following appeared in the Jordan Times newspaper

By Daoud Kuttab

Barbar was publishing media reports, running her own media training centre and was active in the field of women’s rights, but the one place she literally was dreaming to go to was the occupied West Bank.

Not only had she not visited other parts of Palestine, but at 26, she had never left the besieged Gaza Strip.

The report that the International Press Institute wrote after our visit stressed the need for freedom of movement between Gaza, and the West Bank and Israel.

I succeeded in getting Islam to Cairo in 2013 to attend the Aswatona community radio conference that I was involved in. The radio practitioners attending exchanged ideas on how to set up, manage and fund community-based stations.

A popular idea was to start with an online station and then to move into the FM sphere.

Energised by the potential of being involved in broadcasting, Barbar returned to Gaza and set her sight on creating a radio station that can focus on women’s issues.

Within a year she was able to secure a small grant from the UK-based Community Media Solutions, through Qarya Media Institute, a Palestinian NGO which also gave her technical support.

Nissagaza.com was launched on April 30, 2014, out of her Gaza city media centre, with local women’s organisations and women activists and local leaders from all walks of life attending.

Barbar was most excited on launch day; the programme started with a musical jingle that was created for the new women’s station by a male supporter. Continue Reading »