Live from quarantined Palestine, it’s Radio Alhara
Radio Alhara logo
Henriette Chacar reports in +972:
At a time when countries are closing their borders to contain the spread of the new coronavirus, an internet radio station playing out of Palestine seeks to create community in the absence of physical presence. The project has brought together segregated Palestinians communities, while also amassing a global following.
Radio Alhara, which means “the neighborhood’s radio” in Arabic, went on the air for the first time on March 20. It was conceived in a Facebook conversation between brothers Elias and Yousef Anastas, and Yazan Khalili, who broadcast from Bethlehem and Ramallah respectively.
The project was inspired by and modeled on Radio Alhay in Beirut, launched by Majd Al-Shihabi and friends as a way to stay connected while in quarantine. “They were very supportive,” says Khalili. It was easy to set up a page for Palestine on their platform, since Radio Alhay already had experience branching out with Radio Alhoma in Tunis. Wanting to maintain the alliteration, the Palestinian founders chose a name beginning with the same Arabic letter. The project is now a family of five, with radio stations in Berlin and Syria as well.
The one-page website is relatively bare. Following Radio Alhay’s presentation, the founders set out the project’s story in a few sentences of white Arabic text on a black backdrop: “This is a participatory project starting in Bethlehem and Ramallah, but it will expand to other cities across Palestine and the world,” they write. “We will open this space for listening, discussion and debate, so that we can spend isolation communicating with each other and remembering one another. We send love and hope to everyone, and we shall meet again in good health. Stay tuned, from the bedroom to the living room, and the other way around.”