JLF October Newsletter: Interview with +972 Magazine

As the crisis in Gaza enters its third year, independent journalism from the region has become both more vital and more endangered than ever. With over 200 journalists killed and press freedom under unprecedented attack, the work of documenting human rights violations and amplifying marginalized voices has never been more critical — or more dangerous. For progressive Jews seeking trustworthy reporting that centers justice and challenges mainstream narratives, +972 Magazine has emerged as an essential resource. Noa Barash of the Jewish Liberation Fund spoke with Dana Mills, Resource Development Manager at +972 Magazine, about the unique model of Israeli-Palestinian journalistic collaboration, how their investigations have influenced policy from Microsoft to the International Court of Justice, and what it takes to sustain independent journalism committed to equity and human rights under extraordinarily challenging conditions.

Noa Barash, Manager of Communications and Operations at Jewish Labor Forum, sat down with Dana Mills, Resource Development Manager at +972 Magazine - Advancement of Citizen Journalism, to discuss the vital work of the only media organization run jointly by Israeli and Palestinian journalists.

Noa Barash: Hi Dana! Thanks so much for being here with me today. +972 Magazine is the only media organization run jointly by Israeli and Palestinian journalists. Can you tell everyone about your mission and what this joint leadership model means for your work?

Dana Mills: +972 was founded in 2011 by Israeli and Palestinian bloggers in order to challenge the coverage of Israel-Palestine by mainstream media in English. The name of the site is derived from the telephone country code that can be used to dial throughout Israel-Palestine.

Since its foundation, the site has undergone manifold changes. At its core in its current structure are the ethic and practice of combining values of bi-national, anti-apartheid and anti-occupation activism with independent, non-compromising journalism.

Our core values are a commitment to equity, justice, and freedom of information. We believe in accurate and fair journalism that spotlights the people and communities working to oppose occupation and apartheid, and that showcases perspectives often overlooked or marginalized in mainstream narratives. Our values, our points of view, our joint commitment to the future of all those who live between the river and the sea are nourished by our bi-national nature and enrich it.

Noa Barash: Your theory of change is distinctive: you see journalism as a tool for activism and movement-building. How do you balance rigorous journalistic standards while explicitly working to empower movements for justice?

Dana Mills: Our journalism is uncompromising. We hold ourselves to the highest professional standards. At the same time we see our role as speaking truth to power. We recognize that no journalistic platform is neutral. From our first days we had defined ourselves as a distinctively anti-apartheid, anti-occupation collective. We work to fight the ongoing Nakba and genocide enacted on the Palestinian people by Israel and enabled by global silence, including the silence of most of the mainstream media. Hence, our actual journalistic work is our activism. Through exposing truths that the Israeli government works hard to conceal, by giving a platform to oppressed voices and by empowering our readers to speak up against apartheid and human rights violations, we are both journalists and activists. One of our priorities is movement building, connecting progressive movements in Israel-Palestine and around the world, providing resources for political education and galvanizing conversations between different groups in progressive movements that would benefit from dialogue and cross-fertilization.

Noa Barash: Your investigations have had remarkable reach — cited by South Africa at the ICJ, referenced by UN officials, used by grassroots organizers. Can you walk us through how your investigative journalism has translated into concrete policy change or organizing power?

Dana Mills: Our investigative journalism has been crucial for the site for some time, and with impressive achievements prior to October 7, 2023. Notably, in 2021 we had exposed that the classified Israeli dossier which was used by the Minister of Defense to designate six Palestinian human rights organizations as "terrorist" provided no proof for any illegal activity. The concentrated attacks on these six organizations — Al-Haq, Addameer, Bisan, Defense for Children International-Palestine, Union of Palestinian Women's Committees and Union of Agricultural Workers' Committee — also led to a wave of solidarity actions, including continued financial support for those organizations by European governments, as a consequence of our revelation, despite Israeli collusion and threats.

