Ibdaa Cultural Center
About Ibdaa's Media Program
The goal of the Ibdaa Media Committee is to create a community multimedia production center that enables Palestinian refugees to create reports for radio, television, and print media outlets. The Media Committee is an avenue for refugees to represent their communities' stories and interests in the media. The committee aims to enable Palestinian refugees to document their lives, history and cultural heritage thereby creating alternative information sources for local and international media ; to foster new leadership among Palestinian youth by equipping them with practical skills in journalism and human rights documentation; to raise public awareness in Palestinian and international communities about human rights, democracy, social development issues, and Palestinian culture and history ; and to build networks with other human rights activists and advocacy groups.
The Power of Media
Ibdaa is keenly aware of the power of words and images to convey and construct the refugee community's struggle for self-determination and peace. The Media Committee enables Dheisheh refugees to transcend the heavily militarized borders that separate them from people around the world and build an international network of advocates for justice. Moreover, in a society where unemployment looms around 30%, the project will also equip refugees with marketable skills for employment.
Moving Behind the Camera
Ibdaa is internationally recognized as an innovative model for grassroots community organizing and has been featured in dozens of documentary films as well as news reports on CNN, ABC, CBS, BBC, Al-Jazeera, and other outlets. Ibdaa youth are now prepared to move behind the camera to represent their lives and articulate their messages.
Current Projects
Village Documentation Project
After visiting their destroyed villages inside the 1948 green line, children and youth transfer their experiences, stories, histories, and emotions into media documentaries using the three media methodologies: sound, video, and photography.
Ibdaa Radio 194
Ibdaa's radio studio is named after UN Resolution 194 that guarantees Palestinian refugees the right to return to their homes. Radio 194 is equipped with a sound proof recording room and an audio editing suite . Though Ibdaa does not yet have a broadcasting license, dozens of children and youth have already been trained in field recording techniques, interviewing, audio recording, editing, and voice over translations. The r adio documentaries and original music made by Ibdaa youth have been aired on radio stations around the world and are available on Ibdaa's website .
Digital Story Telling
Ibdaa youth are eager to learn new media skills and to use powerful images to complement their words. The video component of the media project now includes courses in Digital Storytelling and Film. In both programs the products are created entirely by the youth themselves. The youth's digital stories bring together words, music and images to create 3-5 minute personal narratives about Palestinian history, culture, life under occupation and visions for justice. The young people have made documentary and theatrical shorts in the film program, bringing to life Ibdaa's activities, family life in Dheisheh, and fictional dramas.