At the beginning of 2012 the IMM set up the Hona AlQuds online news agency and radio, which is the only news organization to date setting its focus on reporting live on the daily life of the Palestinian population in Jerusalem from a community perspective.
Hona AlQuds Community Media Network has been founded due to the belief that media plays a key role in giving the Palestinian community in Jerusalem a voice and a platform, which is important for several reasons:
- Marginalization of Palestinians in Jerusalem: 78% of the Palestinian Jerusalemites live under the poverty line; unemployment and school drop-out rates are significantly higher in East Jerusalem than in the West Bank ; lack of physical space and adequate housing, about 30% of the inhabitants of Jerusalem are Palestinians, but they live in only 7% of the city´s area; lack of political representation;
- Lack of accurate information on Jerusalem and lack of Palestinian media outlets focusing on East Jerusalem
- Increased isolation of East Jerusalem and separation from the West Bank through separation barrier
Hona AlQuds Community Media Network has an office in Ramallah and also in the Old City of Jerusalem, which is in desperate need of renovation. The media outlet also needs to cover salaries of journalists as well as equipment in order to be able to execute its role as a community media voice.
