Hamas appoints first English-language spokesperson
Journalist Israa Al-Mudallal appointed to improve communication with the
West, says she will speak with Israeli press if given permission
Kifah Ziboun - Asharq Al-Awsat Sunday, 3 Nov, 2013
http://www.aawsat.net/2013/11/article55321243

Ramallah, Asharq Al-Awsat—The Palestinian Hamas movement has appointed its
first female English-language spokesperson, as part of a new strategy to
engage with Western media.

The new spokesperson, Israa Al-Mudallal, 23, a writer and a journalist,
said: “I will address Western and Israeli media, and I will work on changing
the media discourse and give a different picture of Palestine and Gaza.”

She added that she recognized that achieving her goals needed many years of
hard work, promising to talk to the world from a humanitarian angle, not a
religious one.

She said: “I will make the issues more human, and even if [Palestinian]
officials do not understand this language, I know Western people will.” She
added: “The West does not understand religious discourse the same way they
do human discourse.”

Mudallal will be the first woman to work as a press representative for the
Hamas government, which currently includes one female minister, Jamilah
Al-Shanti, the Minster for Women’s Affairs. The Islamic movement also has a
number of female deputies in the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC).

Mudallal, who has lived for some time in Britain and was educated in the
city of Bradford in northern England, said that her experience of life in
the UK has greatly improved her understanding of the West.

As well as following European and American media, Mudallal says she is also
in the process of learning Hebrew, to enable her to follow Israeli media
directly. She said: “I am learning everything about Israeli, Western and
American media . . . and I spend a lot of time reading and watching
different channels.”

The new Hamas spokeswoman said she did not have a problem with talking to
Israeli media, in contrast to the policy currently followed by the ousted
government and by many leaders of Hamas, though she stressed that she would
only do so with official permission.

“If I am given permission, I personally have no problem,” she said.

The Hamas government does not allow journalists in Gaza to deal with Israeli
media sources, and many officials refuse to talk to Israeli journalists.

The appointment of Israa Al-Mudallal is part of a new plan by Gaza’s Hamas
government to improve its relations with Western media. Ihab Al-Ghosein,
head of the government’s media relations bureau and Gaza government
spokesman, said: “The bureau has decided to appoint a spokeswoman who speaks
English, journalist Israa Al-Mudallal, within the framework of implementing
the bureau’s objectives for 2013.”

Ghossein, speaking to the Hamas government’s official press agency, said:
“It comes within the framework of the development of Palestinian dialogue
with the West, and to find speakers of foreign languages to explain the
government’s views and the Palestinian issue to the West.”

“It also falls within the framework of strengthening and emphasizing the
role of Palestinian women in serving the Palestinian issue, especially after
proving their ability in other fields, such as in ministries and government
institutions,” he added.

Mudallal, a journalism graduate from the Islamic University in Gaza,
previously worked as a correspondent for Iran’s English-language Press TV
channel, and has produced a number of Palestinian films, which she
translated into English.

She recently resigned from her job as a presenter at the Islamic Al-Kitab
satellite channel in order to focus on her new role. She said she was not a
member of Hamas and that “my acceptance of the position does not point to my
[political] affiliation,” adding “I am affiliated to Palestine, and I will
speak in the name of Palestine.”

Asked whether she would have accepted the job had the offer come from
Ramallah, the Palestinian Authority’s area, she said: “If it was in the
service of Palestine, yes, wherever I go, I will speak in the name of
humanity.”