SESSION TWO - THE POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY

Research Assignment Conversation: In this session, based on Assignment One research, participants will share the human right they feel personally would be hardest to lose and to share what they would do, or not do, if such was lost.

Session Three Topic: Understanding the Current Where & What of the region. The discussion will focus on the geopolitical landscape: the populations (demographics, ethnic heritage); the physical landscape (urban environment, architecture, land divisions, travel restrictions into and out of Palestine) and culture (religion, education, social norms).  Importantly too there will be a discussion of political governance in the Palestinian Territories and Israel itself, addressing the electoral process, current leaderships, and internal and external political divisions respectively.  

For each session guest experts will be asked to join the discussion.  In this case Rami Eisa the project’s co-producer from inside Gaza, Chris Gunness, past media spokesperson for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in Palestine, now living in London, and Gideon Levy, reporter for Haaretz Newspaper in Jerusalem. 

Research Assignment Two: Locate a resident inside Palestine or Israel and conduct an oral history. From that history write up a short biography….early childhood, growing up, experiences during the major conflicts that have impacted their lives, their situation today, their vision for the future. This will be a two-week undertaking.