World Without Walls

A Palestinian Storytelling Museum on a part of the apartheid wall – after the liberation -, as the wall is an intensification of the substitutionary settlement project based mainly on the policy of ethnic cleansing carried out by Israel (the occupying power) in the occupied Palestine. The project is located specifically in a village An-Nabi Samuel, which is one of the villages in Jerusalem most affected by the apartheid wall, where its residents suffer from very poor living conditions as a result of the confiscation of lands and the clampdown on them because they are significantly surrounded by the apartheid wall on the one hand and the Givat-Zeev settlement block on the other. Although the lands of the village are considered to belong to the West Bank, the apartheid wall separates it from the lands of the West Bank, and its residents need to cross the gates and checkpoints periodically to reach the West Bank. In this museum, the suffering and tragedy that the Palestinian people went through during the past decades will be mentioned, at the same time, the hope and optimism of the inevitability of freedom will be clearly highlighted.

The Project Concept is based on dividing the museum into three stages: the stage of the suffering of the Palestinian people, the stage of transformation and ascent toward freedom, and the stage of liberation. These stages were implemented by directing the building towards the Old City of Jerusalem and the Dome of the Rock Mosque in particular, which is less than 8 km away from the project site, so that the visitor’s journey to the project begins from breaking the apartheid wall, passing through the stages of suffering that lie entirely underground, and then the stage of transformation (The ascent from the darkness to see the natural lighting for the first time), reaching the Freedom stage, which is the highest point of the project, from which the Dome of the Rock can be clearly seen.

The Palestinian Storytelling Museum takes you on a journey through key moments that have shaped the Palestinian cause. It starts by highlighting the Balfour Declaration and the Nakba of 1948, which marked the displacement of many Palestinians from their homes. Moving forward, the museum explores the 1967 Setback and the two intifadas – the Stone Intifada in 1987 and the Al-Aqsa Intifada in 2000. The museum also focuses on the building of the apartheid wall starting in 2002, which stands as a reminder of racial segregation. During the movement of the visitors between each stage of suffering, they face a staircase to take them to the next stage. These staircases are like the false promises and false hopes that every Palestinian was attached to during this period.  Looking ahead to 2023 and beyond, the museum draws the hope of liberation.

The journey of the Palestinian people towards liberation is symbolized by different phases. Throughout these stages, the focus is on understanding the difficulties they have faced and the sacrifices Palestinians have made. The museum also honors the memory of martyrs through paintings and sculptures, showcasing their bravery.