Suleiman Maswadeh (Arabic: سليمان مسودة; born July 13, 1995[1]) is a Palestinian-Israeli journalist who is currently the senior Hebrew-language political reporter for the Israeli main public television channel Kan 11 and a news presenter in that channel.[2] Given that he grew up as a Palestinian in a monolingual Arabic-speaking environment, not as a bi-lingual Israeli-Arab within the Israeli education system, his personal biography is considered quite unusual and remarkable.

Suleiman Maswadeh
Born (1995-07-13) July 13, 1995 (age 29)
Alma materHadassah Academic College
Occupation(s)Journalist, news reporter
Years active2019–present
EmployerKan 11

Biography

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Maswadeh was born and raised in the Muslim Quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem, to Monzer Maswadeh and Iman Maswadeh. He is the eldest brother of six sisters. He attended "Al-Iman" High school.[3]

He studied accounting at Birzeit University in the Palestinian town of Birzeit.[3] While attending college, he worked at a hotel in Jerusalem and realized that workers who spoke Hebrew made better tips. He decided to drop out of college and work full time.[2]

Two years into his studies at Birzeit University, Maswadeh enrolled in a year-long intensive Hebrew language program, and then transferred to Jerusalem's Hadassah Academic College via a scholarship, where he studied journalism. While studying, he found a job at the Israeli television channel Kan 11.[2]


As of 2024 Maswadeh serves as a political reporter in Kan 11 and resides in Tel Aviv.[4]

Career

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Maswadeh first became interested in journalism during the Second Intifada in the early 2000s.[2]

While studying at Hadassah Academic College, Maswadeh had an internship at Kan 11's Arabic channel. After a few months, he was transferred to the Hebrew channel, where he worked as a field producer and later as an Arab affairs reporter, a role he disliked. He then worked as the channel's Jerusalem correspondent, where he reported on both Arab and Jewish affairs.[2]

In 2023, Maswadeh was promoted to political correspondent and anchor for Kan 11, and moved to Tel Aviv to work there.[2] Later that year, Maswadeh received a "special award of excellence" from Hadassah Academic College for his journalistic career.[5]

Personal life

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Maswadeh holds Israeli citizenship since February 2024.[6] He until then he was a permanent resident and had an Israeli identity card and a Jordanian passport.[2]

Maswadeh has said he experiences some pressure from his family and community, especially when his reporting does not reflect the Palestinian community positively; for example, in 2020, Maswadeh reported about COVID-19 restriction violations at Al-Aqsa. He has also reported receiving death threats.[2]

He has also worked as a radio journalist for Reshet Bet.[5]

References

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  1. ^ "suleimanmas1". X.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Gold, Hadas (2023-04-24). "Palestinian reporter breaks barriers by reporting in Hebrew on Israeli TV". CNN. Retrieved 2024-02-29.
  3. ^ a b ""אומרים שאני משת"פ. חברים שהיו כמו אחים שלי לא מדברים איתי"". הארץ (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2024-02-29.
  4. ^ "Threads". www.threads.net. Retrieved 2024-04-18.
  5. ^ a b Cashman, Greer Fay (2023-07-02). "Grapevine July 2, 2023: Triumphing over the 'Final Solution'". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. Retrieved 2024-02-29.
  6. ^ Maswadeh, Suleiman; Kuban, Roni (20 April 2024). "פגישה עם רוני קובן" [Meeting with Roni Kuban]. kan.org.il (Video) (in Hebrew). 2:05-2:06. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
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