Palestine Speaks: Al Jazeera English online Launches ‘Palestine in Motion’

• June 14, 2017, 12:48 pm

AL Jazeera English online has launched ‘Palestine in Motion‘, a storytelling technique, centered on the story of Palestinian people.

‘Palestine in Motion’ allows the user to explore the personal narratives of Palestinians, which are linked through various themes and keywords in a new and unique way. It retells the story of Palestine by linking the past and the present, and reorienting the entire Palestinian discourse through conveying seemingly ‘ordinary stories of ordinary people’.

“The 19 stories featured in the project tell the Palestinian story through personal experiences of people who lived certain periods of Palestine’s history. In addition, it tells the story of what it’s like being Palestinian today,” said Imad Musa, manager of Al Jazeera English Online.

Palestine in Motion: Personal narratives explain why the Nakba is still ongoing https://t.co/wMD8FfyM2t pic.twitter.com/HbDfLMzPLu

— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) June 6, 2017

“The outcome is a series of long narratives and short essays written by Palestinians of different generations, reflecting on their past, present reality, aspirations and identity. It is an apolitical reading of a complex political reality,” he added.

“Nearly 70 years after the Nakba and 50 years after the Israeli occupation of what remained of historic Palestine, the media coverage of Palestine has grown redundant and often lacking in context,” said Ramzy Baroud, the acclaimed and award-winning journalist and writer who is the manager of the project.

“‘Palestine in Motion’ challenges the old paradigm, which sees the past and the present as disconnected parts, often relayed by politicians, academicians and reporters,” Baroud added.

Palestine in motion: Stories from the people beyond the headlines https://t.co/0Gn9VG8Sda pic.twitter.com/zJBVNZYAjf

— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) June 13, 2017

Supplementing that narrative are a series of explainers, maps, videos and links that provide context that goes beyond the story itself.

Additionally, questions and answers, embedded in the form of chatbots, will help the user further explore the topic by posing questions about Palestine that range in terms of their nature and complexity.

The project aims to provide a new reading and understanding to the story of Palestine, thus liberating the Palestine discourse from its current political and media narratives.

(Al Jazeera)