Media Policies Handbookon Jerusalem

A handbook for media professionals, journalists and media institutions about covering

Jerusalem

This part presents the most prominent media policies related to coverage of Jerusalem issue. Other policies will be discussed in separate chapters. The most prominent policies include:

Media Policies forCovering Jerusalem

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Stressing that the city of Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine and that it is an Arab city deeply rooted in history. The city - namely its Islamic and Christian sanctities and its cultural value - has a unique status in the world. This makes it a place for the coexistence of religious groups on the one hand and the focus of wars and occupation on the other. Zionist paramilitary groups occupied West Jerusalem during the Nakba of 1948 and then, in 1967, Israel expanded its occupation to East Jerusalem by force - without the historical right to govern it. Since then, the entire city has remained under an occupation that, since its inception, has falsified the city’s identity and landmarks, as well as changing its demographic character by pressuring Jerusalemites to leave and intensifying illegal settlements. Therefore, it is important when presenting the current conflict in Jerusalem to emphasise that it is a political conflict involving a colonial entity, rather than a religious conflict.

Rejecting the occupation and reversing its political, legal, social and cultural effects in Jerusalem and all of Palestine. This is a principled position based on the act of occupation and aggression, not on the identity of the occupiers, their religion or their ethnicity.

Working to refute and deny the Zionist narrative and its historical claims regarding Jerusalem, instead working to reinforce the presence and distribution of the Muslim, Arab, scientific and documented narrative regarding Jerusalem, its sanctities, history, culture and current occupation.

Giving attention to the various aspects of Jerusalem, including political, humanitarian, religious, cultural, social, legal and other aspects. In addition, giving special attention to matters relating to Al-Aqsa Mosque and other Islamic and Christian sanctities in Jerusalem and Israel’s violation of them. Reiterating the need to deal with all Palestinian Muslims and Christians as a unit within the national context and monitor all of their affairs.

Shedding light on efforts to support the Jerusalem issue, show solidarity with it, show interest in activities, positions and statements regarding it and highlighting the responsibility of Arabs and Muslims towards Jerusalem. This is in addition to the principled, humanitarian and ethical responsibilities of the international community.

Media outlets must refrain from dealing with the Jerusalem issue in a sporadic manner and must instead consider it a central issue in the Arab-Israeli conflict. The media must constantly keep it as a top priority. The media should not become distracted from it by local, regional or international events and coverage of Jerusalem must be constant, though not excessive. At times when events are calmer, media outlets should work on preparing carefully-curated press materials that look into the details of the issue, the reasons behind it and basic knowledge of the Jerusalem issue.

Media planning and taking into consideration the development of media discourse regarding Jerusalem based on the studies and advice of media research centres. The history of Jerusalem should always be marked on the anniversary of events.

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Avoiding narrow, partisan approaches when covering Jerusalem and refraining from exploiting the issue in political and media exchanges. It is also important to highlight the city’s collective nature, which brings together all Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims and advocates for human rights and justice.

Diversifying the angles of media coverage related to Jerusalem, its contents, types and means, in accordance with the specialisation of each media outlet and type, as well as the characteristics particular to each audience group and their interest. One must also take into consideration the timing of the coverage and the context of the events and developments, in order to successfully reach all audiences. In terms of context, such diversification includes: religious, political, historical, cultural, security, etc. Diversification in audience includes: elites, youth, women, children, etc. and in terms of means includes: social media, modern media, traditional media, etc.

Expanding Knowledge of Jerusalem’s Civilization and HistoryOne of the most important media policies related to coverage of Jerusalem is expanding Arab, religious and universal knowledge of the issue of the city, its identity and history. This can be achieved by:

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Addressing the historical, cultural and civilizational aspects of Jerusalem and highlighting these in the relationship of the Arab and Muslim nations with the city and Al-Aqsa Mosque. The same should be applied to the religious aspect, along with highlighting the special historical and spiritual bond that brings together Arab and Muslim communities in Jerusalem. The deeply-rooted presence of Palestinians in Jerusalem should also be emphasised, along with the eternal relationship between the people and the place, thus reinforcing the Arab and Muslim nations’ affiliation and ties with the city.

