Fourth Panel: How did Gaza remained digitally connected despite its blockade and Siege
Time: 10:00 – 11:20
Since 2006, Gaza has suffered from a suffocating blockade which has turned it into an area that is not suitable for life. This siege extended to the digital space where the government in Gaza sought to confront activists in the digital space. The siege also extended to include the digital domain which made the accessibility of the Internet in the Gaza Strip far and difficult especially the accessibility of the third generation of the internet, which essentially arrived late to Palestine, but is still not accessible by the residents of the Strip. However, the residents of the Gaza Strip tried to communicate their voice to the world in various ways, breaking the actual siege digitally.
This session discusses the most important challenges facing digital rights in the Gaza Strip, and reviews the most important and prominent digital campaigns to break the siege, as well as the aspirations and hopes of the people of the Gaza Strip to access to the Internet.
- The Local Authorities’ Violations of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression on Social Media | Samir Zaqout, Director of Monitoring & Awareness Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights – Gaza
- From Gaza to the World: The Most Important and Prominent Campaign to Break the Siege in Recent Years | Heba Al Abadlah, Journalist and a Member of the Board of Directors of the Social Media Club
- Internet accessibility for Gazans (Internet Ambitions, Hopes, and Expensive Packages) | Dalia Shurrab, Communication, and Social Media Coordinator at GSG
Moderator
Dima Al Lababidi
She currently works as a university lecturer at Al-Aqsa University and a content writer for Ditor Business Solutions. She previously worked as a TV presenter on Palestine Today Satellite TV, and worked in the field of audio broadcasting. She holds a master’s degree in journalism and a BA in radio and television. ”
Dima Al Lababidi
Journalist
Speakers
Samir Zaqout
“Samir Zaqout is the Program Director of the Gaza-based Al Mezan Center for Human Rights. He joined Al Mezan upon its establishment in 1999 as the Fieldwork Coordinator and lead a team in charge of monitoring and documentation of human rights violations in the Gaza Strip. During his time at this post, he met and provided evidence-backed field data for numerous UN-baked missions of inquiry mandated to investigate grave violations of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, including a mission led-by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and another led by Mr. Richard Goldstone. After 2014 Gaza war, he led a team of over 50 fieldworkers in a joint documentation campaign with three other Palestinian human rights organizations; information and evidence collected in the joint campaign formed the basis for a joint submission to the International Criminal Court on alleged Israeli war crimes and crimes against humanity in the following year. Mr. Zaqout also conducted many trainings to pass his expertise to other human rights defenders outside Gaza, including coaching for Amnesty International and OMCT. Since 2018, he has been serving as the Program Director as well as the Deputy Director of Al Mezan Center for Human Rights. Mr. Zaqout holds a Master’s degree in Political Science from Al Quds University, is married and has five children.”
Samir Zaqout
Director of Monitoring & Awareness Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights - Gaza
Dalia Shurrab
Dalia used to be a teacher, trainer, educational researcher and manager. Her first introduction to startups was when she worked with Wasselni, one of Gaza’s first funded startups, as a social media marketer. Dalia quickly fell in love with the spirit of entrepreneurism and first joined GSG as a volunteer social media and logistics member. She is currently the Palestine Chapter President of Arab WIC and an Ambassador of WiD in Palestine. She graduated from the Islamic University of Gaza with a BS in Physics and obtained an Education Diploma and a Media Diploma, along with courses in Business Administration. Dalia was chosen to represent Palestinian entrepreneurs at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Nairobi in 2015. At age 12, Dalia was the English-speaking spokes-child of Palestinian children and represented all Palestinians in front of the Women and Children Minister of Norway.
Dalia Shurrab
Communication and Social Media Coordinator
Heba Al Abadlah
She worked in a group of radios and editorial boards since 2011 such as Palestine Youth Radio, Voice of Al Watan, and the Voice of Al-Azhar. She also worked as the head of the University Initiative “From You and To You”. She trained with a Falaystiniat Foundation in the field of debates for the debates league held by the Foundation for university students, and she works as director of the Public Relations Department in Panorama Integrated Services Company.
Heba Al Abadlah
Journalist and a member of the Board of Directors of the Social Media Club
