Jacky Rowland

Jacky Rowland's picture
Jacky Rowland
Correspondent | Israel
Biography

Jacky Rowland, based in Jerusalem, is an award-winning correspondent with 16 years of experience covering conflicts in the Balkans and the Islamic world.

Her reporting earned her a Royal Television Society Award in 2001. She joined Al Jazeera from the BBC, where she held a number of high-profile foreign postings.

Latest posts by Jacky Rowland

By Jacky Rowland in Middle East on September 1st, 2010
Barack Obama and Mahmoud Abbas walking outside the White House. (Photo: Reuters)

There has been a temporary construction freeze on the White House lawn in honour of the Middle East peace talks hosted by President Obama. The bulldozers and cranes that are carrying out a refurbishment of the White House grounds drowned out our broadcasts on Tuesday. But on Wednesday they fell silent, as if paying an unconscious tribute to the better known construction freeze in Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

The removal of the noise and the dust from the construction work has left television reporters on the platform overlooking the White House with one less problem to deal with. Now we only have to contend with the frying heat, oppressive humidity, iron girders designed to knock our heads on, and carnivorous insects that attack us as we are live on air.

The talks themselves are going on beyond our view. Even the dignitaries’ cars are driving up to an entrance that we can’t see. Live press statements suddenly become taped press statements.

By Jacky Rowland in Middle East on May 25th, 2010
AFP photo

I wonder how many of you remember that classic scene from Monty Python's The Life of Brian.

Set two thousand years ago in the Holy Land, rebellious residents are rising up against the Roman Empire - and the following exchange takes place:

Brian: "Excuse me. Are you the Judean People's Front?"

Reg: "F*** off! We're the People's Front of Judea!"

Well, I was reminded of that scene earlier today, when we received a complaint from a pro-Palestinian activist who had featured in a story we did the day before.

This was a report from the docks in Athens about a couple of vessels taking part in the Freedom Flotilla heading towards Gaza.

The flotilla, consisting of eight ships in total at our last count, intends to bring badly needed medical equipment, water treatment systems, building materials - and goodwill - to the besieged people of the Gaza Strip.

By Jacky Rowland in Middle East on October 28th, 2009

I had just left home this morning when I saw a series of police vehicles turning into my road. I have recently moved to Sheikh Jarrah, a neighbourhood in occupied East Jerusalem where Israel pursues a policy of evicting Palestinians from their homes. I’d been thinking that I was late for work – in fact I was bang on time for a story.

I did a U-turn and followed the police convoy. They were heading towards a Palestinian house that had been the scene of an eviction at the beginning of August. The Ghawi family had been living there for more than 50 years, but an Israeli court ruled that Jews were the rightful owners. So the Palestinians were thrown out onto the street and Jewish settlers moved in.

Finding themselves homeless, the Ghawi family had set up a tent on the pavement opposite their old house. This flimsy structure, containing a few foam mattresses and plastic chairs, was the target of the latest Israeli demolition order.

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Biography

Jacky Rowland's picture
Jacky Rowland
Correspondent
Jacky Rowland is an award-winning correspondent based in Jerusalem.

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