Palestine News Network:Media as Activism in Nonviolent Campaigns
From WRIWiki
Kristen Ess for the Palestine News Network, September 2006
The turn of a phrase can turn a victim into a victimizer, or someone who “deserved it.” The power of the media, both print and broadcast, cannot be underestimated. It is used by nations to win wars in the minds of the public, or to justify ethnic cleansing. When one sees a story that is inaccurate or biased the natural response is anger that leads to disillusionment and apathy. The end result is often coming to believe the inaccuracies or “tuning out” because it is too much to bear. This is where independent media steps in and becomes activism.
The Palestine News Network has implemented the strategy of media being a crucial part of the nonviolent campaign against Israeli occupation. But the power of independent media in all struggles against oppression the world over cannot be underestimated. A study was published years ago in the United States. It was based on a survey regarding news consumption. The findings indicated that after a viewer watched the local news, he was more confused about an issue than he was before viewing the broadcast. That comes from a lack of real information put forth in the very short amount of time allocated, and the ideology of its producers or those they must answer to.
The New York City-based institution, “Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting,” issues findings daily regarding bias in the US media. Among many other questions posed in the year 1992, FAIR asked, “Do stereotypes skew coverage?” One of its numerous examples in the affirmative was posed in the form of another question. “Does coverage of the drug crisis focus almost exclusively on African Americans, despite the fact that the vast majority of drug users are white?” Seeing images of men and woman of color smoking pipes, regardless of whether the broadcasters made any comment on race, had an incalculable affect on the viewers’ perceptions.
The same can be said for coverage of Palestinians and Israelis. A child throws stones at a jeep invading his occupied city, for example. Israelis soldiers open fire, children throw more stones, Israeli soldiers shoot more. A child is killed. Who is the victim and who is the victimizer? It is clear from this rendition who is who, however to see the same story reported in the US one becomes less clear. The stone and gun-fire exchange becomes “clashes.” The presence of soldiers as part of the occupation military conducting an invasion in a West Bank town becomes part of “Israeli security.” Often the basic points are left unmentioned, such as that the Israelis are occupying the West Bank and this is not a “disputed claim” as some media would have us believe. Instead if we look to international law we have an ally.
PNN’s daily task of reporting the news specific to the situation in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem is less than simple as we face the US morally and physically supporting Israel, a country that uses public relations firms and major media campaigns to enforce its point of view. However it should be noted that the Israeli media is much more accurate than the US media when reporting on the situation in occupied Palestine. There are several reasons for this, among being that if one is critical of the Israeli government, the occupation, and the policies, one is not immediately labeled “anti-Semitic,” as is the case in the US. Israel necessarily has to be more accurate in its local reporting because people have some idea of what is happening. In the US, where garnering support means everything to the survival of the Jewish-state, it is much more difficult to get an accurate reading.
How many times have we seen the word “terrorist” placed beside the word “Arab?” A new term can bring volumes of change. Just a few years ago it was difficult to find the word “occupation” in the mainstream media. However the independent media used it over and over to express the legitimate reality of the situation. Today it is not unusual to find that word in the mainstream media. The manipulation then becomes more subtle. Is it more accurate to say, “Palestinian boy dies in Israeli raid in West Bank,” or “Israeli soldiers kill Palestinian boy while invading Bethlehem?”
PNN has hosted numerous workshops on the media for foreign guests and local would-be journalists. The outcome is generally the same. “I had no idea until I came here what was actually happening,” or “We know how bad the media is and we can’t change it.” Here media once again becomes activism. It is crucial to tell the story, no matter how futile it seems. Access to alternative forms of information is one of the greatest struggles for anyone who wishes to be educated. Take a wide-variety of 10 sources and somewhere in there one will find the truth.
Using specific words, or word placement, to tell ones story is not only a trick that can be used in the mainstream media to turn a victim into a victimizer, or vice-versa. These same tricks can be turned into accuracy. Who committed the act? In what context was the act committed?
