In a highly digitised world, everything is unfolding in front of our eyes. Digital media transcends borders and shapes our perceptions. It makes us witnesses of everything happening cross-borders. Despite the information pollution in digital media, the truth echoes louder. We all are the witnesses of the truth: the erasure of Palestinian identity, restrictions on movement, expression, and basic rights under Israel’s unlawful occupation. GENARRATION becomes a voice to the harsh realities of life in Jerusalem. This project empowers the young Palestinians to share their lived experiences on their own terms and to exhibit resilience under occupation.
Two remarkable women from GENARRATION project, Layla and Asyah, are among the creative souls who advocate for the Palestinian struggle for justice through digital media. Layla is 25 years old, living in the old city of Jerusalem. She is a passionate content creator with a background of visual communication. Her work spreads the message of what she believes – the power of authentic narratives to spark change and connect people together across cultures. Asyah, a 19 years old filmmaker and storyteller who loves content creation. She is passionate about not only what she feels but also what Palestinians feel.
Finding Purpose: the Personal Motivations Behind Content Creation
Layla has always drawn to stories and likes books and movies, visual arts, fantasies since her childhood. “I found myself constantly creating my own world, my own scenarios and narratives, which sparked my interest in how stories shape our perspective and thinking,” she explains. Her early passion for storytelling naturally evolved into content creation as she grew older which she wants to do and does today through film production, screenwriting, branding. She shares:
“I love the fact that it has the power to influence other people, and it sparks emotions. It creates meaningful connections.”
Asyah resonates with Layla’s story and passions:
“Since I was young, I was really into movies and stories. I was really a good storyteller with wild imagination. Thus, I went to the filmmaking industry from a young age as a screenwriter.”
She was drawn to content creation to have connections with people. “I found that it’s really hard to put my imagination into something that I know that it’s rarely going to be read or going to be out for people. So content creation really puts me in the face of people to describe my imagination or to get my points to them easily” she describes. Unlike in filmmaking industry, she loves doing everything on her own in content creation:
“It’s really a good part for me because I know what it’s on my mind from A to Z. And in filmmaking industry, there should be a crew but in content creation, I can do it all by myself which makes a lot of things easier than filmmaking.”
Changing Palestinian Communities Through Digital Media
Layla describes the digital media as a powerful tool which amplifies the voices of Palestinians that are often underrepresented:
“It allows people to share their own stories, to raise awareness. We connect with other people from different the cities to help each other, send support and mobilize like support both locally and globally. Throughout social media videos and other platforms, Palestinians can document their experiences, and challenges with occupation.”
Digital media also creates opportunities according to Layla including collaborations and solidarity connections:
“We empower each other to build resilience and create real change in the face of adversity.”
Asyah sees digital media as the main media tool to raise awareness for this decade:
“In every decade, there should be a way to raise awareness or to spread knowledge. The way in our decade, in our generation is the digital media. It’s very good for the Palestinian communities. Because of occupation, we have a lot of boundaries, a lot of borders that force us not to say, not to speak, not to do, not to move, not to express ourselves the way we want. Thus, digital media really helps us in a lot of matters, in a lot of ways, economically, at societal level, ethnically or in the face of the occupation.”
A Memorable Story that Reinforced the Importance of Content Creation
Layla’s memorable moment was during her final project at college:
“Shinkar is an Israeli college that I had no other choice but to go to. During my final project, I talked about Palestinian women. People actually like the project and it sparked strong connections from different audiences. I know that a lot of Israeli people were triggered by it. Just seeing the words Palestine and women were enough to see some being bothered visibly. At the same time, it actually interested some people as well, opening conversations with us. This was the moment where I saw the impact of my work, provoking thought, creativity and open dialogue between people. The experience itself created a space for underrepresented voices as well.”
During her work for an organization in film and storytelling projects, it stroke Asyah how different and yet similar the daily lives between today and the past in different context are:
“I work in an organization that has a collaboration with a French organization. It is also a Palestinian collaboration with France. We worked on the media side of our team including films and storytelling. We separated films and storytelling projects to talk about our daily lives today and in history. We showed the differences between now and 80 years from today – how the daily process would go for us in the past and now. We also highlighted the similarity between them two. They were shocked about the similarity because of occupation and how the similarity of women’s role in both of them. That’s the reaction that just stuck in my mind about how we are a powerful nation.”
The Biggest Challenges of Advocacy in Digital Platforms
Layla explains that the biggest challenge is the censorship and getting your message reaches to the right audience:
“I think for me, one of the biggest challenges are actually standing out and ensuring your message reaches the right audience, and online censorship, especially on sensitive topics.”
Asyah adds on the Layla’s view:
“It’s really hard not to find a sensitive topic to talk about in Palestine. We can’t find something that we can’t drag in it. Something political happens and is happening to us or an issue that would cause us problems. Most of it would really not just cause us problems but also challenges legally. Regardless how much we try, we’re always going to be under threats. Saying the words such as Palestine, force, Israel or anything will be enough to be put under a microscope and face restrictions. It’s hard for us to advocate and speak out on digital platforms because of the legal problems. The media platform also put restrictions such as Instagram and Facebook guidelines.”
