“Adala Khalil’s Voice: Reporting on the Gaza-Israel Conflict Through A Palestinian Lens”

In the heart of the West Bank in Palestine, amidst a backdrop of gunfire, racial tension and not so distant explosions, twenty year old journalist, Adala Khalil, is fuelled in her pursuit of the truth by the thousands of lost lives surrounding her and her family’s history. “There are times in Palestine where I’m walking down the street and I’m fearful for my life.” she says, nodding gravely. “But I knew I had to go back. It was just a feeling, honestly, to go back home.

“It was a really tough time for me. When I returned to Palestine, it feels ironic to say I actually felt more at peace because I was there with my family.”

The Palestinian born journalist left the relative safety of England following the outbreak of warfare last year in Palestine and the Gaza strip and moved back to be with her family, to witness the conflict and speak about it, using her social media and journalistic platforms to spread awareness. She is determined to tell the stories of Palestinians that rarely ever reach Western headlines and is empowered by her resolve to make a change in Western media. “I went to refugee camps, Palestinian villages and Palestinian cities, and conducted interviews with people you wouldn’t see on mainstream media.”

We spoke in depth, for more than an hour, discussing the racism and brutality she has faced at the hands of Israeli settlers and soldiers and the filming of her documentary. “Everywhere you go in Palestine, you’re paranoid, you’re fearful, always thinking, you never stop thinking.” 

Her mission is not without a huge cost. She faces racism in her daily interactions with Israeli soldiers and civilians. As an Arab woman, navigating the restrictive, dystopian reality of living in wartorn Palestine, her courage and determination is empowering. 

She told me she has been disappointed by the state of Western media coverage on the events unfolding within Palestine and the unfortunate biases towards Israel reflected by media coverage. “There is an obvious bias, it is blatant, especially coming from larger news organisations.

“Their agenda clearly is pro-Israel, and you can see it in all sorts of things, even in small phrases.” she shook her head and sighed. “The bias, I took it personally, being a Palestinian. That’s basically why I started… to show the war stories. I felt the real stories, coming from Palestinians, from the West Bank, was going to show people the truth. That’s it, the truth. Without any agenda, I just point a camera at someone and show you exactly what it is and what is happening here.”

Defiant in her resolve to bring fairer media and reporting practices to the front lines, I explore the sacrifices she’s made to try to correct the biases in media representation of Palestinians, and the profound challenges of being a female journalist in one of the world’s most turbulent regions.

Working as a journalist in the West Bank and surrounding areas in Palestine means walking an incredibly fine line of courageous caution. She is trying to expose the real Palestinian stories that are not being broadcast. “The Palestinian people, all they want is for the people outside of Palestine to be aware. What I found, when I was conducting interviews and filming my documentary, was how easy it was to get people talking.

“All you need to do is show up with a camera and you’ll have dozens of people around you saying ‘I have a story, I have a story’. I spent seven or eight hours in that refugee camp. I thought it was going to be an hour but I spent eight hours because of how much the Palestinians wanted to tell me their stories.”

In one of the most heart wrenching moments in Adala’s documentary, a young girl recounts how the Israeli army had stormed her house, saying “They took my barbie and they ruined it.” She says it so matter-of-factly, as it is so common. This seemingly small act I believe speaks volumes about the reality of life in Gaza and the West Bank for Palestinians, where even childhood innocence is not spared from the far reach of Israeli occupation.

The deliberate targeting of personal belongings and children’s belongings being taken from them serves as a psychological tactic, instilling fear and dominance. For Palestinians, these acts, no matter how small, are a sad reminder that there is no aspect of their lives that is beyond the reach of Israeli soldiers and settlers. Through this child’s eyes, Adala has captured the depth of trauma inflicted upon generations of Palestinians.

Adala points out the level of censorship that the Israelis have been enforcing, saying “The West Bank is heavily censored by the Israeli army, who’s point basically is to let the outside world know that the Palestinians are basically living under an apartheid state.

“I was actually attacked when filming a settler attack. They don’t want you to see their faces and they dont want you to see what they’re doing. I came across abuse literally just for being a journalist." She shakes her head, sighing, considering the declining rate of Palestinian journalists. Because Adala holds an English passport, she is afforded a level of protection that she feels is unfairly given. Many Palestinian journalists have not been afforded this same protection and have suffered casualties and fear for their lives. She tells me how Palestinians can get arrested and tortured for small acts, such as lifting a phone up to a soldier’s face.

“I hold a British passport and for some reason, that gives me immunity against going to prison. If I had been just Palestinian, I would’ve been in prison long ago. That in itself is so racist. That Palestinians could face any sort of racism, torture and murder, but because I happen to hold a British passport, I can get immunity.” 

Adala speaks about going out alone when interviewing people, as a woman in Gaza and Palestine, she feels more comfortable as she knows her family would be hurt or in danger in any of the situations she has found herself in as they don’t have the protection of being an British citizen.

“The dehumanisation is a recurring pattern among the coverage of Palestinians, especially in Gaza. Like Sky News once referred to a three-year-old girl who had been shot dead by Israeli soldiers as a young lady. The video was there of a toddler getting shot.” Adala pauses, letting the point sink in. The news organisation had tried to downplay her age in order to make the Israeli soldiers seem less aggressive for killing an adult rather than a child. “Referring to a toddler as a young lady to make it seem less of a crime for shooting her. The use of ‘twenty dead in Gaza’ rather than ‘twenty killed’. It's the language being used consistently that makes it, like, really dehumanising and biased.”

The dehumanisation of Palestinians and downplaying of Palestinian casualties is a common theme seen among many media organisations, and is becoming more and more apparent. However, in the face of aggression and relentless oppression, Adala’s voice cuts through, standing as a testament to willpower and the fight for justice. Her lens and journalism do more than documenting the pain in Gaza and the West Bank, she is preserving their humanity, ensuring the world can not look away.