In a bright studio equipped with cutting-edge technology, the "Jerusalem 24" team does not broadcast in Arabic to Palestinians, but in Hebrew and English, to Israelis.

Objective: to give a voice to Palestinian youth to present their own vision of current affairs to the Israelis.

"The Israeli public hears the media that address them, but they do not hear the other voice," summarizes Rima Moustafa, a journalist from Haifa (north).

She has been employed for three months by this radio station, which began broadcasting in September, and focuses on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and its repercussions on society.

In recent weeks, the channel and its English-language website have devoted much of their programming to the six Palestinian NGOs designated as "terrorist groups" by Israel, to the Israeli settlement in East Jerusalem, but also to plays. or concerts of Arabic music.

"Huge ditch"

"We want to fill the void on what is happening in Jerusalem and in marginalized areas," said Mai Abou Assab, editor-in-chief with short, blond hair.

In Jerusalem, "there are expulsions (of Palestinians) but the world is turning a deaf ear."

The only Palestinian radio station to broadcast in Hebrew today, however, "Jerusalem 24" is not the first.

From the mid-1930s, during the era of British Mandate Palestine, Huna al-Quds radio broadcast in three languages: English, Arabic and Hebrew.

Mai Abou Assab, editor-in-chief of Palestinian radio station "Jerusalem 24" which broadcasts in English and Hebrew, October 7, 2021 in Ramallah ABBAS MOMANI AFP

In Tel Aviv, an Israeli metropolis located 65 km from Ramallah, David Haliva, a physical trainer for security agents, began to listen to this new radio station.

"The Israelis do not know Palestinian society (...) There is a huge gap between what we think we know and reality," he admits.

"There are things we have in common, there is a shortage (...) of housing and building permits," he told AFP.

But if he's impressed by the "professionalism" of the news bulletins and the overt rejection of violence, he ticks off phrases like the term "occupation" to describe reality in East Jerusalem.

The Hebrew State has occupied since 1967 this Palestinian part of the Holy City, then annexed, and which the Palestinians want to make the capital of the State to which they aspire.

At the end of 2017, the United States of Donald Trump had recognized the whole of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, which had ulcerated the Palestinians to the point of cutting bridges with Washington, before a rapprochement under Joe Biden.

The studio of the new Palestinian radio station "Jerusalem 24", equipped with advanced technologies, on October 7, 2021 in Ramallah ABBAS MOMANI AFP

If "Jerusalem 24" does not hesitate to criticize the policies of the Israeli government, it does not spare the Palestinian Authority of Mahmoud Abbas, which exercises limited power over the occupied West Bank.

Music to unite?

"We criticize the Authority and Israel, but we do it with professionalism," said Mohammed Hamayel, one of the channel's presenters, who said he was "dissatisfied" with the Israeli media landscape where the point of view of the Palestinians struggled, according to him, to impose himself.

The idea for this radio station began to germinate in 2015 as the Holy City witnessed a wave of stabbing attacks by Palestinians on Israelis, and shooting, sometimes deadly, by Israeli security forces on Israel. real or suspected assailants, says Mai Abou Assab.

Palestinian radio "Jerusalem 24" broadcasts in Hebrew and English to Israelis on October 7, 2021 in Ramallah ABBAS MOMANI AFP

To carry out the project, the team contacted foreign donors, including the Danish NGO Church Aid, which is now providing funding as part of a program aimed at discovering young voices.

But with a small team of six journalists, "Jerusalem 24" falls back on long musical tracks to fill the airwaves and try to attract new listeners.

While driving in Tel Aviv, David Haliva pats the steering wheel with his fingers while listening to a hit by British pop star Dua Lipa.

Israeli David Haliva listens to Palestinian radio "Jerusalem 24" in his car on October 20, 2021 in Tel Aviv, Israel AHMAD GHARABLI AFP

"I like the musical diversity" of this radio, launches David, who welcomes another asset of this channel: the absence of advertising!

© 2021 AFP