News & Events

"CRACK IN THE WALL" - A NEW INITIATIVE TO CREATE AN ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN SOCIAL NETWORK

09/05/2012

The Parents Circle Families Forum (PCFF), Israeli And Palestinians Bereaved Families for reconciliation has launched "CRACK IN THE WALL", an innovative social media project allowing Israelis and Palestinians to engage with each other throgh Facebook.
For the first time this dialog will be translated to facilitate the conversation.

Both sides now have the opportunity to express their views, tell their stories, talk and get to know one another by using this unique idea. This neutral platform facilitates virtual meetings between both sides , and allows for the understanding of their narrative. After the first week of the launching there is a great interest from web users with more than 1,500 "likes". the majority of Palestinians pressing the "like" buttons are from Gaza and Nablus.

"Through the project we hope to create a crack in the wall of hostility created by an almost total alienation , and a logistical impossibility to meet. This leaves the only option we can create which is the virtual contact. "The Crack in the wall " will serve as a catalyst to a greater understanding" states Ayelet Harel, member of the Forum and Director of Grants and Projects at the PCFF.

The Parents Circle conducted a research project before the launching and the conclusion showed that discourse around the conflict still consumes the majority of the Israeli public. In one month alone more than 10,000 citations appeared, through browsing the various mediums - face book, talkbacks, blogs etc.

Mazen Faraj , the Palestinian manager of the Crack in the wall project"
"The only way to end occupation is if people are able to understand the danger of a status-quo. One of the main barriers preventing people from uniting in the fight against occupation is the wall. The crack in the wall project is a virtual project hoping to achieve a virtual break of the barriers between people. Only when people see what happens across the wall would they unite to end occupation and fight racism, hatred and inhumanity. We in Palestine believe that the project is important for both our people, our neighborhood, and the entire community of nations. All of us should unite to achieve a crack in the wall."

On joining the face book site https:/www.facebook.com/crack in the wall, web users can connect through a forum which will have translation in Hebrew and Arabic. They can browse through targeted calls, "Round Tables", covering diverse issues such as 'Education for Change' , A common struggle , protest culture, and Rights and Women. The "Crack in the Wall" T.V. provides videos uploaded by users, dealing with the realities of life on both sides.

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Vered Cohen Barzilay: +972-54-6283848 / novelrights@gmail.com