TEL AVIV - Does the notion of settlers being interviewed on Palestinian TV sound imaginary? Not anymore.
New policies adopted by Palestinian television stresses openness and professional reporting, News Director Sadu Sabawi told newspaper "Yedioth Ahronoth."
"From now on Israeli officials, experts, politicians, and even settlers will be invited for interviews and will be able to express their opinions freely," he said.
According to Sabawi, the changed atmosphere was dictated by Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, who is encouraging Palestinian TV to move away from biased broadcasting and focus on professionalism and openness.
"We are currently in a period of calm,” the Palestinian news director said. “It is better to argue with words rather than guns, and therefore we will interview any interested Israeli."
Abbas wants rhetoric toned down
As part of the new policy, an Israeli Foreign Ministry official was interviewed for the evening newscast of the Palestinian channel.
"We do not feel any pressure or fear now,” Sabawi said. "We can work according to professional standards."
Notably, Abbas has made previous efforts in the past to rid official Palestinian television of the one-sided, biased coverage that characterized it during late leader Yasser Arafat’s era.
As part of that effort, Abbas instructed the television channel to refrain from using blatantly anti-Israeli terminology, as was the custom in the past. Under the new instructions, newscaster were ordered to tone down their rhetoric and the way they refer to the State of Israel, IDF soldiers, and settlers, among others.
