On the anniversary of the Nakba ... Palestinians are looking for digital technology to connect with their past

Palestinians replaced marches and protests with virtual reality tours to commemorate the Nakba, as Palestinians who face restrictions due to the Coronavirus create digital spaces to express their pain for the loss of their homeland in 1948.

Zoom's mobile applications and video chats are among the online tools that Palestinians use to commemorate the Nakba, when they and their children were forced to flee their villages because of the war that made Israel the ruins of their state.

The anniversary of the Nakba comes on May 15 - the day after what is called "Israel's independence" in the Western calendar.

Last year, Israeli forces wounded about 50 Palestinians during the Nakba protests, but marches were canceled this year. In the West Bank, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas authorized digital activities to celebrate the anniversary.

While Palestinians still have no state on the ground, many find new ways to remember their past and express their identity online.

Palestine VR is one of many new tools designed to connect millions of Palestinians in the diaspora with the towns and villages of their fathers, some of which are now abandoned in Israel.

Salem Brahmeh, founder of the Virtual Reality Application in Palestine based in Ramallah, said during a virtual tour of the application in Gaza, Jerusalem and the West Bank, "Seeing Palestine through technology is an important experience, especially for Palestinians who are not allowed to visit." He added, "We want to share Palestine with them and help them." To feel and understand this place. "

Majd al-Shihabi, a Palestinian refugee born in Syria, and a member of the Open Palestine Maps Development Team, an interactive database of indigenous Palestinian villages and cities as they were in 1948, says from Beirut, "Palestinians can see anywhere the visual details of their villages, enhancing our understanding." As Palestine was before displacement. "

Digital Nation A new digital
initiative is emerging from the new initiatives, which has also formed around Palestinian culture, food and fashion, according to activists and businessmen.

Judy Calla, the British-Palestinian chef and author of The Book of Palestine on a plate, says the strong recipe discussions among her 124,000 followers are evidence of community growth.

"No one can stop the Palestinians from communicating on social media, even if it is an enthusiastic discussion about who is the village that provides the best kibbeh," said London's Calla.

Statehood out of reach The
Palestinians want a state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip with East Jerusalem as its capital. Where Israel seized and occupied those lands in the 1967 war, then annexed East Jerusalem later in a move that was not recognized internationally and withdrew from Gaza in 2005.

In 2012, the United Nations General Assembly recognized the sovereign state of Palestine. But the full Palestinian state has remained out of reach, and many Palestinians abroad fear a loss of contact with their roots.