It is published in English, with a second site in Hebrew, Local Call. It provides invaluable coverage of Israeli-Palestinian news, with particularly detailed investigative reports, analyses and commentaries. By providing information that goes against the grain of the government propaganda relayed by the majority of the media, it is all the more committed to maintaining the rigour and ‘journalistic credibility’ of its articles, thereby gaining genuine international recognition. In 2024, +972 and Locall Call were awarded an honorary title by the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) - on the occasion of their ‘Difference Day’, which marks World Press Freedom Day on 3 May - for the quality of their reporting in dangerous conditions.

Providing information in times of multiple wars can indeed be dangerous. Like Haaretz, +972 has managed to maintain links with correspondents in Gaza, documenting the genocide and the terrible conditions of survival into which the Israeli regime has plunged the population. Correspondents who may become the target of the extrajudicial killings that the Israeli army is so used to - it also protects Jewish supremacist settlers in the West Bank. In Israel itself, defending Palestinians leads to social ostracism and increasing threats. The prize received in Belgium on World Press Freedom Day is well deserved!

How can Jewish-Arab solidarity be kept alive after 7 and 8 October 2024? There was nothing obvious about this, and +972 tackled the question head-on. It has managed to get through the ordeal, by making independent journalism an imperative reason for cementing this bond of solidarity. It remains for us an irreplaceable source of information and critical reflection - the opposite of what simple ‘counter-propaganda’ would be. Our thanks go to the editorial teams at +972 and Local Call.

Pierre Rousset

+972 magazine: https: //www.972mag.com/