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Salwa Jarrah

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Salwa Jarrah
Jarrah at a book talk in 2012
Born
Salwa Jarrah

1946 (age 77–78)
Haifa, Mandatory Palestine
EducationAl-Hikma University, Baghdad (BA)
Occupations
  • Broadcaster
  • producer
  • author
ParentZanoun Jarrah

Salwa Jarrah (Arabic: سلوى جراح; born 1946) is an author and former BBC Arabic broadcaster.[1][2][3][4][5] Jarrah was born in Haifa, Mandatory Palestine, to a family from Acre, Mandatory Palestine. She grew up in Basra, Iraq.[2][6][7]

Career

[edit]

Jarrah graduated from Al-Hikma University (Baghdad) with a bachelor's degree in English in 1977.[7][8] She began working with BBC Arabic as a broadcaster in 1977, where she wrote and presented several programs.[7] Notably, Jarrah a BBC Arabic sex education program funded by the United Nations Fund for Population Activities, which regularly centered around women's issues and was described by the BBC as "the first of its kind to air in Arabic."[9] According to BBC News, the program "provided useful advice with the help of highly qualified experts and doctors" and addressed sexual issues considered to be taboo in the Arab world.[10] Jarrah also hosted the program "Oasis," the BBC Arabic equivalent of the BBC Radio program, Desert Island.[11] She interviewed the Egyptian film director Youssef Chahine, the Syrian diplomat and poet Nizar Qabbani, and the Lebanese singer Sabah as part of the program.[7][11] As part of the program, "Mosaic," Jarrah interviewed Arab literary figures, including Yahya Haqqi and Naguib Mahfouz, recipient of the 1988 Nobel Prize in Literature.[10][12]

Jarrah, along with fellow broadcasters Madiha Rashid Al-Madfai and Huda al-Rasheed, is credited as being part of a "trend of feminisation" of BBC Arabic which, during its zenith, "cultivated the loyalty of millions of listeners in the Middle East and North Africa."[5][10] In 2018, BBC Arabic's 80th anniversary, the BBC hailed Jarrah, Al-Madfai, and Al-Rasheed as "pioneers" in the BBC Arabic Service and women's broadcasting and journalism in the Arab world.[10] That year, Jarrah participated in a BBC program celebrating BBC Arabic's "80 years of broadcasting."[1] In 2023, after 85 years, the BBC ended its BBC Arabic radio service due to budgetary concerns.[13]

Since retiring in 1999, Jarrah has authored several Arabic novels, including "Fifth Season" (2005), "Rocks of the Shore" (2007), "Insomnia" (2009), "Image in Still Water" (2014), "Narrow Doors" (2016), and "When Tales Intertwine" (2020).[2][4][8][11] In 2019, Jarrah published an autobiography, "Scattered Papers" (2007), describing her childhood, family life, career, and connection to Acre, the Palestinian city where her family lived before being displaced in 1948.[14][15] Her niece, Huda Asfour, is an academic and oud musician.[16][17]

References

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  1. ^ a b "BBC Arabic celebrates 80 years of broadcasting". BBC. 2018-01-26. Archived from the original on December 9, 2024. Retrieved 2024-11-28.
  2. ^ a b c جحا, جورج (2015-12-14). "سلوى جراح.. عن الذكريات المتبناة والأوطان البديلة". Reuters (in Arabic). Archived from the original on December 9, 2024. Retrieved 2024-11-27.
  3. ^ "Oman discovers that 'The Beautiful Has Come'". gulfnews.com. 2001-01-24. Archived from the original on December 9, 2024. Retrieved 2024-11-28.
  4. ^ a b "سلوى الجراح". BBC News عربي (in Arabic). 2018-01-26. Archived from the original on December 9, 2024. Retrieved 2024-11-28.
  5. ^ a b Msaddek, Houcine (2021-01-01). "BBC Arabic (1938-1995): Soft Power or Reithian Practice Abroad?". Revue Française de Civilisation Britannique. French Journal of British Studies. XXVI (1). doi:10.4000/rfcb.7056. ISSN 0248-9015.
  6. ^ Jarrah, Salwa (2024-04-18). "My Grandmother's Wardrobe, Keys, And Tears". Times for Palestine. Archived from the original on December 9, 2024. Retrieved 2024-11-28.
  7. ^ a b c d Jarrah, Salwa (2011-12-01). "Excerpt translated from Insomnia". Wasafiri. 26 (4): 67–67. doi:10.1080/02690055.2011.607653. ISSN 0269-0055.
  8. ^ a b فُسْحَة (2017-04-13). "لقاء مع الروائية سلوى جراح | حيفا". فسحة - ثقافية فلسطينية (in Arabic). Archived from the original on December 9, 2024. Retrieved 2024-11-28.
  9. ^ Populi. United Nations Fund for Population Activities. 1994. Archived from the original on December 9, 2024.
  10. ^ a b c d "رائدات بي بي سي عربي: نساء كسرن النمطية وتحدين التابوهات". BBC News عربي (in Arabic). 2018-01-26. Archived from the original on December 9, 2024. Retrieved 2024-11-28.
  11. ^ a b c "إعلام العراق بين جيلين – DW – 2013/10/18". DW (in Arabic). Archived from the original on December 9, 2024. Retrieved 2024-11-28.
  12. ^ عيّاد, فتات (2022-10-06). "ذكريات جيل "بي.بي.سي" الذهبي..سلوى جراح لـ"المدن":بدأتُ يوم رحل "الملك"". Al Modon - المدن (in Arabic). Archived from the original on December 9, 2024. Retrieved 2024-12-03.
  13. ^ King, Maya (2023-01-30). "BBC Arabic Radio Airs Final Broadcast After 85 Years". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 9, 2024. Retrieved 2024-11-28.
  14. ^ Palestine, Times for (2024-03-15). "Zanoun Jarrah... The father died with a handful of Akka's soil under his cheek". Times for Palestine. Archived from the original on December 9, 2024. Retrieved 2024-11-28.
  15. ^ "سلوى جرّاح….. تلملم ذكرياتها المبعثرة بين المدن". Elaph - إيلاف (in Arabic). 2021-09-19. Archived from the original on December 9, 2024. Retrieved 2024-11-28.
  16. ^ Asfour, Huda (2018-03-24). "Kouni كوني". www.hudaasfour.com. Archived from the original on 2024-11-28. Retrieved 2024-11-28.
  17. ^ Underwood, Alexia (2024-10-09). "'My way of being useful': for Palestinian oudist Huda Asfour, performance brings catharsis – and frustration". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on December 9, 2024. Retrieved 2024-11-28.
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