AMIRA HASS
Israeli correspondent for newspaper Haaretz
The Israeli journalist, based in the Palestinian territory of Ramallah, is awarded the IV Miguel Gil Moreno Prize for Journalism for her informative coverage of the Israel-Palestine conflict. Hass is the only journalist who reports for the Israeli media from Palestinian territory.
Amira Hass was born in 1956 in Jerusalem, at the heart of a Jewish family. During the first Intifada she became a volunteer for Workers Hotline, a group of lawyers who provided legal aid to Palestinian workers whose rights had been violated by Israeli businesses. After working as a teacher, she began her journalism career in 1989 as editor for Haaretz.
Amira Hass is the first and only member of the Israeli press to be based in Palestinian territory. After the signing of agreements between the Israelis and the Palestinians in December 1993, she moved to Gaza and in 1997 she moved to Ramallah on the West Bank of Jordan.
The Israeli journalist, author of the book “Chronicles of Ramallah”, was distinguished with the Press Freedom Hero Prize from the International Press Institute in 2000, the Bruno Kresky Human Rights Award 2002 and the Guillermo Cano Freedom of Press Prize from UNESCO in 2003.
Hass demonstrated her “joy” and “satisfaction” with the prize, and gave thanks for the prize because “it encourages” her to carry on reporting from “prime material, the people and their testimonies”. The Israeli journalist explained that her challenge is “to explain the occupation to the occupier” by reporting what is happening in Palestine to Israel.
(Left to right)
Mónica Terribas, journalist, Dolores Massana, President Reporteros Sin Fronteras Spain, Amira Haas, Patricia Gil, David Trías, Publisher Plaza & Janés and Ramón Lobo, journalist and Jury of IV Prize.
