They launched the “She is Palestine” initiative through electronic platforms
Ali and Ahmed Zamara, two brothers, documenting the stolen history of Palestine
Ali and Ahmed Zama'ra in a historical episode of coastal Jaffa.
From the source
Ahmed and Ali document the archaeological monuments inside the abandoned villages.
From the source
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In the year 2020, the child Ali Zamara, a resident of the city of Ramallah in the West Bank, thought of creating an inspiring and attractive concept through which he would break into the world of “social media”, and at the same time carry a purposeful connotation. All that the cities, villages and towns embrace of beautiful nature, and cultural sites.
Ali succeeded in the first work he produced and published on social media platforms, in a historic national initiative he called “It is Palestine”, to be supported by his brother Ahmed, who is three years younger than him, in his idea that preserves the history of Palestine and its cultural landmarks from theft and extinction, as they roam together within towns and villages. Occupied and displaced people in various cities of their homeland, which were afflicted by the occupation, and the displacement of its residents in the Palestinian Nakba in 1948.
“Here is Palestine” is an initiative by Ali (14 years old) and Ahmed (11 years old), through which they document the landmarks of Palestinian civilized cities, their customs and heritage traditions. Their own platform on "Facebook", in addition to the fact that their platform on "Instagram" has 3,000 followers.
By doing so, a year ago, the two children had the opportunity to participate in the Global Entrepreneurship Week, which resulted in them receiving in-kind funding from the local Bank of Palestine, helping them in the process of editing the scenes captured by the lens of their mobile phones.
big dream
"Emirates Today" met the two brothers Ali and Ahmed Zamara, during their visit to the city of Jaffa on the Mediterranean coast, where they exchanged roles between filming and presenting the content of the illustrated work, in an aesthetic scene that embodies the education of parents for their children to love their homeland, despite the crimes of the occupation and the ugliness of settlement, Which devours vast areas of Palestinian villages and towns.
The older brother Ali, who came up with the idea of the historical “It is Palestine” initiative, says: “Our initiative started almost two years ago, as my brother Ahmed was studying a curriculum about the displaced villages and towns, specifically about the abandoned village of Lifta, the district of Jerusalem, where we were longing. To visit it and wander among its archaeological monuments, and its beautiful green nature.”
He adds: "One night before I visited Lifta, I suggested to my brother Ahmed that we produce a video work on Lifta. Indeed, we completed a photo tour around the ancient village, and then we moved to the montage process, so that it is ready for publication on social media."
The child Ali points out that “the village of Lifta was the starting point for (it is Palestine) to see the light, and it received great popularity among the pioneers of social media platforms. The first illustrated work received positive reactions from the followers, who revealed their interest in such initiatives.”
Here Ahmad shares the conversation, while leaning against the corniche wall of the old town in coastal Jaffa, and says: “Through the success of the emotional content of Lifta Village’s work, our idea bore fruit, and our biggest dream came true, which is that my brother Ali and I become Palestinian content makers. through the geographical boundaries of the world.
And the younger brother continues: “This is what really happened, thanks to God and His praise. So far, I have been able to produce more than 87 illustrated works about occupied and displaced villages and towns throughout the beloved Palestine. It is worth mentioning that each work has a story and a story that has settled in our hearts to infinity.”
The ultimate goal
Ali Zama’ra says: “The most important and supreme goal of the (She is Palestine) initiative is to create Palestinian content about the displaced cities, towns and villages in Palestine, whether in the occupied Palestinian cities, the West Bank, or the city of Al-Quds Al-Sharif.”
The older brother adds: “Each video of the (She is Palestine) video initiative has a story, and each story has a specific message, including messages to prove that the place we visit is still deserted, and some suggest the hope of returning to our stolen homes one day.”
He shows that "the content of the illustrated works is facts and general information, and illustrated scenes for each site we visit inside the displaced villages," adding: "Most importantly, we make sure of all the information we collect about each town and village, through the help of my father, or by referring to historical books. before publishing it and talking about it.
simple capabilities
The two brothers, Zama’ra, worked hard to make their “Here is Palestine” initiative visible on social media, as they mastered photography and the arts of montage with limited capabilities, and made an unparalleled effort in collecting information and historical facts about Palestinian towns and villages, and monitoring oral and written sources, until we were able to document dozens of works. Photographed about the occupied and displaced villages, in video, audio and video, throughout the Palestinian cities.
Child Ahmed says: “The Palestinian content industry initiative was produced by phone, and is still working by phone. Besides, we use several equipment, including (anti-shake) and (laptop) for the editing and publishing process, and we hope to develop our equipment in the future, to produce the illustrated works of the highest possible quality. ».
The younger brother draws attention to the fact that all the works of their photographic initiative about the occupied and abandoned villages are published on their main platform, “It is Palestine” via “Facebook”, in addition to the “YouTube”, “Instagram” and “Tik Tok” platforms.
Lots of challenges
Of course, their historic Palestinian initiative faces many difficulties and challenges, as they are knocking on the doors of the displaced Palestinian villages that fall under the grip of the Israeli occupation.
The child Ali says: “Of course, as a result of our young ages, my brother Ahmed and I, reaching the abandoned villages is a difficult matter, and here comes the role of my father, who takes us by car to various places, but this is not only a challenge and an obstacle, the occupation is striving hard with all it has A force to obliterate the identity of the displaced Palestinian places, restricting Palestinian access and entry.
And he continues: “With regard to the mechanism of our access to the places of the occupied displaced villages, we must have entry permits, which we apply for, and it takes several days, until the occupation approves them, and often refuses that, and we are still waiting for approval of the request to enter the besieged Gaza Strip. This is our dream that we hope to achieve to visit the second part of our occupied and divided homeland.”
He added: “One of the biggest and most prominent challenges that stand in the way of implementing the works of our historical initiative are the military points imposed by the occupation to enter the occupied Palestinian cities. For example, during our visit to the city of Tiberias in northern Palestine, the Israeli forces obstructed the filming process and prevented us from doing so, under the pretext of the presence of settlers in The place, but we nevertheless completed our mission to Tiberias, and it was published on social media.”
A year ago, the two children had the opportunity to participate in the Global Entrepreneurship Week, after which they received in-kind funding from the local Bank of Palestine, helping them in the process of editing the scenes captured by the lens of their mobile phones.
Of course, the historic Palestinian initiative of Ali and Ahmed faces many difficulties and challenges, as they are knocking on the doors of the displaced Palestinian villages that fall under the grip of the Israeli occupation.
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