September 17, 2003
Texting in Palestine
In this article entitled Cell phones, Cyberdating and "Explosions of the Heart, a young Palestinian writes about living under curfew and how cell phones are used. Called "Jawwal"; one of the Arabic words for mobile phone, most people have one. Text messaging is popular for receiving breaking news stories, racy jokes or juicy gossip but mostly, it's used for courtship and monotoring tanks and soldier movements:
"The cell phone has become the the messenger of love in a place where occupation and tradition make young people's life, at best, challenging. Boys share their messages with each other; so do girls. Their worlds are separate yet well connected".
Other useful application of the cell phone is the monitoring of tanks and soldiers' movements. My brother Kifah, the one family member with the most experience in Israeli jails and the only brother to visit me in Canada, got forewarned about the troop movements toward our house and his and my other brother's imminent arrest. He got dressed appropriately. He was ready."
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