A Palestinian journalist will join the Reuters Institute’s fellowship with support from New Israel Fund UK

The Reuters Institute is pleased to announce a new fellowship to provide a Palestinian journalist with a term at Oxford University, sponsored by the New Israel Fund UK (NIF), a non-profit that works toward a just, safe and equal future for Israelis and Palestinians. Applications for the April-June 2027 fellowship open today for any Palestinian journalist with Israeli citizenship.  

NIF joins more than a dozen of funders that make possible the Reuters Institute's Journalist Fellowship. The programme, which brings together reporters and editors from all over the world, is one of the world’s leading schemes for practising, mid-career journalists to take time away from their deadlines to explore journalism in depth through seminars, networking events and discussions with peers. While in Oxford, the Institute’s Journalist Fellows work on a project that can be of direct impact to them, their career, their newsroom and the wider media industry. 

Since its founding, NIF has invested in a strong, independent and influential Palestinian civil society in Israel, rooted in a commitment to equality, justice and democracy. NIF also supports Palestinian journalism and media, including through partners I’lam and Sada for Social Change. I’lam defends press freedom, trains young journalists and improves the representation of Palestinian society in Israeli media, while Sada for Social Change develops Arabic-language digital journalism. Other organisations NIF supports or has supported include Women Against Violence, Adalah and many grassroots initiatives. 

In response to the fellowship announcement, Fida Nara-Tabony, co-director of programs at New Israel Fund, said: “Palestinian journalists in Israel tell stories that too few others will: the violence in our towns, the discrimination we live with, and the resilience and ambition of a new generation. They do this with little institutional support and under real pressure. Many face attempts to silence, intimidate and persecute them, both for the stories they report and for challenging powerful voices within and beyond their communities. These pressures threaten not only their safety and freedom to report, but also the public’s right to know. This fellowship gives one of them something rare: time, space and a place among some of the world’s best journalists, and the chance to bring all of that home. When our journalists are strong, our communities cannot be ignored, and Israel’s democracy is more honest for it.” 

David Davidi-Brown, Chief Executive of New Israel Fund UK, said: “Democracy is strongest when every community can tell its own story and hold power to account. Palestinian citizens of Israel are often spoken about rather than heard, and the journalists reporting from within their communities commonly work with fewer resources and under greater pressure. This fellowship, in partnership with the Reuters Institute, gives one of them the time, mentoring and international networks to deepen their expertise and return with renewed confidence and perspective. It builds on our longstanding support for Palestinian leadership in Israel and for everyone working towards a just, safe and equal future for Israelis and Palestinians. This is an investment in the fellow, in the journalists we hope will follow, and in Palestinian civic voice and press freedom.” 

Anne Godlasky, Director of the Reuters Institute’s Journalist Programmes, said: “For decades, the Reuters Institute has provided safety, knowledge and support to journalists reporting from conflict zones around the world. Today’s Palestinian journalists face extreme threats and obstacles, and we will work to help them in their critical mission of reporting the truth.”