Dr Yuval Katz, a Lecturer in Communication and Media at Loughborough University, has spent years studying Palestinian and Jewish journalists, television producers and digital activists who work together despite decades of conflict.
His new book, Media Making as Peacemaking: Israel/Palestine, asks what happened to the idea of peace that dominated Israeli-Palestinian politics during the 1990s, and whether meaningful dialogue can still take place outside traditional politics.
The question has become considerably more urgent since the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on 7 October 2023 and the subsequent war in Gaza.
Dr Katz, who describes himself in the book as an Israeli Jew, writes candidly about his own experience following the attacks.
He recalls questioning the war with Israeli friends, only to be told it was not the time for ‘nuanced conversations’. He and another activist were later called ‘traitors’ after challenging misinformation.
At the same time, Dr Katz remained in contact with Ibrahim, a Palestinian activist originally from Gaza whom he had met through his research. Days after the attacks, Ibrahim announced that his father, sister and her children had been killed in an Israeli airstrike.
Dr Katz said that while conventional political peace-making has faltered, everyday encounters between Palestinians and Jews can provide a different way of thinking about peace.
His research includes Palestinian journalist Hanin Majadli, who was initially suspicious when invited to write for Israeli newspaper Haaretz, fearing she might be expected to soften her views for Jewish readers. She eventually joined the newspaper and remains a columnist.
The book also examines the friendship behind Israeli television comedy Arab Labor. Palestinian creator Sayed Kashua and Jewish director Shay Capon developed ideas over drinks, exchanging scripts and challenging each other's thinking.
Dr Katz argues that their friendship helped the programme tackle subjects that might otherwise have been considered too politically explosive.
He said media cannot simply turn enemies into friends or end decades of violence, but it can create spaces where people who might otherwise never meaningfully encounter one another have to listen, argue and work together.
Rather than viewing peace as something negotiated exclusively by governments and diplomats, the book asks whether some of its foundations can instead be built through the ordinary, difficult process of Palestinians and Jews encountering each other's experiences.
Media Making as Peacemaking: Israel/Palestine was published by Rutgers University Press in September 2026.
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