Author Archives: G.I. Joe

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Plumbing is half the battle.

Pay a Palestinian $30 and he will write for you, with a spray-can, on the wall Israel erected.

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By Zee
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on May 2nd, 2009

picture-131This is a unique proposition if I ever saw one.

SendaMessage.nl stems from an idea hatched at a workshop in Ramallah, Palestine, where Dutch advertising pro’s work with young Palestinians to create campaign ideas to help reach a broader audience.

The foundation, based out of Amsterdam, works in collaboration with Palestinians living near the wall dividing Palestine and Israel. The concept is simple, you pay $30 to have a message of your choice spray painted on the wall, and a high res photo of the ‘art work’ is sent your way.

So that’s simple enough, but undoubtedly questions and doubts arise. SendaMessage.nl’s website attempts to clarify these and I will run through a few myself here – these are there answers, not mine.

Why?

The Wall won’t fall just because your text is written on it. True.
But your message reminds Palestinians trapped inside the Wall they have not been forgotten. You help to keep hope alive. ‘Our’ Palestinians want to

send you one single, simple message: “we are human beings, just like you, with sense of humour and lust for life.” That’s why they do this, and enjoy it.

Where does the money go?

Part of your money stays in Holland, to cover the (minimal) costs of setting up and running ‘Sendamessage’. The bulk of the money will go to the Palestinian NGO’s (independent foundations) doing the work. They will fund small social, cultural and educational projects with the money earned (from buying bicycles to fixing the roof)

picture-11

Will they buy weapons?

No, we work with organisations that are legal in Palestine and are allowed to work – also by the Israeli government. People we work with were found thanks to the network of ICCO, a large Dutch Christian NGO. The money overthere will be spent on small social, cultural and educational projects.

Surely it must be photoshopped

No, it’s not.

Can I write anything I want?

You can write almost anything. Nonsense and humour are okay. But hurting people ( in Palestine, Israel, or anywhere else) isn’t. Obscene, offensive and extremist texts won’t make it to the Wall.

Can I contact the Palestinians?

You’ll find names and bio’s of our Palestinian partners at the ‘Projects in Palestine‘ page. If they are open for e-mail exchange, or have a website you can visit, you’ll find it here. Feel free to have your say, or ask a question.

Whatever thoughts and emotions you may have about the Israel/Palestine conflict, there’s no denying the ingenuity of the project. To give it a try yourself, click here to type your message (max of 80 characters including spaces) and follow the steps thereafter.

About the Author

Zee

Based in London, Zee is Editor in Chief of The Next Web. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.




Palestinians Protest as Avatar Characters

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Palestinian Avatar

Palestinian protesters have added a colorful twist to demonstrations against Israel’s separation barrier, painting themselves blue and posing as characters from the hit film “Avatar.”




The Palestinian Archipelago

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Palestine Archipelago

Strange Maps is an excellent blog which will likely be the next addition to my tag of “highly recommended blogs.” Today’s offering is an unusual portrayal of the geography of the West Bank region of Palestine.

This map is considerably more interesting than previous maps of this fragmented area (see also the Wiki set of historic maps), in that it uses color-coding to convert the conventional geopolitical boundaries to the appearance of a chain of islands.

“Maybe posting the full map would help to take it for what it is, i.e. an illustration of the West Bank’s ongoing fragmentation based on the (originally temporary) A/B/C zoning which came out of the Oslo process, still valid until now. To make things clear, areas ‘under water’ strictly reflect C zones, plus the East Jerusalem area, i.e. areas that have officially remained under full Israeli control and occupation following the Agreements. These include all Israeli settlements and outposts as well as Palestinian populated areas.”

Those colours, incidentally, denote urban areas (orange), nature reserves (shaded), zones of partial autonomy (dark green) and of total autonomy (light green). Totally fanciful are of course the dotted lines symbolising shipping links, the palm trees signifying protected beachland, and the purple symbols representing various aspects of seaside pleasure. The blue icon, labelled Zone sous surveillance (‘Zone under surveillance’) has some bearing on reality, as the locations of the warships match those of permanent Israeli checkpoints.