Internship at Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation
Claire Schnatterbec
My internship at the Palestine Broadcasting Corporation has been an immensely enriching part of my experience in Palestine. Through my internship I have been able to learn more about reporting on Palestine from the inside, the discrepancies and shortfalls of Western media's portrayals of Palestine, and a better understanding of Palestinian culture. My tasks included writing, editing, and recording scripts for social media content, reading the news live on the radio, and creating US civics curriculum for an international newsroom. Most of the content I worked on was geared towards Palestinians in the diaspora living in English speaking countries and American audiences. I helped provide an American perspective and advice on the newsrooms content strategy. My department was incredibly welcoming and helped me feel included and integrated into their office immediately. I have been able to create friendships and connections that will help inform my education and work moving forward. I did not face many challenges, but the internship did force me to improve and use my Arabic language skills. Luckily, I was working in an office of polyglots who understood the difficulties associated with learning a new language. They were very patient with me and excited to help me improve my skills.
Internship at Maan Development Center
Saamia Ahmad
My internship wasn’t what I imagined it to be, it was way better! The research center where I was doing my internship worked on a multitude of different projects that really allowed me to see Palestine in a different way. Being involved in a high-paced environment with very smart people gave me a better understanding of what day to day life looks like for a researcher.
Internship at Al-Haq Organization
Nathaniel Manock
The internship I had with Al-Haq Organization has been an extremely rewarding experience for me. I was able to participate in numerous field visits to Palestinian villages throughout the West Bank that have been subjected to settler violence, and hear firsthand accounts from local activists on grassroots efforts being led to combat these attacks. The field visits were a component of a larger project being completed by Al-Haq centered on philanthropic colonialism. The purpose of this research was to investigate American based 501c(3) nonprofit organizations that have been funding initiatives that support Israeli settlements. The philanthropic colonialism project is still ongoing, and I hope to continue aiding in this important effort upon my return to the United States.
Simon Kefeer
During my time in Palestine, I interned at a remarkable organization called Al-Haq. They are doing some of the most important work exposing atrocities committed by the Israeli settler colonial project and working for the human rights of all. My work there primarily consisted of two things: assisting in researching American nonprofit organizations donating to illegal Israeli settlements, and preparing highly personal writing for American legislators and social media. I also had the honor of going on field visits to select locations in Palestine, meeting with Al-Haq’s incredible field researchers who showed us behind the scenes at significant cultural and political locations. Overall, interning at Al-Haq has proven to be a profound and irreplaceable part of my time in Palestine, and one that I believe will prove to be invaluable.
Internship at Palestinian Museum
Maryam Shuaib
The last four weeks interning at The Palestinian Museum has been a great experience!, I learned about the inner workings of resource mobilization and fundraising. During my first week, some of the Palestinian Museum employees discussed the challenges the museum currently faces given its location in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. We also discussed the obstacles that contribute to obtaining long term funds as a non-government affiliated cultural institution. My main tasks were to conduct prospect research on organizations based in the United States that match the priorities of the museum itself. Foundations and cultural organizations devoted to preserving cultural heritage, digitization, sustainability, and education were prioritized in my research as they complimented the priorities of the Palestinian Museum. Through my research, I was able to find trends in how foundations mobilize their resources to support different cultural campaigns. As a second generation Palestinian-American, interning at the Palestinian Museum reinforced my Palestinian identity. I was able to see, firsthand, how a museum founded in 2016 can compile an extensive amount of archival data on Palestinian history dating before 1948. The concept of developing a museum in commemoration of the Nakba of 1948 was raised by the London based Association in 1997. Today, The Palestinian Museum currently holds one of the largest digital archives in all of Palestine about Palestine’s society, history, art, and culture dating from the beginning of the 19th century. A special shout-out to Ahd Bakir and Samer Makhlouf for giving me the opportunity to see my cultural heritage through an organizational point of view! Thank you to Dr. Nahed Habiballah for organizing this wonderful opportunity
