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Palestine Media Center

Website:

www.jerusalem-hotels-il.com/en/palestine-pmc.html
Type:

Palestinian activist group
Formation:

2001
Founder:

Yasser Abed Rabbo

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The Palestine Media Center (PMC) is an anti-Israel media organization based in the city of Ramallah in the West Bank. 1 Although its website is defunct as of 2025, it was previously considered to be a prominent source for Palestinian news. 2 3 PMC was founded by Yasser Abed Rabbo, the former Minister of Cabinet Affairs and the Minister of Culture and Information for the Palestinian Authority (PA). 1 Rabbo was also a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization Executive Committee. 4

The Palestine Media Center was founded with support from the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), an umbrella organization for several Palestinian groups that has been recognized as the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people in international negotiations and institutions. 5 6 The PLO engaged in protracted guerilla war against Israel at various points between the 1960s and 1980s. 7 8

Mentions by Other Groups

Although the Palestine Media Center has ceased all online activity, it was highlighted by other academic institutions and political organizations as a prominent source of Palestinian news. The Palestinian American Council (PAC), an anti-Israel news group, listed the Palestine Media Center as a source of reliable Palestinian news on its website. The PAC also listed the Middle East Cultural and Charitable Society’s anti-Israel Electronic Intifada, the Palestinian International Press Center, and a local Palestinian satellite television channel as reliable sources. 3

Boston University also listed the Palestine Media Center as a source for general news and information on the Palestinian reality. 5

The Palestine Media Center has also had employees who work in other reputable media outlets, including Nour Odeh. Odeh was both a Gaza-based Al-Jazeera correspondent and director of communications at the Palestine Media Center. 9

Leadership

Yasser Abed Rabbo is the founder of the Palestine Media Center. Rabbo worked alongside Yasser Arafat starting in the 1960s. In 1968, Abed Rabbo was a founding member of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), a leftist group in the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). He became its Deputy Secretary-General in 1973 and headed the Information and Culture department from 1973 to 1994. When the Palestinian Authority (PA) was established in 1994, he headed the Information Ministry. 1 4

In 2016, PA president Mahmoud Abbas removed Rabbo as secretary general of the PLO’s Executive Committee, a position he had held since 2009, and replaced him with Saeb Erekat. In May 2018, Rabbo lost his position on PLO’s Executive Committee. 10

Saman Khoury is the former director of the Palestine Media Center. Khoury is a former advisor to Yasser Abed Rabbo. Khoury has also held several positions in Palestinian politics and media, including the following: Director of International Relations for the Palestinian Ministry of Culture, general coordinator for the Peoples’ Peace Campaign, founding member and deputy chair for the Palestine Broadcasting Corporation, managing editor for the Al-Fajr English weekly newspaper, deputy chairperson of the board of trustees and general manager for the Peace and Democracy Forum/Jerusalem, and Palestinian co-chair for the Palestinian-Israeli Peace NGO Forum (PIPNF). 11 In 2001, Khoury stated in an interview that what he considered to be Israel’s aggression toward Palestinians forced all Palestinians to be part of the resistance against Israel. 12

Financials

Boston University listed the Palestine Media Center as a media organization sponsored by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). 5 The Palestine Media Center also received funding from the European Union. 1

References

  1. “The Influence of Palestinian Organizations on Foreign News Reporting.” Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs (JCFA). March 27, 2003. Accessed February 23, 2025. https://jcpa.org/article/the-influence-of-palestinian-organizations-on-foreign-news-reporting/
  2. “Home.” Palestine Media Center – PMC. Accessed February 23, 2025. https://www.jerusalem-hotels-il.com/en/palestine-pmc.html
  3. “Links.” Palestinian American Council (PAC). Accessed February 23, 2025. https://www.pac-usa.org/links.htm
  4. “Yasser Abed Rabbo (Abu Bashar).” Jewish Virtual Library. Accessed February 23, 2025. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/yasser-abed-rabbo-abu-bashar
  5. “Palestinian News Sources.” Boston University. Accessed February 23, 2025. https://www.bu.edu/mzank/Jerusalem/cp/pal-news.htm
  6. “The Palestinians: Background and U.S. Relations.” Congressional Research Service. October 27, 2022. Accessed February 23, 2025. https://sgp.fas.org/crs/mideast/RL34074.pdf.
  7. “Palestine Liberation Organization.” Encyclopedia Britannica. Accessed February 23, 2025. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Palestine-Liberation-Organization.
  8. “The Madrid Conference, 1991.” U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian. 1992. Accessed February 23, 2025. https://history.state.gov/milestones/1989-1992/madrid-conference
  9. “Field Correspondents.” Al-Jazeera. June 10, 2008. Accessed February 23, 2025. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2008/6/10/field-correspondents-7
  10. “Yasser Abed Rabb0.” European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR). Accessed February 23, 2025. https://ecfr.eu/special/mapping_palestinian_politics/yasser_abed_rabbo/
  11. “Bios PIPNF Delegation 11.2.09.” European Parliament. February 11, 2009. Accessed February 23, 2025. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2004_2009/documents/dv/pipnf_delegati/pipnf_delegation_bios.pdf
  12. Barr, Cameron W. “Israel strikes at peacemakers: provocation or mistake?” Christian Science Monitor. May 22, 2001. Accessed February 23, 2025. https://www.csmonitor.com/2001/0522/p7s1.html
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