Opening Remarks

Opening Panel: Designing for Unity 

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Keynote Conversation 

Keynote speakers:

The Role of Trust in Movement Building

Political trust is generally defined as citizens’ confidence in political institutions. But what do we do when political institutions are absent, co-opted or hollowed out? How can we build greater trust across society in the face of the divisive projects of settler colonialism and apartheid, and in light of internal divisions increasingly exposed in an era of social media? What lessons can we learn and adapt from other contexts? And how important is embracing diversity across the rich spectrum that makes up the Palestinian experience?

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Decolonizing our Space 

“Decolonization” generally refers to undoing the vestiges of foreign domination and control in a post-colonial world. It is concerned with priming thought processes in a way that supports the dismantling of both the physical and metaphysical aspects of  oppressive systems and structures. But what does decolonization mean when colonial systems are alive and well and at their apex? How can we visualize the whole of our homeland, our history, our people, and our identity, while at the same time resisting the very real systems aiming to destroy them? This panel of dreamers, designers and believers gives some answers. 

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Workshop: How can Social Enterprises raise funds from donors?

This workshop will share tips for social enterprises to raise funds through donor funding from international organizations. Learn about the importance of networking and how to make sure that funds contribute to the sustainability of the social enterprise.

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Strengthening the Palestinian Media Landscape

Palestinian journalism and media production face a wide range of challenges in our society today. Fragmentation, privatization, commercialization, censorship and authoritarianism all play a role. How can we work to ensure quality over quantity across outlets? How can we ensure that people are treated as citizens rather than consumers? And how can we improve the Palestinian media landscape to promote a stronger culture of plurality and freedom of information, debate and exchange? 

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Self Healing for Collective Wellbeing

What is the role of healing in our fight for liberation? How do we heal ourselves in the midst of ongoing trauma? And is ancestral healing relevant? There are healers in Palestine and the Diaspora, committed to holding space and sharing tools for our people. Join this panel to learn more about the important work that is being done, and how you can tap into the collective power while embarking on your own healing journey. 

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Special Talk with Bisan Owda

Join this conversation with Hakawatieh (storyteller) Bisan Owda, a young woman from Gaza who tells stories about Gaza to the rest of the world.

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Special Talk: Narratives of Belonging

Listen in on this intimate conversation between Aline Batarshe (Executive Director, Visualizing Palestine), Nora Lester Murad (author, activist, and educator) and Besan Abu-Joudeh (Founder, Build Palestine). Questions they will explore include: How are Palestinians represented in the United States and why does it matter? What sensitivities and pitfalls exist when promoting Palestinian narratives, and how can they be managed? And how can more people be empowered to tell their stories and contribute to the narrative?

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Popular and Political Education: Start by Knowing Ourselves

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Our Products, Our Story 

Handcrafts represent a society’s culture, traditions, and identity; they are also a main driver of employment for women. In Palestine, the arts and handicrafts are particularly significant, as a form of resilience and existence amidst an occupation that shamelessly claims Palestinian heritage as its own. This panel will examine the role and future of this sector, asking questions such as: How important are Palestinian handcrafts in the struggle to protect our national identity? Can the handcrafts sector survive and scale locally through younger generations of Palestinians? Is there an opportunity to grow exports through working collaboratively? And if so, is a “clusters approach” an opportunity to grow production and volume back at home?  

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Impact Investing: Getting Started in Palestine

As the social entrepreneurship scene continues to mature in Palestine, funding remains one of the top barriers to sustainability and scaling impact for social enterprises. An impact investment fund for Palestine would represent an important step forward for the social innovation sector. This panel comes together to discuss the prospect, discussion questions such as: What are the critical elements of successfully operating an impact fund? How will an impact fund differ from existing funds in Palestine? And what is the role of our community in ensuring its success?

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Workshop: How Can We Preserve the Palestinian Identity Using NFTs? 

This workshop introduces the NFTine Project, which aims to preserve a part of the Palestinian legacy and history by converting the Palestinian currency to a non-fungible token or NFT. Come learn about the power of blockchain and how it can be used to preserve the Palestinian identity. 

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Agricultural Resistance: Fighting by Farming the Land 

Despite its central role in Palestinian culture and livelihood, the agricultural sector remains one of the least advanced sectors in Palestine, with a continually declining productive capacity. Although the sector’s contribution stood at over 20% of GDP and 15% of employment in the 90's, it dropped to just 7.1% of GDP and 6.7% of employment in 2021. Less than 1% of the PNA budget is directed at the sector.

Beyond economic profit, what is the role of agriculture in our fight for liberation? Who will continue to farm the land? What do they need to be successful? And how can we collectively support them?

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This panel is co-orgnized by Momentum Labs

Workshop: Access to Finance for Social Enterprises

The workshop aims to highlight the various options available to social enterprises to access finance in the region. The objective would be to highlight the financial tools available and how, based on your enterprises' development stage, founders and their teams can make the right decisions to grow and scale their enterprises.

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Special Talk: The Palestinian Film Industry "Present and Future"

Palestine knew cinema well before the Nakba of 1948, but struggled to reach audiences and surpass obstacles put up by the dominating Zionist lobby on the cinema industry. With a new generation of young directors in the field of Palestinian cinema, as well as the massive technological advancement in filmmaking and illustration, what does the future hold for Palestinian cinema? What challenges do filmmakers face? How eligible is it in portraying the Palestinian narrative to the world? And why is the average Palestinian alien to Palestinian cinema except for some pockets of the cultural elite in major cities?

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Diaspora Activism 

The Palestinian Diaspora, borne out of trauma, is a powerful tool in our struggle for liberation. How do we think about designing for unity when we are spread all over the world? What ties us together as Palestinians amidst our diverse experiences? How do we stay connected to our homeland and communities in Palestine? And what are the different ways we can contribute to the struggle in or from our varying locations and contexts? 

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Workshop: How to build a startup community that empowers the unity and resilience of Palestinians?

Building a Startup Community: Why, how, and what Why do we need a “community” for startups? How can entrepreneurs engage the community throughout this process? And what a startup community is in the first place? These are some of the questions we’ll raise in our session! We’re introducing the concept of startup communities and see how it helped startups worldwide prosper and grow. Then we’ll start applying this concept in our context in Palestine. This workshop would be highly interactive and we would love to get your insights and BUILD a community! Then we’ll dig deeper into the “WHY”. Why do we need this startup community? What benefits do startups get from it? And then how can the whole society get involved and benefit? How are entrepreneurs contributing to solving our problems? And what’s the role of community partners and the society in supporting entrepreneurs (and vise versa)

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Civic Engagement: Challenges Today and the Vision for Tomorrow

A pluralistic and inclusive Palestine requires strong, transparent and democratic institutions. Civil society and civic engagement have always formed the backbone of Palestinian society and the Palestinian struggle. Today, these things are needed more than ever to build the systems and institutions we wish to represent us. In this panel, we will explore questions such as: What are the challenges to civic engagement under Palestinian laws and the different authorities? How is the current crackdown on Civil Society Organizations informing decision-making? What are the implications of defining “good civil society” vs “bad civil society” by international funders? And what actions are needed to build a more democratic society? 

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This panel is co-orgnized by Rawa Fund:

Special Talk with Lina Abu Akleh

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Closing Panel: Music Performance with Aida Qunbar

At the closing panel, we will interview Aida Qunbar, a young Palestinian singer who will sing us songs about Unity.