Unusual Co-operation - TV project - Israel, Palestine Authority & Jordan

By Inge Estvad

“It was freezing cold, and it was snowing. It was the first time in my life I experienced that. The place where we were supposed to stay was a kind of hostel, and when I lay in bed I looked up at the bottom of the bunk above me. It was like what they did at the concentration camps. I have never tried anything like it”, says the TV producer Aliza Dayan Hamama from Israel when trying to describe what it was like to attend courses in Denmark last winter.

The course was the introduction to a TV project whose goal partly was to have people from Israel, the Palestine Authority, and Jordan working together on TV productions that were to be shown in the Middle East region, and partly to try to prevent enemy stereotypes by portraying ordinary people in the three countries through TV broadcasts.

The idea was conceived in Denmark on another cold winter day in 1997 at a conference at the Louisiana Museum, held at the initiative of former chief editor of Politiken, Herbert Pundik, and by the founder of the museum, Knud W. Jensen, along with the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The objective was to strengthen Arab-Israeli relations in the peace process in the Middle East. The participants at the conference were intellectuals, journalists and others from Egypt, Jordan, Israel and the Palestine Authority.

A Danish video producer, Impact, was given the task of running the project, and a lengthy preparation process was set in motion to find relevant actors for the project that was dubbed Inroads.

The Egyptians felt the time had not yet come and pulled out, but Jordan's State Television, the Israeli Educational Television in Tel Aviv, and the Modern Media Institute at Al Qud's University in Ramallah on the West Bank of the Palestine Authority were selected as collaboration partners.

In November 1998 17 TV associates from the three countries were supposed to meet in Denmark for the first time at the Saint Helenekilde Centre in Tisvilde. During the workshop they all were to get to know each other and get acquainted with modern digital TV equipment.

Only 16 showed up since the 17th participant, a Palestinian journalist, was not given permission to leave for Denmark by the Israeli authorities.

“ If I am to describe the course of events in Tisvilde, I can best do this by relating how we felt when we arrived and how we felt when we had to leave, Aliza Dayan Hamama continues.”

“We Israelis were very nervous. We arrived later than everybody else, and they just stood there staring at us when we arrived”, Aliza Dayan Hamama relates. “ The day we were going home we stood for an hour in the cold and could not let go. We stood there embracing each other the whole time, and there was a warmth between us that made us forget the cold. It was unbelievable what had happened over three weeks with people who had prejudices toward each other and felt hatred toward each other after so many years of hostility.”

Many Hurdles

Christian Juul Jessen, TV producer at Impact and project co-ordinator, had many hurdles to overcome in terms of starting the project in addition to locating collaboration partners. Technical abilities were at our own level in Israel, but the Arabs had no knowledge of digital equipment. The project participants were given equipment that had been leased in Denmark, and they had to be trained so that everyone was at the same technical level. One objective of the project was that everyone should be given equal conditions.

The participants were TV producers as well as cameramen and editing technicians.

The second phase of the project started in the beginning of 1999 as the TV companies were ready to produce four documentaries that had been agreed to at collective meetings, held alternately in the three countries. The collective meetings were also the occasions at which the training and screening of the shootings had been carried out.

“It was a fruitful process”, Christian Juul Jessen says.

“They could see on the digital equipment what the others had created, they could criticise it and make good suggestions for changes. None of them had tried this before. Normally, not knowing what the others did would create insecurity. In this way everything took place in complete openness, and this was revolutionary in terms of their working methods. Through this they exposed their conflicts, and that form of collaboration will probably rub off on their future work.”

In June the participants had produced little stories about children and music. The idea was that the stories were to be connected by a presenter on television in each of the three countries.

Christian Juul Jessen travelled between the three countries and gave advice during the process. Other themes, such as young people and their everyday lives, have been included as well. The collaboration has been expanded as a mixed team of participants from Israel and the Palestine Authority has produced yet another programme together in August.

One of the Israeli participants relates how the Israeli were invited to Ramallah by a Palestinian producer who was to be in charge of a live TV show for his TV station.