Raising the public’s awareness of Al-Aqsa Mosque, its status, value and the dangers and threats posed to it by the occupation. Major areas of negligence or lack of knowledge among the public must be addressed. They must understand the relationship between the various buildings making up Al-Aqsa Mosque, such as the Dome of the Rock, Al-Qibli Chapel, etc., since some believe that the iconic golden dome is that of Al-Aqsa Mosque. However, it is in fact the Dome of the Rock, which is considered part of Al-Aqsa Mosque and located within the walls of the Al-Aqsa compound. We must also expand people’s knowledge of Jerusalem’s landmarks, Muslim and Christian sanctities, its historical and civilizational tributes, its neighbourhoods, areas and geography.

Relying on the studies of non-Palestinian and Jewish historians and researchers who have tried to expose the false Zionist narratives regarding Jerusalem and the Temple. They have also tried to uncover the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, the policies of forced expulsion and the massacres committed by Israelis against Palestinian towns and villages, along with other narratives and issues. These scholars were called “new historians” or “new Israeli historians”.

Media coverage of the occupation’s violations, Judaisation policy and the demographic threatThe occupation seeks to Judaize Jerusalem and rid the city of its Palestinian inhabitants. It threatens Palestinians’ demographic presence in Jerusalem through racist measures and blatant violations of Palestinians’ human right to live in peace. This requires media outlets to focus on the following:

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The measures being taken to Judaize Jerusalem and change its landmarks, most importantly Israel’s annexation of Jerusalem through administrative decisions (such as judicial decisions, education, law of legal and administrative organisations, municipal elections, public services and facilities). This also includes changing the names of neighbourhoods and streets, building a large number of Jewish synagogues and museums in the city, destroying Muslim cemeteries and increasingly shutting down Palestinian institutions in Jerusalem.

Israel’s plans have aimed to displace and expel Palestinians and replace them with immigrants. This has manifested in Jerusalem in the form of policies to revoke Palestinians’ identity cards under various pretexts, revoking or restricting permanent residencies and refusing to grant identity cards to those living outside of the city. The occupation has also been silently expelling Jerusalemites by: confiscating their land, demolishing their homes, forcing road closures, imposing restrictions on travel outside of the country for Jerusalemites, imposing restrictions on family reunification visas for spouses not living in Jerusalem and imposing restrictions on and rejecting requests for the reunification of relatives in order to force the family members living in Jerusalem to leave. The occupation has also prevented the increase of the Palestinian population in Jerusalem. There have also been policies adopted to confiscate the land of Palestinians by purchasing it, seizing homes and shops under the pretext of settler ownership through forged documents and by using deceptive tricks and coercive procedures.

The adoption of economic pressure policies such as imposing closures and economic besiegement. The economy has also been Judaized through the imposition of excessive taxes on the city’s local products, high cost of living and burdening citizens with taxes and fines such as income tax, VAT, property tax, municipal tax, national insurance tax, television tax, UNRWA tax, city improvement tax, etc. There has also been a reduction in the level of services in order to push Palestinians to leave Jerusalem.

Settlements and the Apartheid Wall contribute significantly to some of Jerusalem’s major problems given the constant settlement expansion and confiscation of land. Land suitable for construction is seized under the pretext of establishing green areas and natural reserves. The occupation also deliberately uses the Wall to divide and separate entire Palestinian neighbourhoods from Jerusalem and the West Bank. This has a destructive impact on the fabric of Palestinian society as it isolates a large number of Palestinians from Jerusalem, thus reducing the number of worshippers at holy sites. In addition to this, settlement activity and repeated settler attacks on Jerusalemites occur under Israeli police protection.

The occupation commits violations related to the health sector in Jerusalem and creates obstacles that limit Palestinian access to health services in East Jerusalem, despite forcing them to pay for Israeli health insurance. In addition to this, the occupation has marginalised the health sector’s infrastructure and tried to eliminate the Palestinian institutional health system, replacing it with alternative services to ensure its dependence on the occupation and its separation from the broader Palestinian health system, as well as other violations.

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Media Coverage of theViolation of Religious Freedoms and Cultural Life in Jerusalem

The occupation’s violation of religious and cultural freedoms, as well as its violation of international and humanitarian law, requires a media framework which focuses on:

The hindrance of educational and cultural life of the Jerusalemite community and attempts by the Israeli establishment to control the education sector. This includes imposing the Israeli curriculum on Palestinian primary schools and the “Israelization” of education. A number of schools lack a minimum level of supplies (such as stationery) and teachers and educational institutions are constantly attacked and destroyed. Teachers and students are arrested or targeted and killed, while obstacles constantly stop them from reaching schools. Religious and scientific classes are prohibited, schools are being closed down and community initiatives related to education are banned. This includes harassing “Masateb” (students) inside Al-Aqsa. Meanwhile, Israeli universities in which Jerusalemite students study teach in Hebrew and the Israeli authorities do not recognise some Palestinian universities and degrees.