Since the outbreak of the Israeli genocide in Gaza our investigations had become central in our publishing agenda. Not only have we been quoted by UN and White House officials as well as receiving awards, our investigations create change in the world: recently Microsoft announced, following our investigations, that it would terminate the Israeli army's access to technology it was using to store vast troves of intelligence on Palestinian civilians in the West Bank and Gaza. This occurred as a result of months of protests by Microsoft employees and public pressure. At the same time sixty investors holding $80 million in shares have demanded an independent review of the company's human rights safeguards. We see the role of our investigations to speak truth to power and to both inform and be informed by activism on the ground.

Noa Barash: The conditions you're working under are extraordinarily difficult. Gazan reporters working amid genocide, over 200 journalists killed, staff facing persecution and despair. How are you supporting your team through this, and what does it take to sustain this work?

Dana Mills: We continue to sustain daily contact with our writers in Gaza who went through the past two years struggling daily to stay alive. +972 editor in chief, Ghousoon Bisharat, has been making sure throughout the war to check in daily on our writers — despite countless technical challenges — keep the conversation with them going, check on their welfare and what can be done to ease their suffering. We have created an internal fund focused on providing financial support for our writers in Gaza; whether to help them leave the Strip or to sustain them and their families within it. The West Bank is also a site of expedited ethnic cleansing, where some of our staff reporters are persecuted for their journalism. Our Palestinian colleagues work under daily threats, and freedom of speech is increasingly curtailed in Israel too.

There are of course long-term implications and trauma of living through a genocide while reporting on it, and we attempt to offer all the resources within our reach to staff members both in Gaza itself and outside of it. We offer support and counselling to our team members as we acknowledge that while the heftiest price is paid, of course, by Palestinians in Gaza, our entire team has been facing manifold challenges during these two years. This demands resources both in terms of financial costs as well as ensuring some time is set aside to support each other in these horrifying times. In all collective conversations we have had, we realized that the work itself, and continuing to do it together, as a bi-national team, was an important resource which kept us going.

Noa Barash: About 50% of your readership is in the United States, where progressive Jewish activists regularly reference your work. How do you see your journalism connecting diaspora Jews to resistance movements in Israel-Palestine?

Dana Mills: Our work is intimately connected to the activism of diaspora progressive Jewish communities, especially in the USA. We believe that always, but especially since the second election of Donald Trump, progressive movements in Israel-Palestine and internationally, in particular in the USA, must join forces and learn from each other's experiences. Some of the challenges we face are similar: grave attacks on civil society, on those who are most vulnerable and unrecognized by current legal and political systems, attacks on the LGBTQIA+ communities, on women, and the rise of far-right antisemitism, which is so often combined with Islamophobia and xenophobia. So we seek to represent the alliances that challenge those forces on our website.

The fight for freedom of speech, especially around issues of human rights in Israel-Palestine, connects our communities and makes our struggle essentially shared. Our unique role, writing in English from Israel-Palestine, makes us a distinct voice amplifying progressive alliances between Israel-Palestine and the world.

Noa Barash: For progressive Jews who care about justice in Palestine-Israel, press freedom, and building transnational movements, how can they support +972's work and get involved?

Dana Mills: The connection between Jewish activism and our journalism is strong. Our work is very much informed by activism on the ground, including around the world, and how progressive Jews who care about justice in Israel-Palestine are using their voices to speak up. We always seek to platform transnational movements and alliances that challenge oppressive governments around the globe.

If you haven't already, please follow our work on +972 Magazine, spread our work, the voices of Israelis and Palestinians: send the articles you find significant to your friends and fellow organizers! Sign up to our newsletter and follow us on social networks: Facebook, Bluesky, X, and Instagram.

We at +972 work in a distinctive financial model. We will never have a paywall—free and accessible journalism is central to our mission. We are completely independent and rely on donations to support our work. Our members, those who give a monthly donation, which can be as little as $5, are in fact our community. We offer members-only events and content to those who choose to support us monthly. Our membership model is both vital to sustain us financially but is also our way to keep in touch and to maintain a connection with our loyal readership. You can become a member at our website.