazeera TV station, as I emailed Weesam Hammad, asking him set up visits on which I was interested in doing research and writing stories. With Al Jazeera in a lock-down I received little feedback and without a fixed programme I left for Ramallah, uncertain as to what the visit would bring with it.

A twinning of opposites

My uncertainty luckily turned out to be in vain. On the balcony of DHIP from which there was a gorgeous view, I met the young, deeply dedicated Al Jazeera journalist Weesam Hammad, who would be my host for the week. I wondered what he expected of the work exchange experience and what he was thinking when we finally met. There was the age difference of approx. 40 years setting us apart as well as gender. I was a paper journalist and feature writer, and he was a TV news reporter. I was laid back and pensive, he was ready to move full speed ahead. I was from northern Europe, he was from the Middle East. The differences between us could hardly be greater.

We had two hours to exchange ideas and plans. He told me about several story ideas for visits and after 30 minutes, we had already scheduled the upcoming three days. He offered to contact all sources for which I was grateful.

The benefits of local knowledge

The first visit was to a newly built – but illegal school in a Bedouin camp made of mud, old car tires and tin sheets. Later on, we visited a circus school in Nablus, the Samaritans, a refugee camp in Ramallah, and finally we interviewed a Palestinian psychologist who cares for traumatised children.

Weesam Hammad showed me the clear benefits of partnering with a local journalist with only a limited number of days available to find stories and sources.He introduced me to several new issues while translating everything, so that I could concentrate on looking around, taking notes and pictures. He took me on a round trip in Ramallah, telling me about the obstacles that Palestinian journalists face on a daily basis such as the need for ID-cards, permissions, the geographical limitations to their movements and more, all of which made me value the journalistic liberty and freedom of speech in Denmark.

He showed me around Ramallah – seeing both its negatives and its positives “..to show you, that we are not victims. We are living normal lives – but we have a lot of restrictions and obstacles, that are making our daily lives incredibly complicated,” he said to me.

More to Palestine than victimisation

The tour changed my perception of the Palestinians as mainly victims, and made it easier to focus on the positive aspects – even though the negative aspects of life were crying out to be written about and documented.

Weesam Hammad and I were a fine match despite our many differences. We had many ‘tongue in cheek’ chats about cultural clashes and the useful information I was provided with broadened my understanding of the Palestinian situation.

As part of the exchange programme, Weesam Hammad is now set to visit Denmark. When asked what he would like to see in Denmark, he had no specific ideas. He was surprised to hear how many Palestinians were living in Denmark and that this might be something he would like to investigate. May his trip to Denmark be as eye opening and enriching as mine was to Palestine.

About Twinning: IMS’ “Twinning” programme is a means to foster exchange of experience and views between professionals on various levels between journalists, editors, photographers and media managers in the Arab world and Denmark.

Weesam Hammad, Al Jazeera, is due to visit Denmark in May 2014. Keep an eye out for the story of his visit on our website.