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The occupation’s continuous attempts, some of which were successful, to divide Al-Aqsa temporally and spatially between Muslims and Jews by imposing the status quo policy through the aforementioned violations. This is a blatant violation of the sanctity of holy sites, freedom of religion and Muslims’ right to Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Highlighting the occupation’s violation of the sanctity of Muslim and Christian holy sites and cracking down on the performance of Muslim and Christian religious rituals in Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem’s churches. The occupation prevents Palestinians from entering Jerusalem to perform religious rituals by setting up walls, barriers and checkpoints. The occupation has also taken arbitrary measures such as repeated closures of and raids on Al-Aqsa Mosque, as well as attempts to enable radical occupation groups to realise their claims to the mosque, conducting tours and prayers in the mosque by force of arms. It also continues its policy of archaeological excavations which violate the sanctity of Al-Aqsa Mosque and threaten its foundations and structure. These excavations are being used as a pretext to build shrines. The occupation is constantly seeking to demolish Al-Aqsa Mosque by means of continued excavations and tunnelling under the mosque, with complete disregard for international and humanitarian conventions and charters that guarantee the freedom of religion and prohibit attacks on religious sanctities.

The invalidity of the occupation’s claims of its right to Al-Aqsa Mosque and its claims that it is the location of the alleged Temple. The falsehood of these claims are based on international law and historical facts, which have prompted UNESCO to ignore the claims of a Jewish connection to Al-Aqsa Mosque and Al-Buraq Wall and led to its issuance of a permanent resolution stating that Al-Aqsa is a Muslim heritage site in 2016.

Media Policies for Confronting the Israeli Occupation’s NarrativeRegarding JerusalemLinking the developments on the ground, such as the intifadas (uprisings) and acts of Palestinian resistance in Jerusalem, to the reality of occupation, aggression and the violations committed by the occupation in the city. Palestinian activities must be shown as logical and legitimate reactions to this reality. In addition to this, the notion that the national Palestinian struggle cannot be separated from the Arab struggle, especially regarding the issue of Jerusalem, must be

emphasised.

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It is important to refute the occupation’s narrative and false claims regarding Jerusalem, which it spreads in several languages in the form of propaganda. The occupation has adopted the slogan of the Jewish state, claims Jerusalem is the capital of Israel or the capital of the national Jewish state and falsifies the truth regarding Jerusalem and its name. The occupation also promotes itself as an extension of Western civilisation to confront Muslims and their civilisation, focusing on its claims of the historical Jewish link to Palestine. It is important to respond to such claims by using methods of persuasion, citing dates, numbers and events, while steering clear of offensive language and name-calling. It is also important to present the facts and the analysis of events in a manner that ensures the refutation of the Israeli narrative and instead strengthens the Arab and Muslim narrative.

Addressing the propaganda, implications and contexts of Judaisation by interacting with the occupation’s media coverage, including quoting and translating it. This requires subjecting translated text from Israeli media to conditions of other media and editorial policies.

Highlighting the contradiction between the Israeli leadership’s policies and its aggressive practices and citing its illegal and inhumane positions and statements, including MK and ministers’ raiding of Al-Aqsa or support of violations against Jerusalem and Jerusalemites.

Avoid reliance only on secondary news sources, such as the occupation’s sources regarding the Jerusalem issue and instead mainly relying on local Palestinian sources, bodies and institutions specialising in Jerusalem affairs, as well as trusted media sources.

Careful use of terms and expressions regarding Jerusalem and relying on specialists to choose and formulate such expressions and terms. It is important to keep in mind that the occupation constantly uses false expressions to erase and hide the facts, change Jerusalem’s landmarks and eliminate the cultural identity of the city.

Journalistic Measures that Strengthen Jerusalem Presence in Media

Media outlets must rely on trusted and varied sources to inform its angles and specialisations regarding the Jerusalem issue. The following are standards and factors for selecting media sources and information resources regarding the Jerusalem issue:

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Humanising context related to Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque, while simultaneously giving attention to information and news in a manner that allows for telling stories and reporting events from a humanitarian angle. An example of this would be not publishing a story limited to reporting the destruction of homes in Jerusalem, but instead going further and reporting the family’s living conditions, the reaction of the children, how they would go to school the next day, etc.