“ When we walked over there I was terrified to walk in the streets of a Palestinian city. Then I thought: That is pure paranoia, and nothing did happen. When we joined our Palestinian colleague, he introduced us to the audience, and they applauded, so everything went well, he recalls with a smile.”

Never Seen a Mouse

Many problems have occurred in the process. The StateTelevision of Jordan, for instance, is not independent.

“The participants from Jordan have met strong critique from their colleagues, but they have also achieved a certain status”, Christian Juul Jessen says.

The situation in Jordan is that a Jordanian journalist was recently arrested for having a meeting with an Israeli colleague. On the other hand one of the Jordanian participants, a cameraman, has been promoted to manager within Jordanian television because of what he has learned from the project. The technical standard of the participants has increased to a much higher level than the one in Jordan. It was obviously the technical training the Jordanian participants primarily looked forward to.

“ The Jordanian editing technician had never seen a computer mouse when he started. Now they have two in Jordanian TV that are able to edit online”, Christian Juul Jessen says proudly.

There are also different structures at the three TV stations. For example, the structure of the Israeli IETV is very hierarchic, and that has made things complicated for the Danish teacher since the idea of the project was to provide for participation equal to all of the TV people. The Palestinians, however, had almost no background within the art of producing TV, so they needed a lot of training to reach the level of the others.

Daoud Kuttab, the leader of the Institute of Modern Media in Ramallah, says that the Palestinian participants have gained tremendously from learning new techniques.

“ They have absorbed everything they have learned, he relates, but it has also been nice to have a neutral Danish advisor.”

“ We cannot solve the political problems on our own”, Daoud Kuttab says.

The question is whether the project would be to the benefit of anybody else other than the privileged 16 who came to Denmark on that cold November day in 1998.

The participating countries were intended to get to know each other as normal, peaceful people and not as enemies through TV productions. But it was also intended that this atmosphere should spread to the colleagues of the 16 selected persons, as was the case for the new technical abilities.

Christian Juul Jessen says yes.

“More than 30 people have been involved in the process. Young journalists, editing technicians and graphic designers have helped out and learned from it. Israeli and Palestinian TV people are planning to produce programmes together about young people now that the project is finished.”

The friendships that were made in Denmark have lasted. Participants call and e-mail each other several times a week.

Merit for Denmark

There is nothing but praise from the participating TV stations for Christian Juul Jessen. Everybody agrees that without the Danish support the idea would never have amounted to anything. Surely, Juul Jessen has travelled back and forth between Jordan, Israel and the West Bank to smooth things out and give quality advice.

“I could listen and give advice, but I had no means of sanction in the process”, Christian Juul Jessen says.

“It is the most demanding job I have ever had”, he adds, “but it has been a huge human experience”.

The project has now been terminated and cost Danida close to DKK 6 million. The equipment has been given to the participating TV stations.

The programmes are scheduled to be broadcasted in the respective countries in January 2000, and now the question arises as to whether these influences will rub off and help create a change of attitude in the three countries.

Since the Principal Declaration on a Palestine Authority was signed in September 1993 the peace process in the Middle East has suffered several setbacks, and history shows how complicated changing hostile attitudes between actors on the Middle Eastern scene can be.

One Israeli participant who had entered the project with a sceptical attitude articulated the hope of continuing the collaborative agreement at the end of the project:

“ It is possible that we will continue to work together – I certainly hope so – without Danish support, but we had not been where we are today without it.”

More Information

Inroads Company:

Website

e-mail: inroads@inroads.net

Phone: +45 48 24 44 55

Fax: +45 48 24 44 66

Above document provided as background for The Drum Beat #57

DANIDA, the Danish International Development Agency, supports communication for development. There is currently a policy revision taking place. These articles and activities indicate pathways for future activities relatingto communication for development. Not all activities are supported by DANIDA.

Inge Estvad (journalist, est@image.dk), Finn Rasmussen (Communication Adviser, IBIS Ecuador, frasmussen@andinanet.net) and Thomas Tufte, Ph.D. (Professor, Roskilde University ttufte@ruc.dk) gathered the material that provides comprehensive insight into the policies and programmes selected.