5 July, 2001

Palestinian Refugees connect via Internet

Jalazon Refugee Camp -Palestine and Burj Al-Shamali Camp - Lebanon tell their story to the world

The Across Borders Project (ABP), managed by the Center for Continuing Education (CCE) at Birzeit University, aims at establishing ABP centers in the Palestinian Refugee Camps in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Palestine. Today marks the inauguration of an additional ABP Center in the Jalazon Refugee Camp in the Governorate of Ramallah & Al-Bireh.

The launching ceremony includes establishing an Internet connection between the Jalazon Camp / Palestine and Bourj Al-Shamali Refugee camp in Tyre/Lebanon for the first time breaking the borders of silence and isolation that has lasted for more than 50 years.



The Jalazon ABP Center is the third such center to be launched following the Dheisheh Refugee Camp (southern West Bank) and Khan Younis camp (Gaza Strip). These ABP centers aim at servicing the different sectors and age groups of the local camp community by offering them equal opportunities to learn and benefit from Information Technology.

The Palestinian Telecommunication Company (PalTel) is one of the first local sponsors of the ABP Project. In its capacity as the main telecommunication provider in Palestine, PalTel has exhibited its willingness to provide all wire/cable connections and facilities for connecting the ABP centers which include the following camps: Nusseirat and Khan Younis (in Gaza), and Dheisheh, Al-Ama'ri, Jalazon, 'Askar, Far'a, and 'Ein Beit Al Ma'a (in the West Bank).

The Project targets serving Refugee Camps inside and outside Palestine. ABP aims to establish an online connectivity and an exchange program allowing up-to-date communication among all Palestinian refugees. For the past fifty years, refugees in the West Bank and Gaza have not been able to communicate freely with their relatives and counterparts in Lebanon and Syria, who have also suffered from continued marginalization and isolation. The first contact between refugees in Lebanon and those in Palestine, was established at the official launching of the Bourj Al-Shamali ABP Center in Tyre, on September 30th, 2000 when they linked up with the Dheisheh ABP Center south of Bethlehem, Palestine.
The establishment of ABP centers in Jalazon and Am'ari are part of a grant support from the Australian Aid Agency for International Development (AUSAID), managed by Oxfam -GB. Another Funder for ABP is Oxfam-Quebec, through which the ABP Center of Bourj Al-Shamali was made possible, and currently the ABP Center of Nahr El Bared is being established in Tripoli (northern Lebanon). The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) has also contributed funding towards the telecommunications network and service charges, as well as financial systems installation and training for ABP Camp Centers.