Giving attention to all media forms and practices, electronic publishing, the diversification of coverage methods and media coverage of Jerusalem affairs in a manner that achieves the greatest amount of benefit. Such methods and technologies could reflect the reality in Jerusalem and its issues.

Ensuring professional journalism based on technical editorial and

media principles, such as:

Working based on the principle of «careful journalism» and «investigative journalism» when covering the issue of Jerusalem, i.e. to work in accordance with the values of accuracy, credibility, comprehensiveness, verification and traceability. Such careful journalism gives the opportunity for further depth, analysis and investigative journalism, as well as presents the media material in an appropriate and skilful manner.

Working based on the principle of “explanatory journalism” which should explain the Jerusalem issue and clarify its aspects, dimensions, effects and the issues behind events and violations, without remaining restricted to “news journalism”.

Using the principle of “solution-based journalism”, since the majority of reported issues present problems without providing solutions to these issues. With regards to the Jerusalem issue, it is important for investigative journalism to look for solutions to address the problems resulting from the occupation, specifically in regard to humanitarian issues.

Using means of presentation and explanation, such as visual aids and topography such as 3D maps, which showcase the effect of the occupation and its settlement in the holy city. It will also accurately present its landmarks and geography, in addition to pictures, videos and infographics.

Media coordination with Arab and Palestinian newspapers in order to unify the Arab media narrative and discourse, as well as the media terms used in media outlets and forums that serve

the Jerusalem cause. There should also be an organisation of media campaigns that explain the threats and dangers posed to Jerusalem, supported by media and visual resources prepared in advance. This should be done in coordination with media outlets, book publishers, journalism unions, etc.

There is an urgent need to develop media content and formulate suitable and diverse media messages, such as producing shows, films and programmes related to Jerusalem. Such materials and productions should suit the Arab and international audience and be produced in various languages that accommodate each audience.

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Reduce the magnitude of media outlets’ reliance on fully quoting international news agencies and seeking to rely mainly on correspondents and media representatives on the ground, as well as local sources located in Jerusalem.

Media Terminology Specific to Jerusalem There is sometimes a disparity in the terminology used by various media outlets in relation to Jerusalem. This guide suggests a number of factors that help control terms and their uses. They are as follows:

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Use terms that preserve the Palestinians’ right to resistance, liberation, return and the establishment of a sovereign state with Jerusalem as its capital. Refrain from using terms or names that could suggest the occupation has a right to Jerusalem (such as the Wailing Wall and Protective Wall). The original Arab names of cities, towns and facilities should be used instead of Hebrew names (such as Har Homa Mountain, which is actually Jabal Abu Ghneim).

The terms used by the occupation should not be used without scrutiny and the term “occupation” should be added to the occupation’s state institutions. Terms that specifically express the occupation’s human rights violations should be used, such as the “occupation government”, “occupation army”, “occupation police”, “occupation parliament”, “occupation’s attack”, “occupation’s crime”, “occupation’s terrorism”, etc.

A Group of Commonly Used Mistaken Terms Such as, but not limited to the following:

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CORRECT TERM

Jerusalem

Al-Sharaf neighbourhood / Moroccan Quarter

Al-Buraq Wall

Al-Aqsa Mosque

Al-Aqsa Mosque Jabal Bayt Al-Maqdis / Al-Haram Al-Sharif

Old City

Jabal Abu Ghneim

Silwan neighbourhood / Holy Jerusalem

Marwani Prayer Hall

Occupied Jerusalem

Occupied West Jerusalem

Occupied East Jerusalem

Occupation municipality in Jerusalem

Foundation Stone

Palestine

ISRAELI TERM

Yerushalaim

Jewish Quarter

Wailing Wall

Soloman’s Temple

Temple Mount

Holy Basin

Har Horma Mountain

City of David

Soloman’s Stables

Greater Jerusalem

West Jerusalem

East Jerusalem

Jerusalem municipality

Holy of Holies

Promised Land

Clarification

Prepared by:

All the aforementioned media guidelines and policies on covering the issue and affairs of Jerusalem are only a fractional amount of information, and they are more relevant to Palestinian and Arab journalists and media institutions, as well as to the Palestinian media discourse that is intended for the world. There are certainly a great deal of media policies and contents concerning Jerusalem at the levels of both the Palestinian media discourse at home and aboard and the role of media professionals and journalists in rallying support for the issue. However, the door is still open for other journalists and concerned parties, who are keen on staying abreast of the latest developments and events on the ground, to contribute to this effort and deliver their opinions about the topic.

Omar Abu Arqoub Hossam Shaker