Uncovering stories behind the wall
Stone throwing teenage boys, politicians in grey suits, and bombed out buildings make for much of the hackneyed portrayals of the occupied Palestinian territories. This month a group of Danish journalists and their Palestinian counterparts are setting out to uncover stories otherwise untold
By Sofie Tanashka Ramji Olsen, the Danish House in Palestine
”We want to move away from only speaking about violence, suffering and the political deadlock,” said Lena Odgaard, the Danish journalist coordinating the project together with the Palestinian journalist Mohammed Daraghmeh. “We want to focus on how the current situation influences all areas of society, including people’s everyday lives.”
Different realities
The seven Danish and seven Palestinian journalists are travelling around the West Bank to challenge stereotypical notions of Palestine and its people, as well as to provide the participants with a unique insight into each other’s different realities.
”In the midst of the current turmoil across many countries in the Middle East, Palestine finds itself in one of its most peaceful periods,” said Lena Odgaard.
In their efforts to uncover stories that deal with the consequences of the Israeli-Palestinian situation in a more profound and original way, the Danish journalists are set to experience the political and social context in which their Palestinian peers live and work.
“Just because there are no Israeli tanks in the streets of Hebron or Ramallah doesn’t mean people are not struggling in the political status quo.
“People’s frustrations foster a wide variety of cultural and social initiatives making it a very interesting time to cover Palestinian issues,” said Lena Odgaard.
The project takes place as part of IMS’ journalistic exchange programme between Arab, Iranian and Danish journalists in collaboration with the Danish House in Palestine and Nairobi-klubben, a Danish forum for media professionals focusing on global development issues. Early next year, participants will see their roles reversed with the group of seven Palestinians visiting Denmark.
In recent years, growing communication between the Arab world, Iran and the West has presented media on both sides with a tremendous challenge of producing balanced and fact-based stories.
IMS’ twinning, the partnering of peers across borders and regions, aims to establish professional networks between media workers that are beneficial to the media institutions and those who are involved. The sharing of knowledge and experience may in turn help generate more informed and balanced media coverage in the countries involved.