Ensuring the Voices and Experiences of Local communities Authentically Represented
Layla always tries to ensure the authenticity by listening directly to community members and also collaborating with them and with their local voices to understand their unique perspectives:
“I prioritize telling people my own point of view and listening to their point of view. This way I try to avoid stereotypes and stay true to our culture and our social context. Additionally, I work to actually create platforms where these voices can speak for themselves without being filtered.”
Asyah also highlights the importance of hearing the local people:
“The first source would be for my storytelling or my video from the street itself. I prioritize the local voices from the people of the street, not from books or media. After listening to the people of the streets, I go for the media. We’ve been shouting and screaming as Palestinians in the media or in the content creating industry for years now. It’s just been misled, misinformed or corrupted. So, we try our best to make the world hear our voices. This is what I’m trying to do.”
Everything Happens in front of Our Eyes: the Roles of Storytelling in Shaping Perceptions about Palestine
Storytelling plays a key role in shaping perceptions for Layla. She explains “storytelling can shape perceptions by sharing the personal stories of Palestinians, personal experiences including our own, and the cultural richness of Palestine.” For her, storytelling exhibits the strength, identity, and pride of the community locally. She sees its role as powerful internationally:
“Internationally, it challenges stereotypes and provides a deeper human perspective on the Palestinian experience, helping to shift the conversation from politics to people.”
Asyah doesn’t differentiate local and international context:
“For me, the role of storytelling locally and internationally is the same. In Palestine, there are walls and borders from the occupation that separate us, the Palestinians. It’s seriously a hard world for us locally. We barely know anything about each other. I take storytelling as not just a side tool but as a main one because we only know the story by not just reading about it. We are also seeing and hearing it at the same time. I can give you pictures and you can put 50 stories about them. They all would be different with many perspectives. I can also tell you a story and hide a lot of facts, but to see and hear at the same time is different. It’s the first time in history that we witnessed this close with eyes and ears. There are series about historical events. We only see and hear it from one perspective which usually says the most. In movies or media, there will be the same information about the events in history because it’s based on a true story. However, at the end of the day it’s just a movie you can write and play with any facts. Thus, storytelling is crucial as it shapes our perceptions. It would be different to witness what happened with our own eyes. Therefore, what’s happening today is different because we are telling our stories live, trying our voices to be heard.”
Meaning of Impactfulness in Advocacy
Layla is encouraging some actions and aiming to spark meaningful conversations in her advocacy through digital content creation:
“I remember doing collaborations with the people abroad and we made some actions that we couldn’t do here in Palestine because of legal challenges. I recognize its impact through engagement metrics, such as sharings, comments, and people sending messages and giving me feedback. It was an amazing feeling seeing my content sparked the interest of people. I got many personal responses as well. People told me that the content resonated with them and changed their perspective. Even in the city where I studied, a lot of people were coming up to me and trying to understand my own point of view. When they saw that I’m an actual human being with emotions, they started somehow changing their perspective. In general, I pay attention to how content contributes to the broader world.”
Asyah is interested in how many questions she gets to measure the impact that her content makes:
“Every time I share a story with a specific content, I check how many questions I get. For now, I do storytelling about a building or a street with close people that I’m going to go with publicly. I get questions like where is that? Can we enter? What happened there? What happens next? I was sharing stories historically with the people I know that have no interest in the historical context, political ideas or perspectives. They are now asking questions to know more, to visit, to make a difference or to help me make a difference and encourage me to put that publicly.”
Balancing the Need for Impactful Storytelling and Sensitivity of Challenging Topics
Layla focuses on respect and authenticity to balance the need for impactful storytelling. She further shares with us:
“I ensure that the stories I share, create and design are told from the perspective of those directly involved including us, prioritizing our voices and experiences. At the same time, I approach sensitive parts and topics with care, avoiding sensationalism. trying to stay true to the emotional and cultural context without getting out of it. The goal is to create content that engages and educates without exploiting or oversimplifying the issue that I’m talking about.”
Asyah highlights the difficulties to keep the balance especially on sensitive topics:
“As I said previously, it’s very hard to make a content or tell a story as a Palestinian that is not going to be a sensitive topic. Before the war, it was hard but during the war it got harder. We had blocks for months, none of us could do anything because of the threats. We didn’t know what is allowed and not allowed, or what the laws are. We still don’t know but we’re trying to reach people despite the restrictions of the guidelines and the laws.”
Advices to Content Creators
From Layla to the fellow content creators:
“Never hide your identity and stay true to your values. Authenticity is key. When you bring your own true self into your work, it resonates with others as well. Focus on telling real meaningful stories and approach sensitive topics with empathy, respect and care. Use digital media as a tool for education, raising awareness and sparking change. These are the main things that we can focus on. Be consistent, passionate and open for feedback. While always staying true to the message you want to share, you will receive, of course, backlash sometimes. However, you have to stay strong in whatever you decide to share.”
From Asyah to the fellow content creators:
“You can’t make a difference without being different. In order to make a difference in your field, you should be different by how you want to do it and your thoughts and you should be different from the pack you are surrounding yourself with. Don’t follow the pack. You want to make a difference for a reason, so you should be different.”
This article was prepared in collaboration with the GENARRATION team. It marks the second installment of our two-part series, providing an exclusive interviews with two incredible content creators from the GENARRATION team, diving deeper into their stories, challenges, and hopes for the future.
Learn More About GENARRATION Project Here!