Furthering PNN’s strategy to use the media as a method to disperse accurate information is also to cover what is not being covered. How often does the Palestinian armed resistance make it into the media (never mind that the inflammatory terms “terrorists” or “gunmen” are used instead of the more accurate “armed resistance.”)? And how often does the Palestinian nonviolent resistance make it into the media? Many people are grateful to be covered at all, but we can ask for more. The weekly demonstration against the Wall in Al Khader Village, and villages throughout the West Bank, is not less important that the Al Qassam Brigades launching projectiles from the Gaza Strip at Sderot. Most of the media have never covered the years of nonviolent action against the Wall, nor the violent Israeli military response. PNN covers both. This is a crucial part of using media in a nonviolent campaign.
The communities that are successful in getting the demonstrations covered also work hard to make sure that at least the local and receptive media is informed. Al Walajeh Village, between Jerusalem and Bethlehem, was meticulous in record keeping regarding Israeli violations of international law and its community’s rights. And the media was informed of every bit of land confiscation and every demonstration in protest. The same is true of western Ramallah’s Bil’in Village.
However, resistance campaigns do not need to be limited to the alternative media. The mainstream media does not only run on the politics of owners and governments. It is also driven by available information. Make a nonviolent demonstration interesting, use clear phrases on signboards in several languages, add some color, be personable and invite the press. Call the local representatives of agencies and convince them it is important. Some journalists and camera crews will come and report on the situation. And once something makes it into the mainstream media, chances are other agencies will want the story too and the snow-ball effect begins. This is also where media becomes activism.
It is crucial to present the reporter with alternative information. Palestinians are up against the Israeli Government Press Office in information dissemination. Any foreign journalist who arrives and wants to make it through checkpoints with his equipment in tact needs to first get a GPO card. If one passes the screening process, in addition to the press card there is a packet of information. Penned by the Anti-Defamation League is a list of “Common Misstatements about Israel.” One reads, “Misstatement: The Israeli army is using excessive force against unarmed Palestinians, leading to many more Palestinian casualties than Israeli casualties.” The fact is that Israeli forces have killed thousands more Palestinians, but the facts go by the wayside and are turned instead into a plug. The GPO packet continues, “Response: The Israeli Defense Forces have shown the greatest possible restraint in dealing with armed Palestinian protestors and snipers, and are making a determined effort to limit Palestinian casualties.” Just the name “Defense Forces” works wonders to legitimize Israeli attacks. Who can be against “defense?” This is what foreign journalists read before heading out to cover the events.
PNN received a letter to the editor in which an American wrote, “I feel sorry for the Palestinians in Rafah who have lost their homes to the Israeli army. But I feel your reporting is biased. I would like to read about the Israelis who have lost their homes to Palestinians.” Unfortunately it is the situation that is biased, not the reporting. How does one accurately report events when facts are considered bias? Shall we lie in order to be taken seriously? No. Steadfastness is a crucial element of a nonviolent campaign. Change can take lifetimes. The letter arrived in 2003 as Israeli forces were rendering thousands of Palestinians in the southern Gaza Strip’s Rafah homeless. No Israeli had lost a home, not even one, to a Palestinian. The facts should be undisputable, but with the power of the media to alter perception, everything can be challenged. Any nonviolent campaign can use the media to its advantage just as the Israeli and American powers do.
As a community we have not historically done a good job presenting our case through our own media or to the international media. Our government press offices often fail to point out simple points, such as armed resistance to illegal occupation is legal under international law. Instead Palestinian press spokespeople stammer to respond when the Israeli government demands in the press that the Palestinian government stop members of the armed resistance before it will stop an invasion or closure, or whatever it might be at that moment. We do we shy away from using the word “occupation” even though we are under occupation. This is a fact of international law and a reality that should be undisputable, but when even we are afraid to tell the truth for fear of not being taken seriously in the international community, we fail ourselves and we fail the public that has the right to know.
Much of our local press falls into the trap of adopting the language of the oppressor in hopes of being taken seriously. Israeli officials are quoted in order to legitimize our own. Or an Israeli human rights organization holds more weight when it issues a report on Israeli forces’ violations against Palestinians than when a Palestinian organization does. This can be changed. PNN has Palestinian, and not foreign, correspondents throughout the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. Foreigners need not be viewed as more credible than Palestinians. PNN’s reporters use Palestinian officials, eyewitnesses, and organizations as their primary sources. The more often we view ourselves as legitimate, the more legitimate we become in the eyes of the international community. The media is nonviolent resistance to any form of injustice, as long as we know how to use it.
