Syrian-Kurdish journalist introduces Israel to the Arab world

Born in Damascus, Hayvi Bouzo is a Syrian-Kurdish journalist who has made it her life’s mission to share Israeli stories with the Arabic-speaking world. 

Unsurprisingly, her decision has come with a cost. Bouzo has been labeled a traitor and would be charged with treason in her home country. She now lives in Washington, D.C. for her own safety. Bouzo has interviewed a number of Israelis for her website, ‘Yalla,’ and has no intention of stopping.

Her audience, between 750,000 to one million followers, has listened to personal testimonies of Israelis, many of whom lost family members in the Oct. 7 massacre last year.

When asked in a Ynet News interview which of those stories has touched her the most, she immediately replied, “Yifat Ziller, cousin to Yarden Bibas, held hostage in Gaza. It was so hard. I cried through the whole interview as she talked about Shiri, Yarden and their two wonderful little red-haired children.” 

She told Ynet, "I can’t forget Ariel, who was four when kidnapped, and his brother Kfir who was only nine months old. Before the interview, I looked at some pictures and decided I’d be strong, but my conversation with Yifat broke me. I thought of my own two children, Gino (11) and Talia (8). I told my husband Hans that I couldn’t imagine how I’d keep it together if a disaster as horrific as that ever happened to us.” 

Determined to present the “other side” of the story in Israel’s war with the Hamas terrorist group, she also interviewed Thomas Hand, whose nine-year-old daughter Emily was kidnapped and later returned in a hostage deal.

“It was hard. I wasn’t prepared to deal with the story of the little girl whose mother had died, who was kidnapped, and whose fate was unknown” Bouzo said.

“I had to be composed with him during the broadcast. It's not an Israeli audience that identifies with this terrible story. My job is to use the force of the story to convince my audience. They can hit me with thousands of horrific stories on the Palestinian side, but I know that my audience is also shocked by the stories. There are hundreds of TV channels in the Arab world, none of which present the Israeli side. There’s no mention of the hostages or their families,” she said.

In her mission to tell the untold stories of Israel, the 41-year-old journalist also interviews popular Israelis, such as actor Lior Raz, known for his role in the hit series, Fauda.

“For me, Lior Raz is the ultimate Israeli,” Bouzo said. “Smart, honest and pleasant, but hard and straight-talking. He also speaks Arabic, earning him extra points as far as I’m concerned. We sat and chatted in Arabic and the conversation flowed. We’re interested in the same things – the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, relations between Israel and the Arab states, and young people in the Arab world. Lior Raz’s episode on Yalla got lots of views in the Arab world.”

Bouzo also interviews public figures of interest who would not otherwise be seen in countries like Syria.

“I interviewed a young woman who had fled Egypt, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the son of the Shah of Iran, Reza Pahlavi, following his highly publicized visit to Israel. This interview accrued so many views and garnered so much interest that I requested, and was granted, a second interview to talk about Iran today and Pahlavi’s special relationship with Israel.”

Starting her career as a TV presenter for a Syrian state TV channel, Bouzo later moved to Dubai after landing a position with Orient TV. She then returned to Syria to work for El Sham TV, which was in her estimation, “the first, failed, attempt to set up a private TV channel in Syria.” She explained, “We were forced to close due to government pressure, because we were disrupting them.”

Her first interview with an Israeli took place while she was still working with Orient TV.

“I asked to meet your ambassador, Danny Danon who responded immediately,” she explained. “The fallout began right away. They called me a traitor. I then knew I had no chance of going to Syria anymore as I’d be tried for treason. It didn’t bother me though, as I knew that they watched the interview despite my being a ‘traitor.’”

What made Bouzo willing to embrace Israelis in a manner that earned her such a label? She attributed it to having an “unusual” family that “behaved differently.”

She described the societal changes that came with the rise of the Ba'ath party – close surveillance and intimidation, detentions and violent interrogations were a normal part of life. Before those dark days, her family used to enjoy good friendships with Jewish neighbors.

“My father would buy the meat from the Jewish butchers in Damascus – because of the meat’s quality, and the shop’s cleanliness,” she said, describing her parents’ positive attitude to the Jewish community.

“They had good very neighborly relations and my mother… would visit her Jewish neighbors and eat the Jewish food they cooked and took on quite a few of their customs,” she explained.

“Everything was very calm and normal until the Ba’ath party took over, and the Jews in the neighborhood started disappearing. My mother was wandering around in tears knowing she’d never see her Jewish neighbors again. They left everything behind.” 

In another interview with Kan News, Bouzo said, “My mom was born and raised in the Jewish quarter in Aleppo even though her family was Muslim, so I grew up understanding and learning about things that were not taught generally in the Middle East and Arab countries.”

"Our home was always open and I always wanted to be a journalist,” she said. “I’ve been curious about people ever since I can remember, and I fought to break down barriers in the closed environment in which I was raised. At home, I could talk about anything. Outside, I learned to be quiet.”

Bouzo's passion now is to educate the Arab world about Israel, and the Jewish people.

“Yalla is a show about hope, showcasing the history of Israel, celebrating different aspects of Israeli art and innovation alongside Arab countries,” she explained.

Bouzo spoke about the Abraham Accords' normalization agreements between Israel and four Arab nations, signed in 2020, and said she wants to be involved in promoting coexistence, peace, and a bright and prosperous future for the whole region.