We do exist: Why the Palestinian voice should take centre stage


Palestinian activist Muna Al-Kurd makes press statements on behalf of Palestinian families in East Jerusalem on 2 November 2021

Ramzy Baroud writes in Middle East Monitor:

At a recent New York event, the President of the Foreign Press Association Ian Williams declared, before an approving audience, that it is time “to reclaim the narrative on Palestine”.

This phrase – ‘reclaiming the narrative’ – is relatively new to the Palestinian discourse. Years ago, the concept, let alone its implementation, were quite alien: the pro-Israel crowd refused, and still refuses, to acknowledge that Palestinians, their history and political discourse matter; some in the pro-Palestinian movement relegated Palestinian voices as if they were simply incapable of articulating a coherent narrative.

For many years, I, along with other Palestinian intellectuals, raged against the misrepresentation and marginalisation of Palestine and the Palestinians, not only by Israel and its allies in mainstream media, but also against the elitism that existed within the Palestinian movement itself.

Hearing Williams utter these words was quite satisfying. More important was the context in which these words were said. The event, ‘Distant Voice No More? Giving Rise to a New Generation of Palestinian Journalists’, was hosted by the new and vibrant organisation Palestine Deep Dive (PDD) and co-hosted by the Foreign Press Association. The idea behind the inception of PDD is to challenge the common narrative that has permeated corporate media on Palestine and Israel for decades. This new organisation has done an impressive job within a fairly short period of time.

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