Dying2Live: Another way of presenting Palestine 
Jordan's "Palestine: Dying2Live" campaign hopes to attract the attention the international community to the on-going human tragedy in Palestine 

By Ibtisam Awadat 
April 28, 2002, 08:50 AM
AMMAN 


Khaled of Palestine hopes to be an Einstein. “Dare we say there's such a thing as hope?” This is one of the phrases which will appear on posters and brochures in a campaign under the slogan: "Palestine: Dying2Live".
The Jordan's advertising and media company campaign was supposed to be launched, Tuesday 23 April, to raise public awareness about the atrocities Palestinians are enduring at the hands of the Israelis. However, because of technical obstacles and difficulties in getting all required government approvals, the launching has been postponed for the time being.

More than 50 advertising and media agencies are taking part, in the hopes of attracting the attention of the international community to the on-going human tragedy in the Palestinian territories. These companies are determined to fight by using the same methods that Israel uses to gain international support: the media and advertisements.

The campaign will run in national papers and on billboards. Although the campaign is local, the target audience is people in Europe and America in particular.

In designing the campaign, two different themes were used: "a quote campaign" and "a visual campaign". The first is using quotes by prominent world leaders such as Nelson Mandela who once said "only free men can negotiate," and Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, simply saying "on this land, there is something to live for." 

The second campaign consists of five visuals in Arabic and English highlighting the aspirations of Palestinian children and what they would like to be when they grow up, comparing themselves with renowned role models such as Albert Einstein.

Therefore, on the posters, there are the photos of Sarah of Palestine who hopes to be a Mother Teresa, Samer who dreams to be a Picasso, Johnny of Palestine who imagines he can be a John Lennon. Meanwhile, Palestinian child Zaid aspires to be an Abraham Lincoln.

The pictures of the Palestinian children are contrasted to other international personalities like Mahatma Gandhi, Ludwig Van Beethoven, William Shakespeare, Charlie Chaplin and the famous Arab singer Umm Kalthum.

The organizers of the campaign have secured advertising space in various national publications for one month as well as on more than 2000 billboards. "The campaign grew out of the ongoing Israeli incursions in the Palestinian territories, mainly the massacres in the Jenin refugee camp," Suleiman Matouk, head of the supervising committee of the campaign said in a press conference 22 April.

The organizers seek to express the humanity of the Palestinian people and their right to live, using advertisement as a weapon to express the suffering of the Palestinians which has, for a long time, been neglected. "Israel is using this method and is succeeding in manipulating public opinion, it's time to address the world in a language that it understands," Matouk continued.

Though the campaign will run locally, the organizers hope its echo and effect will be regional and that other Arab countries will hold similar campaigns. The ultimate goal would be to attract the attention of the world media and foreign audiences.

Alongside the media campaign there would be an international awareness campaign, "This would be run by various Arab student movements, NGO's, Palestinian solidarity groups and other advertising agencies in their local mediums throughout the world," Matouk pointed out.

In addition, through the campaign's website, the public would have access to ready-for-print advertisements as well as links to a number of sites which provide information, historical data and news reports on the Palestinian plight. The website is being officially launched on Thursday, 25 April.

The JD 500,000 campaign "Dying2Live" is just the first phase of what is hoped to be a long-term campaign that will serve as a platform to launch several other media campaigns. The biggest advertising campaign in Jordan is the fruit of the collective advertising agencies, media houses, printing presses, private sector and locals in Jordan collaborating to launch this non-political and non-confrontational but humane campaign.

This article is brought to you in association with The Star weekly

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