Features: Developments to Watch: First Palestinian Cybercafé to open in a Palestinian Refugee Camp

From Nigel Parry, 20 July 1999

The following press release from my former workplace Birzeit University tells of one of the most significant international developments on the Internet for years. Since McLuhan and Gibson first started popularly articulating how globalisation could impact the world, I can't think of a more significant project that fully realises their visions.

This is not only the first cybercafé in a refugee camp, it is the first stage in a project to, as Palestinian academic Edward Said once wrote, give the "permission to narrate" to a Palestinian refugee camp. It is a symbol that everyone who is concerned about the development of the Internet in the developing world will welcome with great interest.

The articulation of the future stages of the project can be found on the Across Borders website at http://www.acrossborders.org/ or in the original funding proposal at http://www.birzeit.edu/web/abp.html

It is truly an historic day not just for Palestinians but in the context of the whole history of the Internet. It is the fulfilment of a lot of dreams that many people around the world have had for the Internet, its impact on society, and global relations. The project represents the best of what the Internet can and should be, and I find a distinct lack of words to express the importance of this development. My hope is that people both recognise its importance and encourage similar projects in other parts of the world.

I would highly reccommend this project to you as a very significant story to watch. It really doesn't get much more newsworthy than this in Internet development land.

Launch of Across Borders Project

First Internet Centre to Open in Deheishe Camp
______________________________________

This Saturday, 24 July [1999], the Birzeit University Information 
Technology Unit will officially launch the Across Borders Project.  

This Project aims to establish Internet centres in Palestinian refugee 
camps, train camp residents in the use of the internet and WWW, 
and create English/Arabic websites for each camp.  

Saturday will see the launch of the first phase of the project - a fully- 
equipped computer lab in Deheishe camp at the Ibdaa Children's 
Cultural Centre. The centre is linked to the internet with a permanent 
lease-line connection. Ten young people from the camp have 
completed a 36-hour course at Birzeit University on the internet and 
WWW.  

Ibdaa will begin running courses for camp residents within the next 
week. Courses offered include Basic Internet Use and Introduction 
to Windows. An internet cafe will be opened every night from 6:30 - 
10:30pm and Friday 12:30 to 10:30pm. Courses will also be offered 
during the day for children under 16 years.  

The camp websites will play an important educational role for the 
international community. The ability for people to directly 
correspond with the refugee population in the camps will increase 
the understanding of their situation on a worldwide level. School 
groups overseas for example, will be able to directly correspond with 
their counterparts in a refugee camp.  

The virtual travel over borders which the Across Borders Project will 
create, aims to improve the visibility and confidence of the refugee 
community as a whole. Many analysts of Palestinian society have 
identified the increasing division of the community along regional 
lines. The Across Borders Project will facilitate in re-asserting the 
refugee community as a central axis of Palestinian society.  

Following the launch in Deheishe, the project will extend to other 
camps in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. It is planned to also link up 
other refugee camps around the Middle East.  

The launch will take place at 4pm, Saturday 24 July at the Ibdaa 
Centre, Deheishe Camp.  

The first phase of the project has been made possible through the 
assistance of the Canada Fund, Palestine On-line and several 
generous private donations.  

For more information about the project, please contact Adam Hanieh 
at ahanieh@admin.birzeit.edu or Muna Muhaisen at 
muna@alquds.net  

The link to the across borders website was added on 25 July 1999 after the opening of the first Internet center in Dheisheh Refugee Camp. A link to the Birzeit News story including photos from the opening can be found on the 25 July link on the index page of this site.