Sumud as journalistic practice: Palestinian journalists navigate trauma and resistance in Gaza

Abstract

This study focuses on the testimonies of 16 Al Jazeera Arabic correspondents reporting from Gaza to show how Palestinian journalists confront trauma through a practice rooted in sumud or steadfastness. It explores how these journalists navigate personal suffering and displacement as they narrate collective memory. This study challenges Western-centric trauma journalism frameworks by arguing that emotional proximity and authorial subjectivity are not liabilities but contextually embedded strengths, and it cautions against the universalizing impact of trauma on journalism, showing that, in Gaza, trauma is not an external disruption but a national condition. The analysis applies the concept of resistance-scapes, which frames everyday journalistic practices as resilience strategies, offering an alternative model of affective storytelling grounded in political struggle, historical identity, and narrative sovereignty. The main argument then is that Palestinian journalists carry a dual identity, as both witnesses documenting traumatic events and individuals who have personally experienced the impact of that trauma.