Palestine aims to boost tourism and the economy through Expo 2020 Human Rights News

Dubai, EAE – At the 2020 Dubai Expo, Palestinian pavilion organizers called the state “old buildings with deep historical land,” adding that “along with growing tourism, it has a busy manufacturing sector and many opportunities for investment.”

In view of the queues outside the pavilion, organizers hope that this interest will be turned into tourism and economic opportunity despite the difficulties and restrictions suffered by Palestinians, despite the Israeli occupation, which has not gained much place or mention in the pavilion.

The state of Israel was founded in 1948 in a violent process that led to the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, in which more than 750,000 people were forcibly deported.

When the war ended, the Israeli forces he controlled about 78 percent Historic Palestine, with the rest of the land under the administration of Egypt and Jordan.

In the 1967 war, He is known as “Naksa”, Israel occupied and continues to occupy the rest of the Palestinian territories in East Jerusalem, the West Bank, Gaza. He also absorbed additional territory from Egypt and Syria.

By then, Israel had displaced 430,000 more Palestinians from their homes and taken over its territory more than three times.

“Our motto in this pavilion is‘ past, present and future ’,” said Al Jazeera Raseel Amr, Palestinian Pavilion media relations officer.

“It simply came to our notice then. We have a lot of success stories, despite the occupation, which shows that it doesn’t stop us from overcoming and going beyond that.

“Through this pavilion, we are trying to highlight Palestinian civilization. It is very important for us to promote the economic side, to see if we get new opportunities through Expo and to emphasize that Palestine is also a place for tourism, because people do not know that.

“We want to show that it is a place where tourists, archeological sites and people come for religious tourism. We want to show the positive side of Palestine that many people may not know. ”

The pavilion also offers visitors a virtual experience of Palestinian cuisine [Faras Ghani/Al Jazeera]

In one report released in November, The United Nations warned that the “dire economic and fiscal situation in Palestine” needed a “comprehensive response” and that “after a years of economic downturn in the West Bank, there will be a significant decline in GDP per capita in 2020.”

“The economy continues to decline over the decades on the Gaza Strip, with unemployment remaining high, especially among women,” the report added.

“It is becoming increasingly difficult for the PA (Palestinian Authority) to cover its minimum costs, let alone make critical investments in the economy and the Palestinian people,” said Tor Wennesland, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process.

In the pavilion you can take a VR tour of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Holy Sepulcher Church [Faras Ghani/Al Jazeera]

The report also cites a long-standing shortage of public funds as a result of the crisis, adding that Israel “continues to deprive and maintain part of the so-called sabbatical income, as the government unilaterally equals the amount paid by Palestinians to its prisoners. ”.

A Human Rights Watch report included at least five categories of “major violations of international human rights and humanitarian law” that characterize Israel’s occupation of Palestine – illegal killings, abusive detentions, blocking the Gaza Strip and restrictions on Palestinian movement development. settlements, and discriminatory policies that harm the Palestinians.

The pavilion itself portrays Palestine in five senses, taking visitors on a journey through the land to see, hear, touch, smell and taste what the state has to offer: videos of historic sites, a call to prayer from a mosque, a church bell, a rock dome rock, the smell of olive (VR) for religious visits and food table to explore with real cuisine and virtual menus.

Walk through the pictures of the kind of food offered in Palestine [Faras Ghani/Al Jazeera]

“Visitors here are amazed to see that these parts of Palestine exist. We are trying to break the stereotype. We have a shop here that collects things made in Palestine. The workers who work there have a shop in Bethlehem and they came here to learn about Palestinian products and goods. ”

Amr added that although the references to the occupation are there, the aim is to promote the success and opportunities of the state “through a positive image, through an image that guides people’s daily lives and how it works”.

“In Palestine, there is the Key to Return, an original key from 1948, when the occupation forced many Palestinian families out of their homes, and they used these keys to lock the houses. We call it the Return Key because we hope to one day go back and use those keys.

“We smell martyrs in the Palestinian area. We recognize that this is Palestine, but it is more than that, and that is what we are trying to promote, ”added Amr.

Scent section in the Palestinian pavilion [Faras Ghani/Al Jazeera]

Organizers display a piece of Sea Salt salt in the pavilion [Faras Ghani/Al Jazeera]