Mohamed-Ali Abunajela is Palestinian, was born and raised in the Gaza Strip and has worked with regional and international media organisations.

Alongside his studies in the Research Institute for Media, Art and Performance at the University of Bedfordshire, he currently works within the Arabic communications team at the BBC World Service.

Last night (Tuesday) he was at the historical Oxford University to speak about his belief that the media is a “powerful tool” which can “influence the very nature of someone's identify, beliefs and thoughts”.

He spoke about the context of his research and the academic debates on the place of Al Jazeera in the Arab world, its pan-Arab identity, its coverage in relation to Islam and political Islam, and the relations between the channel and its host country Qatar among other related topics to Al Jazeera Arabic.

Mr Abunajela also discussed methods and theories in which he utilises to examine Al Jazeera and its relations with the Muslim Brotherhood movement in Egypt, to examine whether or not it was biased to the brotherhood during four different key historical moments.

He said: “I’m enjoying my research topic and I’m determined to deliver a credible and distinctive academic study that will carry both my name and University of Bedfordshire’s name.

“I enjoy enormous support from my director of studies, Professor Noha Mellor. Prof Mellor is an experienced academic and has an expert knowledge on Arab media studies, which is an added value to my research.”

Mohamed-Ali Abunajela has worked with organisations including AFP, ARTE TV and Ramattan News Agency.

From 2007 and 2009, he was the spokesperson of Oxfam International in Gaza and quite often spoken live to local, regional and international media services.

Following his successful talk, which was held as part of the Oxford University’s Media Research Seminars, Mohammed-Ali has been invited to speak at University of Oxford’s Pembroke College in late June.