Media Literacy in the Palestinian Territories

KINGSTON, R.I. – March 26, 2025 – As many Palestinians return to their homes in Gaza for the first time in over a year, there is growing hope that the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas will hold. But in times of transition, there is an information vacuum that can be easily exploited by misinformation, disinformation, and propaganda. 

For young people, the barrage of digital content can be overwhelming. But educators can help equip students for sorting out and evaluating the quality of information as they learn to spot the point of view and biases that are embedded in all media messages. Media literacy education is a way to ensure that young people have the knowledge and skills they need to be responsible media consumers and creators. 

A new University of Rhode Island initiative—“Media Literacy: Critical Thinking for an AI World”—will engage 20 Palestinian educators and 100 Palestinian youth from across the Palestinian Territories. Beginning on April 12, Palestinian educators will participate in an online professional development learning community where they learn media literacy education theory and practice, and apply it to meet the specific needs of Palestinian young adults who are growing up in an AI-saturated world. 

“Activating conflict and controversy as a way to control attention is now a dominant rhetorical strategy used in information, entertainment, and persuasion,” said Professor Renee Hobbs of URI’s Harrington School of Communication and Media, who leads the project with her colleague Yonty Friesem.  “Media literacy education has been proven to be effective all over the world in strengthening critical thinking and social responsibility in ways that protect people from disinformation and propaganda.” 

“When educators gain confidence in teaching how to identify the credibility and intentions of the many digital authors they encounter, they can share their insights with their own students,” said Bilal Younis of the Yatta Association for Higher Education in the Palestinian Territories, whose organization is supporting the program. 

“This program will support empowerment and entrepreneurship and Palestinian educators will have the opportunity to develop confidence in teaching media literacy,” said Yonty Friesem, a professor at Columbia College Chicago. “This program is a form of public diplomacy that harnesses the power of U.S. higher education in a collaborative academic and professional exchange.” 

In the program, participants will explore how media representations reflect and shape perceptions of the world, learning why facts don’t change people’s minds, the tactics used by conflict entrepreneurs, and the essential power of asking critical questions about the digital content you watch, see, read, listen to and use.

The year-long program includes interactive workshops in three cities, including Ramallah, Hebron, and Jerusalem. The program is open to educators and professionals with at least one year of experience in education, media, or related fields. Application materials are available here: http://mediaeducationlab.com/mediaed-institute/palestine 

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: Renee Hobbs. Email: hobbs@uri.edu