7amleh - The Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media

7amleh - The Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media

Who we are 7amleh is a professional Palestinian social media center, dedicated to improving the skills and capacities of Palestinian civil society in this field. 7amleh provides trainings to individuals and community-based groups on the skills and methodologies of social media activism, as well as focusing on creating and supporting grassroots media campaigns which aim to raise the social awareness and political consciousness of disenfranchised and marginalised groups.

The Need The establishment of 7amleh was driven by the necessity to raise the profile and capacity of online Palestinian advocacy, both in terms of raising awareness of Palestinian issues to an international audience, but also among Palestinians themselves. Social media offers the perfect channel through which to conduct grassroots advocacy campaigns, due to both the established and growing popularity of social media among sectors of society around the world, and particularly the youth sector, and the ease and speed with which information can be shared, reaching new people who may not otherwise have been engaged with the subject.

Goals - Provide Palestinians with a professional center for new and social media - Offer social media trainings for groups working towards positive social change - Creating and running new media campaigns to raise awareness both among Palestinians and abroad

Activities

Advocacy to an international audience will aim to raise the profile of Palestinians and their issues in an attempt to address the absence of knowledge, news and information of Palestinians from both sides of the Green Line and the diaspora. It will also seek to challenge preconceptions and stereotypes, providing insights into the political issues and cultural lives which represent Palestinians’ reality.

Campaigns targeting Palestinians, especially those inside Israel, will also be an important part of the center’s work. These campaigns will focus on social as well as political problems facing the Palestinian community inside Israel, including issues such as violence, sectarianism and identity issues.

Trainings will provide Palestinian civil society with professional, specialised staff in the field of new and social media. Training sessions will impart the latest skills and strategies for online advocacy, creating campaign materials and short film production, and will be available to the full spectrum of Arab civil society groups working for positive change