79: Edy Cohen: Israel’s supreme leader in Arabic

When it comes to Israel, there’s no more powerful a journalistic voice across the Arab world than Edy Cohen. This is his one-man story. You likely won’t have heard of Edy, but note the name, because he tweets mostly in Arabic. Edy has half a million X followers, almost exclusively in the Middle East and North Africa. Educating, informing, entertaining, even mocking Arabs in the colloquial language of the street - his mother tongue. He was born in Beirut in Lebanon, as were his parents and grandparents. fluent in Arabic, French and fine in English as you’ll hear, his engaging style gets him loads of airtime across MENA. The Israeli Ministry of Exterior find his outreach powers annoying and exclude him from their work. Perhaps his less than diplomatic approach to reportage is the key reason. But the truth is he exists in this social media era and he cuts through into Arab eyes and ears. Listen now to this serious BUT unofficial Hasbara giant. Help support Jonny Gould’s Jewish State (including Gift Aid) at https://www.donorbox.org/jgpodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices